It feels a bit risky, word-lover that I am, to say that of all the words in the Bible ‘abide’ is my favorite. Yet, I find that the longer I dig into Scripture and seek more of the Spirit, the more I long for the abiding life! I want, as the Apostle John describes, to ‘remain’ in Christ. I want to ‘dwell’ in Him and He in me, always and forever – and not just for the knowledge of His presence but for the experience of it, for the results of it.
I want to abide.
In fact, Jesus calls all believers to abide. Like fruit on a vine.
The Fruit of the Abiding Life
For all of Paul’s talk of ‘staying on the path’, he also echoes John’s idea of bearing fruit for God’s Kingdom. Sometimes the ‘fruit’ Paul references has to do with the way we live in a general sort of way, honoring and pleasing God, producing “every kind of good fruit” for Him (Colossians 1:9-10 NLT). Such ‘producing’ comes not from striving in our own strength but from living by the Spirit and from knowing God’s will and following it.
Another time, Paul uses the same metaphor to describe what it’s like for followers of Jesus to live in His light, which is to grow the “fruit of light” – “goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Ephesians 5:9 NIV). As we work and walk with the Light of the World in us, these traits develop within us naturally, like fruit on a tree. Similarly, Paul describes the way we bear the “fruit of righteousness” when we live “pure and blameless” for Christ – a life “bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all” (Philippians 1:11 NIV, MSG).
All ‘good’ spiritual fruit comes as a result of abiding in Christ, yet for our purposes in this series, we shall hone-in on the specific ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:22-23). Nine in all yet singular in work and deed (and grammar). Not an exhaustive list but “a summary sketch of what life in the Spirit looks like.”1
Paul teaches that participating with the Spirit’s work cultivates within us “the conditions needed for spiritual fruit to grow.”1 Then he expounds on a list of characteristics that capture the essence of Christ’s nature: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Not that long ago we closed-out our summer series describing Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier, the One who works in us and with us to make us holy. In that post we learned:
“When we open our hearts and minds and spirits to the work of God, by way of His Spirit in us, we will notice changes within our inner being. And, people around us will notice differences in our demeanor and responses.”2
Fruit of the Spirit.
There’s a mysterious work of Holy Spirit deep within us that produces Christ-like character. This fruit grows in us, maturing and transforming us as we remain in the Vine, as we abide in Him and become like Him.
The Vine, and the Spirit’s Fruit
To best grasp what Jesus intends for us to understand through the Vine and branches metaphor, it helps us to picture rows of grapevines growing in fields and along hillsides – maybe visions of modern day Tuscany come to mind.
Up from the ground grows the actual grapevine, the older vines thick and woody like small tree trunks. Then as they stretch their arms to the left and the right, curly-cue branches start shooting off, wildly wrapping themselves on anything within reach. Leaves unfurl, and at just the right time, tiny clusters of grapes begin to appear, maturing over a season until they’re ready for harvest.
Jesus describes the Father as the Vinedresser (John 15:1 ESV), the One who moves along the vines with an eye for what is needed – and what is not. A fruitful vine must be pruned so that branches don’t become chaotic or diseased, so that sunlight and airflow can be maximized for the fruit, and so the fruit becomes sweet and flavorful. Even as I write these words, it occurs to me that for a grapevine, it’s not about letting branches do what comes naturally. It’s about keeping branches healthy so that the fruit can grow.
So. As we see ourselves as branches growing from the True Vine, we begin to grasp what we’re meant to learn. Remaining in Jesus looks like living from His love and grace and truth rather than running wild in our own natural ways. Abiding in Him looks like surrendering to the Vinedresser’s love-soaked pruning so that we grow stronger and flourish. Dwelling as part of the Vine, we no longer live solely for ourselves because we’re part of something bigger than us. We’re part of a ‘whole’ that trusts the Vine and Vinedresser to give us all we need and to show us how to live and grow and bear fruit.
This is abiding, a way of remaining in Christ that produces the Fruit of the Spirit. To point out the obvious, the fruit Paul lists is not ‘our’ fruit. It’s fruit that comes by way of the Spirit living and working in us. Our role is not to make the fruit; it’s to abide – to dwell in Christ in faith, by grace, and with a surrendered heart. It’s to trust that the fruit of Christ’s character in us is developing with each moment of true belief and obedience, with each exploration of Scripture and choice to forgive. All of which are led and sourced by Holy Spirit.
Seven times in ten verses, Paul mentions Holy Spirit because he wants us to see the interconnectedness between us and the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25). He longs for us to grasp how there is this “mysterious interplay between divine and human action,” between what Holy Spirit does and what we do. Think of this reciprocity as an invitation “to cooperate with what the Spirit is doing in us.”1
“In order for the life of the Vine to grow fruit in us, we have to firmly connect ourselves to the Vine by pursuing God’s way of life over our own”1 – which is to say that the abiding life is not about managing our behaviors. It’s giving the Spirit space to do a transforming work in us. It’s relinquishing our fear and pride, our regret and shame, and receiving the Spirit’s healing; it’s putting our whole trust in God, obeying Him at every command, with each nudge. And as we do, little by little, we’ll begin to see broken places made whole, old ‘flesh’ habits and tendencies give way to new life in the Spirit.
We’ll begin to see the love, peace, and joy of Christ flow out of us because He exists within us. We’ll witness ourselves live with more patience, kindness, and goodness because the One who embodies those traits nurtures their growth in us. We’ll watch with wonder as we respond to people and circumstances with gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control because, now, we remain in the Vine.
The Vine, and Holiness
Perhaps it is not a coincidence that my favorite word happens to show up multiple times in my favorite passage of the Bible: John 15:1-16. I recommend this passage in the English Standard Version because it’s one of the few modern translations that incorporates the actual word ‘abide’, a word packed full of nuances and spiritual depth.
