Abiding in the Gift of God

I spent most of the last session trying to show you that man has come out of God’s will, and is actively abiding in self-will. Man isn’t just sinning from time to time. He is actively looking, turning, and following with his inward ground, with the faculties and resources of his inward man—his will and heart and attention and time and mind and strength—turning to live in and to follow the desires of self. And this has become so natural for man in his fallen condition, that he doesn’t even notice that he is doing it. He doesn’t even know that there is another option, another Leader, another voice, another place to abide. 

Of course Christians know that God exists, and they hope to have their sins forgiven by Him, etc. But many believers are unaware, or they simply disbelieve that God has provided us the means to become free from sin and self. He has given us something else to abide in, and if we actively abide in this gift, Jesus says, “we will be free indeed,” even in this life. That should not sound like a radical statement. I am just quoting Scripture, and I could quote many others that say the same thing.

Because of the work of God in Christ, and the gift of Christ from God, Paul tells us that we are no longer debtors to live in the flesh. “Therefore, brethren,” he says in Romans 8, “we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.” Any why not? Because there is a gift in man, another seed, another place to turn to, another life to choose and follow with the will, the heart, the attention, our time, our mind, and our strength. There is a Spirit, a light, a vine, a Word that we can abide in, walk in, in every moment. We can be led by the Spirit of God, and not by the desires of the flesh. 

God has sown another seed into man, and the purpose for giving us this seed is not so that we will just have an accurate belief about it. No, the aim of Christianity is not right beliefs. I want to say this very clearly. Of course there are true beliefs and false beliefs. There are true doctrines and false doctrines. And true doctrines are important and good, because of how they point to a true Savior and a true way to walk with Him. But the goal or aim of Christianity is NOT to give man true doctrines, or right beliefs. In its most simple form, I believe Christianity can be described in these two main points:

1. On God’s part, it is a gift of God to lost man. It is something that God has done and given in order to bring man back to Himself. It is something that God has done outwardly to make a way for man to unite with Him inwardly forever. It is a gift of Christ outwardly as rescuer, conqueror, lover of man, overcomer, sacrifice and savior. And it is a gift of Christ inwardly as life, light, love, grace, given to man for His regeneration, restoration, transformation and redemption.
2. But on man’s part, Christianity is not a mere belief in this gift. NO! On man’s part, Christianity is a way to LIVE IN, or ABIDE IN the gift! It is a way to walk with God in His own Spirit. It is a way for man to walk in God’s gift, walk in the light, walk in the Spirit, abide in the vine, abide in the Word, in such a way that the gift of God continually works by its power in man, changing, killing, making alive, filling, transforming, redeeming, and overcoming. This is Christianity on man’s part. 

Or you could say, Christianity on man’s part is an inward journey from one nature to another, and this journey is known and experienced by actively abiding in the gift that God gives to man. 

I can hear somebody objecting and saying, “What do you mean actively abiding? There is a verse that says, all I need to do is ‘believe in my heart and confess with my mouth.’” Please, we must not abuse this verse. The context of this verse is the indwelling Word of faith that is in the heart and in the mouth which, when heard, produces living faith in the soul. So Paul says, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” But he does not say, “you are already saved.” If this Word has produced living faith in your heart, and an outward expression or confession of it, then it has begun a good work, and you are on the path of salvation. Abiding there, you WILL be saved. But this statement of Paul deserves the same cautions and conditions that he gives us in many other verses, as for instance:

Colossians 1:21 “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard.”

Romans 11:18 “Do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”

1 Corinthians 15:1 “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”

There are many other verses that say the same thing. And my point is quite simply that Christianity is not the reception of a new belief, but the abiding in a living gift, so that the gift of God overcomes in you all that Christ overcame on earth as a Man. And in order to overcome, we must learn to abide, to remain, to continue, to not be moved away, to hold fast the Word of life firm until the end. This is the unanimous testimony of Scripture. 

