The heart of the Lord’s instruction to His disciples before His crucifixion is found in John chapter 15. He has told them that He is going away, and yet in John 15:4 He tells them to, “Abide in Me.” These are some of Jesus’s very important last words before the cross for His disciples and for us. What does He mean? How can we abide in Him when He is not present? Abide is the Greek word meno which means to stay, remain, or continue. It has in its meaning the idea of what the Scripture often uses for the word, “walk.” In the book of Genesis, we have the man, Enoch. It says of him in Genesis 5:24 that he, “walked with God.” The meaning there is that Enoch was in such a close attachment and relationship to God that it goes on to say, “and he was not, for God took him.” He was walking so close to the Lord that our Lord simply raptured him into glory away from the world and into the very presence of the Lord. This abiding with Christ even though He is not physically present or visibly seen carries this same kind of closeness.

Earlier in the John 15 text, the Lord had presented the physical illustration of Himself being the Vine, and His followers the branches. He stated, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” It is that kind of attachment and closeness. It is a continual drawing upon the Lord. It is a continuous dependence. For just as the branch receives life through the vine, so Christians must continue in persistent spiritual drawing from Christ’s life by maintaining constant dependent communion in prayer and God’s Word. Also, it means that we are shunning and avoiding anything in our life that is displeasing to the Lord.

Abiding as used here can be seen as synonymous with our sanctification. Sanctification is always present in those who belong to Christ. Our Lord makes this clear in John 15:6, when He states, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” He not only refers to the impossibility of being a Christian who lives without Christ, but that those calling themselves Christian, but who have no real connectivity with Christ as the branches to the Vine, are not really His. One who had been among the disciples was Judas. While eleven of the disciples would be fruitful, Judas would end as a disconnected betrayer. This serves as a warning to all who come in close contact with Christ through the church or a Bible study but have no living relationship. Just as Christ knew who Judas was, so He knows the heart of every person. The Bible calls them tares among the wheat (Mat 13:25-30), or the slave who foolishly buries his Masters talent (Matt. 25:24-30), or those who continue in sin after receiving knowledge of the truth (Heb 10:26), or those who fail to persevere and abandon the faith (1 John 2:19). The true Gospel is filled with warnings.

Beginning in verse 7 of John 15, He provides more understanding and tells us what we can expect from this abiding relationship. First, He states that central to this abiding are His words. He adds, “My words abide in you.” The idea is taking in His Words and abiding or continuing in them. The Word of God is thereby shown as precious to us. The Word is more than just mechanically received but becomes our guide for every decision and every desire. We become driven and motivated by His Word. As Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:9, “We have as our ambition to be pleasing to Him.” This is why Christ goes on to state, “and My Words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Many people have abused this verse as if Christ were a genie to grant carnal desires.

Our context is two-fold. First, our Lord is speaking of an intimate relationship with Him, and one saturated by a renewed mind from His Word. Second, it is in the context of continuing the ministry that our Lord began. He is addressing how they will accomplish the awesome task that He will leave them to build the Lord’s church and continue the Gospel work of making Christ followers (Matt. 28:19). In this same context He states they will do even “greater works” (John 14:12). He means that by the coming of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8) many will be convicted, and the church will grow in great numbers with many true followers. There are many more things that Christ states that are part of this abiding. He says we are to keep His commandments, love one another, be in His work as a person producing fruit, and live in the manner that He lived.

As we near the time celebrated for the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord, it is a good time to be reminded of these key elements for our life. Going further in this same text, John 15:11 He says, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” Abiding in Christ produces above all else a sense of joy that is unmatched. People are looking everywhere for happiness and here it is! Find true happiness in love and faith in Christ. Abide in Him daily and the incredible and glorious joy of the Lord will be ours. There is no higher calling than to abide in Christ. No matter what our current situation may be, walk with Him in full attachment to the Vine, and be filled with His goodness that brings true joy!