In this chapter, John captures one of Jesus’ final speeches to the Eleven (Judas had already left), so it strikes me that these words would have flowed from Jesus with great urgency, for this is what He wanted to be sure His closest disciples understood before He left them:
- Who He is – the True Vine
- Who the Father is – the Vinedresser
- Who we are – the branches
- What our purpose is – to produce fruit for the Kingdom
- How to produce that fruit – by abiding in the Vine
Jesus knows our tendencies as humans; He knows our flaws as individuals. He knows the way we’ll strive and try to produce our own fruit even though apart from Him, we can do nothing (v.5).
Jesus knows the world’s ways and how highly success and performance rank in our culture. He knows if we don’t abide in Him, we’ll work for our glory and bear no fruit for God’s Kingdom (vv.6,8).
Jesus knows the way humans lean toward legalism or licentiousness – one extreme or the other – so He sets out to show us that abiding keeps us from both. Abiding anchors us in God’s love and in His will with every choice to obey; it grows great fruit and blesses us with full joy (vv. 9-11).
As such, Jesus wants us to know that the way to live for Him is to live in Him, not passively but intentionally and responsively, with great faith and hope.3 By sending us His Spirit to dwell in us, to abide in us, He not only grants us the assurance of our status as children of God but the means of becoming holy (see 2 Peter 1:2-11). He gives us what we need to “share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” (v.4 NLT).
Christ’s divine nature in us means we can grow in His likeness. And from Christ’s perspective, we’re not only able to have the same character as Him – we’re meant to.
Friends, may we leave this lesson knowing that it’s not on us to force the fruit of Christ’s nature to appear in us by willing it to do so or by our own achievements. It comes through connectedness, a surrendered heart, and a willingness to do all that Holy Spirit asks of us because we trust He will do His part in this abiding life with us.
So now that I’ve thought about it some more, maybe ‘abide’ is my favorite word in the Bible because it captures and enables us to live with Jesus and to be like Him. Abiding gives us a picture of what it is to pursue holiness: branches on the Vine.
Father God, how we thank You for all the ways You work in us, helping us to mature and become more like your Son, the One You sent to die for us, to defeat sin and death for us. And we know that it’s in this gift of your Son that we can know your love for us. So, we choose right here and right now to surrender to all the work of pruning and filling, of shaping and renewing that You have in mind for us – because we know that You are a good and loving Vinedresser. We know that we need to remain in the True Vine if we’re going to grow and mature and produce fruit for You. Holy Spirit, keep reminding us that You’re right here to help us in this life of pursuing holiness, of abiding in and becoming like Jesus. Keep righting every wrong belief we have about this life in Christ. Help us root and establish ourselves in the Father’s love so that we are fruitful for Him, growing more like Jesus with every holy pursuit and humble release. We desire the fruit of the Spirit, the nature of Christ, in our deepest selves so that in our everyday coming and going, others will see Him in us. It is in His most holy name we pray, amen.
(1 John 3:16; John 15:1-16; Ephesians 3:16-21; Galatians 5:13-25)
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- 1 – It’s been a loooong time since I quoted myself. LOL. I think part of me wanted to acknowledge that I’m aware it’s only been about a month since we touched on the Fruit of the Spirit – and to convey that it was always the plan for our summer-concluding post to set-up for this series. If you happened to miss that post, it’s a great place to start as we set out to pursue holiness wholeheartedly! Stay tuned — for the next several weeks, we’ll do a deeper dive into the nine Fruit of the Spirit.
- 2 – The Bible Project article on “The Fruit of the Spirit”
- 3 – One of YouVersion’s (Bible app) reading plans is called “Respected Life” by Jen Weaver. She writes prose like a poet. I especially love her words about abiding:
You don’t produce fruit by trying harder. You bear it by abiding.
And abiding isn’t passive. It’s responsive obedience.
Small, Spirit-led choices to stay connected to the vine
Where performance asks, How am I doing?
The Spirit asks, Are you staying with Me? - SEU Worship’s beautiful song, “Fruit Takes Time,” captures so much of what this abiding life looks like, especially the fruit-growing part of it. And it’s on our Spotify playlist, Pursue Holiness, If we make these lyrics our earnest prayer, we’ll find that we live more trusting of God and more surrendered to His work in us. We’ll find that good fruit will come!
Thank God, Your ways are better than mine
Break my heart if that’s what it takes
Find me faithful, good fruit takes time to grow
Hold me, shape me, change me daily
Find me faithful, good fruit takes time to grow - My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes the first week of each month to those who have subscribed on my website. I also post them on Substack. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.
- Many of you have found me on Substack. Thank you so much! And, if you’d like to listen to (rather than read) these weekly posts, you can do so on Substack. It’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike.
- As we progress in this fall series, we’ll be talking more and more about the rhythms we can engage in as the ‘means of grace’. Such rhythms are not tools to earn grace or holiness; rather, they’re active disciplines we enter into with Holy Spirit; they’re ways or places we can be transformed by God’s holiness.. Very simply, the ‘means of grace’ are outward practices we employ in order to be more fully shaped by God’s life; in other words, they are the ‘means’ to being and living holy.
A fourth ‘means of grace’ practice that helps us abide in Christ is reading and studying Scripture — for ourselves, with others, not just relying on someone else to do that engaging for us. A great place to begin is John 15!!
- We’re all called to share the truth about who Jesus is. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. May we use our whole selves to tell others about our holy God!!
Featured Photo by Zachary Brown on Unsplash
“All the Bits and Pieces” Photo by Victoria Soldaska on Unsplash.
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