Abiding in the Lord

  To abide in the Lord is to live a life in union with the Lord, that is, to live in the Lord. Branches that abide in the vine live in the vine and have a life in union with the vine. In like manner, when we abide in the Lord, we live in the Lord, and we have a life in union with the Lord. Furthermore, branches that abide in the vine take the life of the vine as their life, live in the life of the vine, and thereby live out the life of the vine. In like manner, when we abide in the Lord, we take His life as our life, we live in His life, and we thereby live out His life. Such an abiding requires that we deny and reject the self and the life of the self; that is, we need to reject the soul-life, the natural life.

  The self and the life of the self are our greatest hindrances to abiding in the Lord. Sins and the world are also obstacles to our abiding in the Lord, but since they are obvious, they can be easily detected and condemned. The self and the life of the self, however, are hidden and latent; hence, they often cause us to live apart from the Lord without our being conscious of it. When we live by the self, we cannot live in the Lord. The self cannot coexist with the Lord, nor can the life of the self coexist with His life. If we live in the self, we cannot live in the Lord, and if we live by the life of the self, we cannot live by the Lord’s life. Hence, in order to abide in the Lord, we must deny and reject the self and its life.

  Furthermore, in order to abide in the Lord, we must see that we are in the Lord. This is the basis of our abiding in Him. Being in the Lord is a spiritual fact, and abiding in the Lord is a spiritual living. Our spiritual living is based on this spiritual fact. Hence, we must see the fact that we are in the Lord before we can have a living of abiding in Him.

  The fact of our being in the Lord is accomplished by God, but to abide in the Lord is our responsibility. Just as we cannot do anything to be in the Lord, so God cannot bear the responsibility for our abiding in the Lord. First Corinthians 1:30 says, “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus.” It is of God that we are in the Lord. God has put us into the Lord and put His life into us so that we may be joined to the Lord as one spirit (Rom. 8:9-10; 1 Cor. 6:17). God has accomplished this for us. This is not something that we can do. We need only to see this accomplished fact.

  After we are saved, every one of us needs to see this glorious fact. God has put us in the Lord; we are in Him. Therefore, we can abide in the Lord. No one can do anything to put himself in the Lord. Our being in the Lord is accomplished by God, not by us. When we see that we are in the Lord, we will be able to abide in Him (John 15:4-5).

  The branches of the vine can abide in the vine because they are branches in the vine. Their abiding is based on what they are. If they were not branches of the vine, they could not abide in the vine. Similarly, if we are not in the Lord, we cannot abide in Him. We can abide in the Lord because we are in Him. Our abiding is based on what we are. We are branches of the Lord, the true vine; hence, we can abide in Him. We are responsible for our abiding in the Lord.