I’m been obsessing over the last couple of months for the right terminology to explain what it means to “abide in Christ.” Every time I get comfortable with language, I end up longing for something better. It’s so important to me because the subject is so significant. In Jesus’s last conversation with the 12 before the Crucifixion He was explaining to them about the coming ministry of The Holy Spirit in their lives, and The Spirit’s ministry to make real in them, and release through them the very life that Jesus lives, just as The Holy Spirit made real in Him (as man), and released through Him the life the Father lives. In John 15 Jesus is telling them how to make this life work. In teaching them the HOW in appropriating the WHO in their lives and ministry, He used repeatedly the word “abide.” The word simply means to “remain.” In other words, “stay” in my presence so that my presence, in the power of The Holy Spirit, may rest on you, reign in you, and be released through you. The explanation of the HOW (abide) to the WHO, is best explained like this; abiding is to relentlessly seek Him, restfully trust Him, and to radically obey Him. If you consistently do those things you will find yourself abiding, living in the conscious experience of His presence in, on, and through you, thus bearing the fruit of the life that Jesus lives.