Man has dealt very dishonestly with Scriptures in this respect, taking single verses out of context, and forcing them to contradict the clear testimony of God. There is something in the flesh of man that wants salvation to be a future reward based upon nothing more than a correct belief. We want to live in the flesh now, enjoy the passing pleasures of this fallen world, abide in sin and self-will, and then be saved from the consequences of sin when we die. But this is far from being the gospel that Christ offers us. 

As something of a side note, we do the same thing in Romans chapter 4, where Paul tells us that Abraham’s faith became his righteousness. Now I have no debate with Paul about the truth of this affirmation. But my question is HOW? HOW did faith become accounted, imputed, or made unto Abraham his righteousness? When you read the story of Abraham’s life, do you see a man that was called righteous when he wasn’t really righteous? Do you see a man who was declared righteous because he had acquired a correct belief, even though he lived in self-will? Or do you see a man who, because of a living faith, was called out of everything that he had, everything he knew, everything he was, and then walked with God in the deepest humility, obedience and surrender of his will? Was he not called to a journey? To abide with God in a covenant represented by circumcision? And did not this abiding cause Him to leave behind all that he formerly had, and to give up everything that his flesh had ever produced, including his 13 year old son? And did it not leave him in a condition of such humility, such surrender, such obedience to the voice of God, that he would not waver even in offering to God the son of promise, for whom he had waited decades? 

Paul tells us in Romans 4 that Abraham was on a journey, and that he has left us “footsteps to follow.” He tells us that the things that were seen by faith were more real to Abraham, and more important to Abraham, than that which he saw by sight. He says that Abraham did not consider his own dead body, or the dead womb of his wife, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. We see that Abraham walked with God, saw the day of Christ, stayed in His light, abided in a living faith, and that THAT faith became his righteousness. And that faith will become our righteousness too, because it walks with God, lays hold of grace, and abides in a relationship where God shares Himself with man. 

But I mention all of this just to illustrate that Abraham is not an example of a man who just received a new belief, or came to a better understanding of spiritual things. No, he was a man who learned to abide in the presence and will of God, who was not moved away, who continued and held firm until the end, and thereby was made like the One he followed. 

And this must be the experience of all of us as well. It is not enough to just hear the call of God to leave our country, kindred, and father’s house. Many people hear this call and do not walk with God out of these things. Many people feel the Spirit, and don’t abide in the Spirit. Many people have glimpses of light, but don’t learn to abide in the light.  Everyone has times of visitation, but then, being visited by the light, it is time to learn to walk in the light, lest the darkness overtake you. “John 12:35  Then Jesus said to them, ‘A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.’”

And this is precisely what I am trying to communicate to you. It is not enough to have the light with us. We must learn to walk in it, or the darkness will eventually, one way or another, overtake us. 

And this is what Jesus is saying in John 8:31, to those who believed in Him. Let me read the verse again: 

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”

Let’s put it this way: Jesus said “to those who believed in Him” that they were not yet disciples, that they did not yet truly know the truth, and that they were not yet free. And the REASON why this was the case with them, is because they had not yet learned to abide in His Word. “He said to those who believed in Him, If you abide in My word…” 

Now, I want you to notice that here is something very different than what many are saying in the church today. Because just as soon as somebody starts to believe in Christ, we often say that they now know the truth. We often immediately say they have become disciples of Christ. And we sometimes even congratulate them on being made free. But here Christ is saying something very different. He is saying to those who already believe in Him that they must learn to abide in His Word, and THEN they will learn what it means to be disciples, and THEN they will start to truly know the truth (by experience), and THEN the experience of the truth will make them free. 

Free from what? Free from sin! This is the context of what Jesus is talking about here. He is not talking about being free from wrong doctrines. Nor is he talking about merely being free from the CONSEQUENCES of sin, in the future, after we die. No, that is not at all the context. He had just told the Jews, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin…Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Here He gives us a promise of freedom from sinning, from living in sin, from being under the power of sin, slaves to sin. Here He describes a way to depart from self will, and to return to the will of God. This is as great claim, a huge promise. Jesus is telling man what almost nobody believes today. He is telling man that they don’t have to live their lives in the flesh, as slaves to sin.

