Abiding in Christ: What Does It Mean to Abide?

Week 1: What Does It Mean to Abide in Christ?

“Abiding in Christ: What Does It Mean to Abide?”

Text: John 15:1–6 (KJV)

INTRODUCTION

The word abide is a familiar word—but often a misunderstood word.

Many assume abiding is the same as Union which is our joining with Christ at the moment of Salvation.

I have heard that some think it means

To try harder

To Avoid failure

To Prove one's salvation

But Jesus does not define abiding by effort or fear.

He defines abiding by usefulness and fruitfulness.

If we misunderstand abiding, we will do one of two things:

Live in guilt

Or live in failure

The best definition for Abiding in Christ is:

to remain in a living, loving, dependent fellowship with Him so that His life produces fruit through us.

But Before Jesus ever said, “Abide in me,”

He first told us “Come unto me.” Matt. 11:28

And it is only to those who have come to Him that this second invitation is given.

You came because He called.

You believed His word.

You found His promises true.

You tasted forgiveness, joy, and peace and found it to be so satisfying

And yet, for many believers, something seems to have happened.

As time went on, the fire cooled

The sweetness diminished.

The closeness faded

And with such a loving and powerful Saviour, you began to wonder why your experience did not seem fuller, deeper, or stronger.

The answer is not complicated.

You did not stop believing.

You did not lose salvation.

But you wandered from the close fellowship you once had

You came to Christ—but you did not remain “connected” to Christ.

So the first thing we need to see about abiding is….

I. ABIDING IS REMAINING CONNECTED

(John 15:4)

We have to understand, when Jesus said, “Come unto me,” He did not mean, “Come for a moment and then live on your own.” He meant, “Come to stay.”

He never intended to give you a brief season of joy at conversion,

Just to be followed by a lifetime of spiritual dryness while you manage life on your own.

He called you not to just come for a visit—but to a continual dwelling.

That is why He added this second command: “Abide in me.”

notice carefully:

—He did not say, “Abide with me,” but “Abide in me.”

This is not occasional contact.

This is intimate union.

Unbroken fellowship.

He opened His arms to receive you.

He opened His heart to love you.

And He opened His life welcome you

inviting you not merely to come to Him—but to live in Him.

Every reason that first drew you to Christ

now pleads with even greater force:

Remain in Him.

Andrew Murry said it best: “Who invited to the Kings palace would be content to stand at the door when he is invited to dwell inside, share the King’s presence, and live from the King’s resources?”

Our King has spoken, “Abide in me”

This means He wants us to be always present, always connected and always active

What this means:

This kind of life is Not automatic

it is Not permanent by default

it Requires our upmost intention

Illustration:

In a vineyard, no branch is connected to the vine by accident.

A branch is not tied on for decoration.

It is not hanging there for appearance.

It is connected for one purpose—to receive life so it can bear fruit.

The branch does not wake up each day deciding whether it will remain connected.

Its entire design assumes continued connection.

The vine supplies:

Life

Nourishment

Strength

The branch contributes:

Nothing but availability

Jesus’ point is simple.

A branch is not connected to the vine so it can exist— it is connected so it can produce.

If the branch stays connected, fruit is inevitable.

but

a branch can be attached but it stops drawing from the vine, it does not die immediately—but it will become useless.

It will take up space.

It will draw from the vine but it will be nothing but a life support system.

it will produce nothing.

So abiding is not only remaining connected….

II. ABIDING IS REMAINING DEPENDENT

(John 15:5)

Jesus makes an absolute statement:

“Without me ye can do nothing”

Not less. Not weaker. Nothing.

A branch does not store life—it must keep receiving it.

In a vine, the life of the plant flows constantly.

The sap does not come in a one-time rush.

It moves day after day, moment by moment.

A branch cannot say, “I received enough yesterday.”

It cannot live today on yesterday’s flow.

If the flow stops:

The branch might still look connected

It may even stay green for a while

But inside, it is already dying

The branch doesn’t die because it fails to try harder.

It withers because it stops depending on the vine

Abiding means that the branch stays where the sap flows.

It does not attempt independence.

It does not live off yesterday’s supply.

it means refusing to live the Christian life in your own strength.

Connection without dependence always leads to deadness.

Now you must remain connected and dependent, but Christ gives us a warning in verses 2 and 6.

