“Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch can not bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; because without Me you an do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” John 15:4-10 (NKJV)
Abide- Strong’s #3306=To stay (in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy) to continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for) thine own.
To abide in Him, is perhaps the greatest and most misunderstood of teachings concerning the salvation of mankind. I believe that this is so because of our innate desire to accomplish, we want everything broken down into increments of time required for its achieval. When confronted with the necessity of a lifelong surrender, our fallen nature rears its selfish head and we look for simpler alternatives. Surely there must be an easier means of victory, surely we don’t have to surrender all to God?
And so, we seek to ease the burden of surrender, substituting our own less binding doctrine for the words of Jesus. We have been taught that salvation may be had through a simple prayer; some erroneously teach that water baptism seals our salvation; others claim that membership in a particular church is necessary.
But, Jesus and His disciples, tell us that our salvation is only as valid as our relationship with Him. Nothing we can do or say, no multitude of prayers or weeping at the altar can save us if we don’t have a right, personal relationship with Jesus, whereby we have surrendered all to Him.
A righteous relationship with Jesus is our salvation.