And again, I can almost hear somebody say, “That is impossible! Nobody can stop sinning.” Oh… don’t you find it a little bit sad that Christ clearly tells us He came to make us free from sin (NOT just from the consequences of sin), and yet His entire body (the church) tells Him that He cannot do it, and that it is a proud or ridiculous idea for a Christian to embrace this freedom as the goal of their Christianity. Well, perhaps the problem here, and the reason for all the doubt, is because the doubters have never actually learned to ABIDE IN HIS WORD. Perhaps they skipped the “you must abide in My Word” part, and ran ahead of His living Word—too quickly calling themselves disciples, knowers of the truth, and experiencers of freedom. 

Friends, be careful that you do not tell the Son of God that it is impossible for Him to do what He said He could do, and what He came to do, and what He wants to do. He said he could make the tree good, so that it could produce good fruit. He said that He could clean the inside of the cup and dish so that the outside could be clean as well. He said He could take the plank out of your eye, fill you with light, make you a living branch on His living tree, that produces fruits that glorified His Father. He told us that we should be perfect as His Father is perfect. Let’s be careful that our unbelief doesn’t accuse Him of being a lier. It seems much more likely to me that the problem lies with us, and not with Him. 

And what is the problem? I insist, the problem is that we have never learned to abide in His Word. We have indeed learned how to abide in self-will, in self-love, in the passing vanities of this world, but we have not used the same resources—our will and heart and attention and time and mind and strength—to learn to abide in Christ, abide in the light, abide in the Vine, abide in His Word. 

Now this expression of Christ, “if you abide in My Word,” is an important one. What is this Word that we are supposed to abide in? He doesn’t say “abide in my words.” He’s not talking about spending time in the Bible. Notice what he says in verse 37 of this same chapter: “I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.” This is a Word that needs a place, it needs room in people. And notice this verse too: “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.” What does this mean? Clearly Jesus is talking about a living Word in the heart that we cannot hear unless it finds room in our heart. 

This is the same living Word that is mentioned in so many other verses in Scripture. The author of the letter to the Hebrews says: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” 

This Word is Christ, the seeing and communicating of God’s will, nature, and life. Christ, the living Word, the “brightness of His glory and the express image of His person,” (Heb 1:3), the “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). Christ is called the Word because He is the communicating, the shining, the expressing of God’s will and nature, the perfect communication of God in the heart. This word is in the heart of man, sown there by the Sower of good and perfect gifts. This is the implanted Word that is able to save the soul. Yes, He came and spoke as a man, but now He speaks in the heart of man as a living Word, and this living Word is exactly what we need to learn to abide in.

I believe in every word in the entire Bible, Old and New Testament. And yet I know that it is common to read Christ’s words and not hear His Word. And it is even more common to read His words, and not abide in His Word. And this is exactly what Christ is saying to the Jews. He is saying, “You believe in Me, and that is good. But now you must learn to abide in my Word. My Word is going to appear in your heart over and over again, if you give it room. Yes, it is a living Word, a speaking Word, a dividing and distinguishing Word, and you MUST learn to stay where it leads you, stay close to it, abide in it and with it. It is going to make divisions between things that you cannot distinguish. It is going to draw lines, separate things that have contrary nature. That’s what it does in the heart. And you are going to be tempted to go OUTSIDE of it, AWAY from it, but you must ABIDE in it.”

“It is good that you believe in me, but My Word is a living, moving thing that speaks God’s will and nature and life and light in the heart, and that is where you must learn to live, every moment. That is where you heart must be turned, your eyes must be upon this Word, your will must be submitted to it. You must live like it says in Psalm 123: ‘Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God.’ You have now tasted a little bit of my truth, you have felt a touch of my Father’s love, you have felt a conviction for the evil in your heart. That is good. But NOW you must learn to stay where my grace continually works upon you. You have to abide where I speak. You have to submit everything in your soul to my will, so that you don’t depart from my Word. And if you abide in my Word in this way, you will see how powerful Truth is, and you will see that it will free you from yourself.”