He tells us to abide in me is to remain useful

III. ABIDING IS REMAINING USEFUL

*I think I need to slow down a little here*

John 15:2 “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

Jesus does not say:

“If ye feel close to me…”

He says:

“He that abideth… bringeth forth fruit”

Two kinds of branches:

In the vine, bearing fruit

In the vine, bearing none

➡️ Both are alive. ➡️ Only one is useful.

Illustration:

In a vineyard, usefulness is measured at harvest time.

When the season comes, the husbandman does not walk the rows asking,

Which branches felt close to the vine?

Which branches tried their best?

Which branches stayed green the longest?

no He looks for fruit.

A branch may be:

Properly connected

Supplied with life

Green and intact

And still be unproductive. Remeber It just occupies space. It draws nourishment for production But it contributes nothing to the harvest.

The husbandman keeps branches for one reason: fruit production.

And when a branch bears fruit, it proves three things at once:

It stayed connected

It kept depending

It fulfilled its purpose

Jesus’ point is clear:

Fruit is not optional decoration—it is the evidence of usefulness.

Supporting Scripture:

Colossians 1:10 — fruitful in every good work

Titus 3:8 — good works are profitable

John 15:6 “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

This one verse can confuse many people so let me be very clear, this verse has absolutly nothing to do with our salvation!

This verse is directly connected to verse 2.

This branch is in the vine

it is just not producing because it is not abiding

and if a branch is not producing what is the husbandman going to do?

remove it!!

Now notice what happens to the branch?

It withers

It becomes completly useless

Now this does not mean that we can lose our salvation

I believe and I believe scripture backs me up on this, that Christ is informing us that when we stop abiding in Him we stop producing fruit and start producing what we want and all those things that are not of the vine will be burned

Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 3…

1 Corinthians 3:13–15 “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

You can live your whole life connected to the vine and be useless, but there is coming a day when the husbandman is going to come and judge the fruit that the branches produced.

Where will you stand when that day comes?

Not:

Earning salvation

Maintaining acceptance

But:

Remaining connected

Remaining dependent

Remaining useful

To abide in Christ is to live in daily, dependent fellowship with Him so that His life produces fruit through us.

Now like we have stated at the beginning, This passage assumes connection.

A branch must first be in the vine.

It must have life to produce fruit

This message is not about how to get into Christ —

but if you are not in Him, you cannot abide in Him.

1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

In the garden, I sometimes use sticks to help support the the tomato plant as it grows.

Are those sticks part of the plant?

No of course not, but wait it is very close to the plant matter of fact it can some times appear to be part of it if the plant gets big enough.

But it is not.

Why?

Because there is no life in the stick.

It is just there, not growing, not producing just there rotting away.

You may be here this morning and never have been connected.

you have tried to produce fruit but have never succeeded.

Thats because you have to be connected to the vine before you can produce fruit

Wont you enter the Vine, so you to can start bearing fruit

CONCLUSION

So here is where the Lord brings us this morning.

Abiding is not mystical.

It is not emotional.

It is not complicated.

It is simply this: Staying where the life flows.

Jesus never asked you to manufacture fruit.

He never commanded you to strain, strive, or self-improve your way into usefulness.

He said,

“Abide in me.”

The vine has life. The vine has strength. The vine has power. The vine has fruit already in it.

Your responsibility is not production.

Your responsibility is position.

Stay connected. Stay dependent. Stay useful.

The is a tragic thing happening in the Christian Chruch today: many settle for surviving instead of producing.

Green—but barren. Saved—but shallow. Connected—but not drawing.

The question this passage leaves us with is not, “Are you saved?” That question was settled when you came to Christ.

The question now is: Are you abiding—or are you just hanging on?

Are you living daily from His strength, or are you trying to live the Christian life on yesterday’s supply?

Are you drawing from the vine, or merely attached in name while slowly drying inside?

Because one day, the Husbandman will walk the vineyard. And He will not measure intentions. He will not examine excuses. He will look for fruit.

Not to decide salvation— but to evaluate usefulness.

So this morning, the invitation is simple.

🔹 If you have never been connected to the vine— come to Christ. Life begins there.

🔹 If you are connected, but distant— return to close fellowship. Stop trying to live independently. Come back to daily dependence.

🔹 And if you are abiding— stay there. Do not move. Do not drift. Do not loosen your hold.

Jesus is not asking for more effort. He is asking for closer fellowship.

Remain in Him. And He promises— His life will bear fruit through you.

“Abide in me, and I in you.”

Let us bow our heads.