The Super Power of Abiding in Jesus

Introduction

Let’s have a conversation about sin. At the core I believe we all know what sin is. Some of our sins have brought more shame than others, some of our sins have made us a better person when we have decided to learn from our mistakes. One thing that we must understand is we all sin, the detriment ensues when we remain in a sinful state. When we refuse to try, we are essentially saying that our desire to gratify the flesh or our desire to be held in bondage to sin is stronger than the liberating power of Jesus Christ.

We’ve all had that one thing that is difficult to say no to. Understand that the more we abstain from the things that push us further from God the easier it will become. Making mistakes is not just about falling short it’s also about having the ability to bounce back and not give up when you fail. Essentially sin is nothing more than falling short or failure. The beauty is we serve a forgiving God that has the ability to restore us even when sin has altered our life.

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Sin, Struggle Against

Near Watsonville, California, there is a creek that has a strange name: Salsipuedes Creek. Salsi puedes is Spanish for “Get out of it, if you can.” The creek is lined with quicksand, and the story is that many years ago, in the early days of California, a Mexican laborer fell into the quicksand. A Spaniard, riding by on a horse, saw him and yelled out to him, “Salsi puedes!” which was not very helpful. The creek has been so named ever since. That is what the flesh is like. We struggle to correct these tendencies—to get out of the effects of our sinful nature—but we cannot do it

Nonetheless there is power in abiding in Jesus. This is not to say that you are powerless, but we have more power in Jesus. Essentially abiding in Jesus is our super power. It allows us to bounce back when we fall, find joy in the midst of turbulent situations, forgive those who have wronged you! Listen, these are super powers! This is not to say that we didn’t enact discipline, or empathy before Jesus, it’s truly to help us understand that we have the capacity to do even more with Jesus.

The State of Sin

1 John 3:4 “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

Sin becomes lawlessness when we refuse to change. Essentially it is to live as if there are no laws. To be quite honest this is one of the issues when are seeing in Hip Hop right now. When some of these artist have been at their peak, so many people showing their fandom unto them they’ve been able to buy their way out of the trouble. The problem with that is, many people believe they’ll be able to do that forever until that grace runs out.

The key word in this text is commits, the state of sin that John is referencing is the idea that we disregard any opportunity to do the right thing and remain in a constant state of doing the will of our flesh rather than the will of God. Our lifestyle is a reflection of the habits we practice. It’s similar on the righteousness end of the spectrum as well. 1 John 2:29 “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”

John brings us to this place to help us understand the other side, grammatically speaking “everyone who” followed by commits is written in the present participle, so the writer describes continuous sinning. Sinning to a point in which it becomes a lifestyle not just an isolated event of failure or missing the mark.

Some questions to pose as we move forward:

What is lawlessness?

This is pertinent question simply because this continuous manner of sin is attached to the idea of lawlessness.

As it pertains to the context this isn’t what we typically think about as sin. Often times we think of things as it pertains to personal character and behavior. Similar to what Colossians 3:5 states, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” John adds a little gravity to the situation as it pertains to the context of this epistle. He’s pointing our attention to the secessionist who present themselves to be holy but to destroy the fabric of unity and harmony within the church is lawlessness as well. These false teaches so blinded by their own arrogance they believed they were free from sin. We see this happening today in churches that condemn other churches for doing things aren’t wrong according to scripture but because tradition has been singed into their hearts so deeply anything that does not reflect their idea of worship is considered wrong. So they utilize pulpits to attack and belittle people instead of trying to build a sense of brotherly love through the hallways of unity!

Jesus Takes Away Our Sin

Understand that sin leads to death, not only is continuous sin a wage that leads to death but because of sin, Jesus paid the ultimate price and died on the cross for our sins. He became like us to free us!

Here’s where the power comes in. The only way to overcome sin is to abide in Jesus Christ! When we live our life filled with sin, we can’t say we truly know him. To know Jesus is to keep is commandments. We’re familiar with what it means to abide, simply put to remain the same place over a period of time.

When I’m sad I remain in Jesus

When I’m broke I remain in Jesus

When life feels like it’s crumbling I remain in Jesus

When I’m stressed out I remain in Jesus

Abiding puts us in position to see Jesus in every situation. The challenge in life is we get frustrated because things aren’t going my way, and to couple that with poor coping skills or instant gratification it can blind us from seeing Jesus in every situation.

Abide plays an important role in the life of a Christian. Abide appears 45 times in the new testament, 44 of those are in the epistles and the gospel of John. Sin in a continuous manner is showing that value flesh over discipline in Jesus Christ.

Ask yourself what is keeping you from coming to Christ. What is keeping you from devoting your life to him. Are you fearful that you’ll miss out on something? Do you not feel like you measure up? Let’s be honest none of us measure up, we all make mistakes!

How You Practice is How You Play

I remember in sports, there were plenty of times where we would have a horrible week in practice and the game would be a struggle as well. Typically it was on the heels of an opponent that we didn’t take seriously or we just thought we were that good. One of the issues with that was the fact that when you are a champion everyone wants to take you down. This is how the enemy feels about us, he knows we love Jesus, he knows we are striving and coming to church tired, praying for people that in a past life we probably would have let them have it, the enemy knows you’re trying to do right and that’s why even when life is good when still have to keep up with the practices of righteousness. You never know when the enemy is going to strike and you have to be ready!

1 John 3:7 “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”

Do not be deceived, you can’t devote time to certain people and certain places that don’t prioritize Jesus and expect to live in a righteous way. Do not underestimate your opponent. We must be alert, understanding that the enemy’s goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. We all have a responsibility and that is to do what God requires, doing what is right no matter the circumstance.

Abiding in Jesus is a matter of the heart. There’s a reason why you do not want to let go of certain things, places, and people. Nonetheless the longer you hold on to it, the heavier it becomes! We have to be very careful, a wise man once said “one tiny piece of dirt in a carburetor can keep the most powerful truck from climbing a mountain road. A rather small impurity---but all-important in making the ascent. Some of us are an abiding away from reaching the mountain top of our purpose!