Prayer and the Great “If . . . Then” Promise of Jesus- Part 2: Remain In Me
“If you remain in Me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you” (John 15: 7 NIV).
The theme of the first 6 verses in John 15 is our dependence upon Jesus – we need Him! Jesus says, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you” (John 15: 4 NIV). And a warning: if anyone does not remain in Jesus, he will wither and be like a branch thrown into the fire.
We are the branches and Jesus is the vine; all we have and all we are depends upon Him. Every part of our life flows from Him. Understanding and accepting this leads to true humility. The fruit we bear because of our connection with Him is at least, in part, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22, 23 NIV). But the fruit that we exhibit is His fruit in us. It is His love, His joy, His peace, etc. flowing into and out of us, because we are connected to Him. And part of this fruit is answered prayer that brings glory to our Father.
Disconnected from Him, we will connect to another source – not a source of life, but of death. Paul describes this other source as ‘the flesh’. The flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit. The acts of the flesh include idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, and more (see the complete list at Galatians 5: 19 – 21). When we disconnect from Jesus we live in the kingdom of the world, also known as the kingdom of satan or the kingdom of self. Often life in the flesh is a life in the occult – a life of witchcraft, divination, and sorcery. (Anytime you use intimidation or manipulation to dominate someone or something, you are using a spirit of witchcraft!).
Jesus’ words, “If you remain in Me” can be broken into 2 parts. “If you remain” and “In Me”. “In Me” is the foundational principle for the Christian life. “In Me”, “In Jesus”, or “In Christ” are synonymous. Did you know that the word ‘Christian’ appears only 3 times in the Bible, but the phrase ‘in Christ’ or similar phrases appears 164 times? A disciple is more accurately described as a man or woman who is ‘in Christ’ than by saying, “They are a Christian”. Paul uses the words ‘in Christ’ throughout his letters.
In the rest of this post I’ll look at the meaning of ‘in Christ’, followed by a brief discussion of the words “If you remain . . . “.
To be ‘in Christ’ has been defined as living in intimate and organic union with Jesus or living within the sphere of His influence and power. While these definitions are true, they do not capture the fullness and the breath-taking reality of what this simple word, ‘in’, means.
Before I met Jesus, I (self) sat on the throne of my life. My life’s purpose was the endless, painful, difficult, and often futile task of getting my wants, needs, and desires fulfilled. When Jesus entered my life, He sat on the throne of my life. Now my life’s purpose, enabled by the Holy Spirit, is releasing and advancing His Kingdom; all for His glory and none of my own. OK, but how does this transition or transformation occur? No doubt, much of the ‘how’ is shrouded in mystery, but here is my answer to that question:
Paul (1 Thessalonians 5: 23 NIV) tells us that we have 3 parts: spirit, soul, and body. Before, my life flowed out of my ‘soul’ – that place in my heart described as will, intellect, emotion, knowledge, and experience – my ‘flesh’. ‘I’ was in control, or so I thought. This is a life living in the kingdom of the world aka the kingdom of self, darkness, or kingdom of satan. Finding all of my value in the world is pride. But when Jesus calls me to Himself, and I respond to that call by faith, something mysterious happens to me. The driving force in my life changes or shifts – the soul no longer directs my life. It is still present and very important to who I am as a person – but Jesus enters into my life. His life, the person of Jesus, actually begins, mysteriously and mystically, to live in me, residing in my spirit. I am still ‘me’, but I am also changed or transformed. My life is no longer controlled by my soul or ‘me’; my life is now under the authority of the Holy Spirit living in my spirit. My life is controlled by Jesus. This is the life of humility. Controlled by the Holy Spirit (but still with the freedom to say “no”, to choose) I have crossed a threshold – I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. I have left behind the kingdom of the world; I now live in the Kingdom of God. Paul (as usual) says it best:
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God (KJV says, “the faith of the Son of God”, but that is another post) who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2: 20 NIV).
Jesus replaces our human nature (our propensity to live for ourselves, to ‘use’ life to fulfill our own wants, needs and desires) and the driving force in my life (self, which, whether we believe it or not, is under the authority of satan) with His divine nature and a new force – the Holy Spirit. I have undergone a radical transformation that reaches deep into to the core of my being. Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation”. I have died to the old and risen in new life – new values, new lifestyle, new ways of thinking, and speaking. Jesus confirms this new and amazing reality of being ‘in Christ’:
“Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you” (John 14: 19, 20 NIV).
