Living In Christ

John 15:4

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me”.

John 15: 6

“If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned”.

There is a common phrase in Christianity that ‘Abide in Christ’ or live in Christ.

In the first 16 verses of this chapter there are 11 times this word ‘abide’ (in Greek- Meno) appears. In the book of 1 John, there are 24 times this word ‘abide’ appears.

What does it mean to say that we must live in Christ to be called a Christian?

Living in Christ is not optional- but it’s very proof that we are born again and a part of Christ’s body, the Church.

Verse 6 says, if we do not abide in Christ, we are unbelievers, who do not want to be a part of this true vine (Christ).

Simply being religious is not living in Christ. Coming to the church, singing a few songs, reading the Bible, preaching a few sermons or any such religious activities or putting on a religious costume will never make us live in Christ.

Living in Christ means, living like a branch in a tree. Perpetual dependence, until the end!

It’s talking about a new lifestyle, a day to day walk of life.

Please find below three steps to make sure that we are living in Christ.

A. LOOK TO CHRIST

Every day we look at many things in life. What we look at is our aim in life and our destination. We are not aimless. What we are today is because of what we looked at. Someone looks for more comfort in life. Someone looks for more money. Someone looks for acceptance and authority. Someone looks for prosperity and positions in this world

We look at our problems, we look at politics, we look at our economy, we look at ourselves for different reasons. Whatever we look at brings different effects in our life. Some bring fear, some bring anxiety, some bring happiness, and different emotions depending on what we behold.

But the Bible commands us to look at Jesus.

Hebrews 12: 2 “ fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”.

Hebrews 12:3 “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart”

Looking at Jesus will not bring fear or anxiety in us. But it will bring hope and boldness in our life. We will be confident and courageous. Life will have meaning. God’ Word brings life to someone who is dry and living in darkness.

1) Look to Him for Salvation.

We see in Numbers 21, a situation where Israel was opposing Moses and Aaron thereby rebelling with God and God sent fiery serpents amongst them and they were bitten by them. They all cried to Moses and God. God commanded Moses to make a serpent of brass and asked him to lift it on a pole and said whoever is bitten by the serpent and look upon it will live.

In John 3:14-15 Jesus referenced himself to this as “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

Jesus was lifted upon the cross in Calvary for the whole world to be saved. Any worst sinner can receive absolute forgiveness by looking unto Jesus in a moment if he repents and believes. Whoever listens to God and receives the Gospel into heart and seeks for salvation will receive the gift of God.

2) Look to him in the storms

In Matthew 14, we see an incident where Peter was sinking in the sea and Jesus stretched out his hands to pick him up from drowning.

When we go through the storms of life we need to look up on to Him. There are situations when no human wisdom would help us. No man will be able to help us no matter how powerful or influential they are. Only God could help us.

3) Look to Him for strength to endure.

Our Lord Jesus Christ showed us a perfect way to live a human life that is both satisfying on earth and be well pleased before the Father. He is the author and finisher of our faith. The life that He lived on earth very well explains how we need to conduct our day to day life.