Abiding in Christ

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:1-5

While the Christian life is most certainly a fight of faith, it is not endless striving and straining. There is a monumental difference between abiding in Christ and striving; and understanding the discrepancy can make a major change in the joy, peace, and contentment we experience as we serve Christ.

J. Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Mission, wrestled with the distinction until one day, at age thirty-seven, he saw the total sufficiency of Christ for every need. The catalyst for this liberating discovery was a personal letter from a missionary friend, John McCarthy, who wrote:

“To let my loving Savior work in me His will, my sanctification is what I would live for by His grace. Abiding, not striving nor struggling; looking off unto Him to subdue all inward corruption; resting in the love of an Almighty Savior...This is not new and yet ‘tis new to me. I feel as though the first dawning of a glorious day had risen upon me. I hail it with trembling and yet with trust. I seem to have got to the edge only, but of a sea which is boundless; to have sipped only, but of that which fully satisfies. Christ literally seems to me now the power, the only power of service; the only ground for unchanging joy.”

“I am the vine, you are the branches.” John 15:5