Think about that: Jesus is in the Father and Jesus is in me; therefore the Father is in me and I am in the Father. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God now live in me, and I live in them!
This reality, which we grasp by faith, is the heart, the foundation of what it means to be Christian.
How do we enter this relationship with Jesus? It begins with “being born again by water and the Spirit” (John 3: 5) because when we are born again we enter the Kingdom of God and begin to live a Kingdom life. This ‘entering’ is synonymous with begin saved and is associated with repentance. Paul tells us we are saved when we, “Confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10: 9, 10 NIV).
Paul amplifies these verses with, “For He rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves where there is redemption and the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1: 13 NIV), both marks of salvation.
But Paul adds one more piece of the picture:
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ . . . In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men, but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2: 9 – 12 NIV).
Paul also describes circumcision as “circumcision of the heart by the Spirit” (Romans 2: 29).
So, ‘in Christ’ means we were born again, saved – rescued from the darkness of the kingdom of the world (or satan) and brought into the light in the Kingdom of God – and separated from our sinful nature or the flesh when Jesus (the Spirit) circumcised our heart. We live ‘in Christ’, sharing a mutual, intimate, organic union with Him, now, as we live in relationship in Him, and He in us, in the Kingdom of God. Now all that we have and all that we are flows into us from Him. He is our life; He is our Lord, King, savior, and friend – Jesus in me and me in Him.
The outcome of being ‘in Jesus’ is we no longer live for ourselves. Our selfish life is supernaturally replaced with a life that desires, more than anything else, to follow, serve, and obey Jesus and share Him with others. My life, in which I found my value as a human being in all the ‘things’ of the world, now finds its value in Jesus and His love and value for me; and that is more than sufficient. Another way to think about it is I am valuable because the most valuable person in the universe – Jesus – lives in me.
I remain in Jesus, not because I have to to fulfill some obligation or because if I don’t, my prayers won’t be answered. I remain in Jesus because in Him my life is filled with joy and peace — no matter my circumstances. I enjoy Jesus and He enjoys me!
The opposite of “remain in Me” is profession without practice, words without deeds, and activity without relationship. Sadly, many people in Christian churches fall into one or more of these categories. They may be saved, but they are not living the joyful, powerful life Jesus died to give them. They are not ‘in Christ'.
Does living ‘in Christ' sound good? It is – it is Good News. But while Christ lives in our spirit and our spirit begins to control our life, becoming more like Jesus each day, as we “remain” in Him, is the journey of a lifetime. We are being and becoming, both at the same time.
The Greek word for ‘remain’ is meno. It can be translated as remain, abide, dwell, live in, or ‘not to depart’ (in the sense of place) or ‘continue to be, to last, or endure’ (in the sense of time).
Jesus says, “If you remain in Me”. In Greek, ‘if’ is ean. “It is used . . . to denote indefiniteness or uncertainty” (Strong’s). I think ‘remain’ captures the passage better than abide or dwell because, while ‘remain’ implies that we are already abiding or dwelling in Christ, it also implies that we need to continue to do so. That is consistent with Jesus’ admonishing us to ‘stay connected’; if we do not, we will wither and be thrown away into the fire. “If you remain in Me” has two important implications: 1) we have a choice; and 2) we can discontinue our connection to Jesus. It is almost like a divorce – apparently, we can choose to ‘annul’ the relationship. Is it, then, possible to be ‘in Christ’ one day and ‘out of Christ’ the next? The words, “If you remain in Me” suggest Jesus is saying “Yes, so stay alert”.
Here is how Andrew Murray describes “remain in Me”:
“After Jesus has spoken to us thus . . . He said, “Accept, consent, to receive the Divine Life of union with Myself, in virtue of which you abide in Me, I also abide in you, even as I abide in the Father, so that your life is Mine and Mine yours”. This is the true abiding, the occupying of the position in which Christ can come and abide – so abiding in Him that the soul has come away from self to find that He has taken the place and become our life” (Murray, ‘With Christ in the School of Prayer’, pg. 55).
Once we enter the Kingdom of God, Jesus calls us to remain in Him. So, how do we remain in Him daily? That is the topic for my next post, “Prayer and the Great “If . . . Then” Promise of Jesus – Part 3: Daily Remaining in Christ”.
John