What does it mean to remain in Christ?

[james415]

John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

To me it means believing I was born by the will of God and not man. His seed (Christ) is in me and I belong to His Tree of Life.

I also believe that Christ is Gods will for all of creation. Remaining in Him means believing you were made through Him and are part of Him. You live within the bounds of Gods will. How else could it be since nothing exists without Him according to John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. And John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. And Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. As it is written, the first will serve the second. The flesh (first) will serve the Spirit (second). 1 Corinthians 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

What does remaining in Him mean to you?

[Deba]

Interesting thought. I unchurched and unsaved until I was 33. But two things happened when I was twelve years old that. Well, I can't explain so I'll tell one story quickly.

At about 45 yo I had a huge struggle with accepting the blood of Jesus on me. I was raised on a farm, we slaughtered animals and it was not pleasant.

When I was 12, my father gave me a lamb as a present, only one on the farm. I named her "Patsy" and she went everywhere with me. One night I snuck her up the stairs to sleep with me. Early in the morning I woke up and blood was everywhere. I had hurt Patsy in my sleep! I checked her over, but found nothing. I check me and found I had started menustrating - although at that time I had no idea what the problem was.

At 45 one morning as I lay stretched out on the floor waiting for the Lord quietly, He said to me, "When you became a woman your blood was on the lamb, when you become a woman of God the Lamb's blood is on you." I never had a problem with the Blood after that.

So I guess that 21 years before I knew Him, He knew me and knew what I would need from Him 33 years later. Is that remaining?

[Lightbearer3]

Wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it.

Another point we might make is if we are to remain in Christ, that there is a way to fall away from Christ.

Jesus said in the last days because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold... But he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved.

[james415]

Interesting thought. I unchurched and unsaved until I was 33. But two things happened when I was twelve years old that. Well, I can't explain so I'll tell one story quickly.

At about 45 yo I had a huge struggle with accepting the blood of Jesus on me. I was raised on a farm, we slaughtered animals and it was not pleasant.

When I was 12, my father gave me a lamb as a present, only one on the farm. I named her "Patsy" and she went everywhere with me. One night I snuck her up the stairs to sleep with me. Early in the morning I woke up and blood was everywhere. I had hurt Patsy in my sleep! I checked her over, but found nothing. I check me and found I had started menustrating - although at that time I had no idea what the problem was.

At 45 one morning as I lay stretched out on the floor waiting for the Lord quietly, He said to me, "When you became a woman your blood was on the lamb, when you become a woman of God the Lamb's blood is on you." I never had a problem with the Blood after that.

So I guess that 21 years before I knew Him, He knew me and knew what I would need from Him 33 years later. Is that remaining?

Yes, I think so. If you trust that the will of God lives in and through you, then you do not judge what and who you are, or even what you do. When you judge what God has done, then you are no longer in Him (You are eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). Here are more verses that seem to apply to your story.

Psalm 139:16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

[sandman]

In the epistles….. Christ in you is Sonship …..you in Christ is fellowship

Sonship doesn’t change once you’re born again, but fellowship can.
Broken fellowship happens when we sin; repairing that broken fellowship is to ask for forgiveness

[Deba]

Yes, it's about the relationship, but He provided a way for a situation that could have become a stumbling block to me. My own understanding was not enough. Many times we make people feel they have to swallow the gospel hook, line and sinker before it has an opportunity to become truth in their lives. I think that sets them up not to remain in Christ.

A relationship is based on two-way communication. If we feel guilty every time we can't accept a biblical teaching, the guilt itself can block the teaching of the Holy Spirit and allow us to drift away in disillusionment.

[JolieHeart]

What it means to me.....

is...
not just being saved, but being KEPT.

That means, although I am saved, I have a responsibility to remain saved, via remaining repentant and staying away from sin.... not falling back into the pits of unGodliness that I was in before.

[james415]

John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

To me it means believing I was born by the will of God and not man. His seed (Christ) is in me and I belong to His Tree of Life.

What does it mean to you?
I also believe that Christ is Gods will for all of creation. Remaining in Him means believing you were made through Him and are part of Him. You live within the bounds of Gods will. How else could it be since nothing exists without Him according to John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. And John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. And Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. As it is written, the first will serve the second. The flesh (first) will serve the Spirit (second). 1 Corinthians 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

[zspeedyrabit]

Repentant of sin does not signify without a sinful habit ever again. However, a habitual sinner does not belong to God and neither does one who has not been baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). Lustful thoughts are difficult to ignore.....it's a work in progress.

[james415]

Disobedience to me means disagreeing with what God willed from the beginning. Disobedience separates you from God in your sinful desire to be or do something other than what God made you for.

Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Romans 9:14-21 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

[james415]

What it means to me.....

is...
not just being saved, but being KEPT.

That means, although I am saved, I have a responsibility to remain saved, via remaining repentant and staying away from sin.... not falling back into the pits of unGodliness that I was in before.

Do you believe salvation comes from your work or the work of Christ?

[Elife3]

I believe that means to keep seeking and following Christ.

[MoNiCa4316]

John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

To me it means believing I was born by the will of God and not man. His seed (Christ) is in me and I belong to His Tree of Life.

I also believe that Christ is Gods will for all of creation. Remaining in Him means believing you were made through Him and are part of Him. You live within the bounds of Gods will. How else could it be since nothing exists without Him according to John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. And John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. And Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. As it is written, the first will serve the second. The flesh (first) will serve the Spirit (second). 1 Corinthians 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

What does remaining in Him mean to you?

I've been thinking about the whole 'vine/branches' metaphor..... the branches stay alive only because they are connected to the vine. In the same way, we only stay alive if we rely on Jesus, but once we start living by our own efforts we will die. He is the source of Life. If we live by faith and let the Holy Spirit works in us, we would have 'fruits of the Spirit' and good works which are the evidence of our salvation. The important thing is to keep on having faith, coming back to God even when we have failed, and letting Him take control. Not trying to live on our own, but realizing that we're now 'in Christ' which means that we are dependent upon Him.
By letting His sacrifice and salvation to live within us.


God bless!


monica

[james415]

I've been thinking about the whole 'vine/branches' metaphor..... the branches stay alive only because they are connected to the vine. In the same way, we only stay alive if we rely on Jesus, but once we start living by our own efforts we will die. He is the source of Life. If we live by faith and let the Holy Spirit works in us, we would have 'fruits of the Spirit' and good works which are the evidence of our salvation. The important thing is to keep on having faith, coming back to God even when we have failed, and letting Him take control. Not trying to live on our own, but realizing that we're now 'in Christ' which means that we are dependent upon Him.
By letting His sacrifice and salvation to live within us.


God bless!


monica

Yes!!

It is Christ who lives in you that is doing Gods work.
When you trust in Him you enter God’s rest.

Hebrews 4:7-10 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

[Ishida]

What it means to me.....

is...
not just being saved, but being KEPT.

That means, although I am saved, I have a responsibility to remain saved, via remaining repentant and staying away from sin.... not falling back into the pits of unGodliness that I was in before.
I agree.

[MoNiCa4316]

What it means to me.....

is...
not just being saved, but being KEPT.

That means, although I am saved, I have a responsibility to remain saved, via remaining repentant and staying away from sin.... not falling back into the pits of unGodliness that I was in before.

I see what you are saying; but I believe that it is God's grace that keeps us there...He allows us to persevere and be repentant. But yes, it is important to remain 'in Christ' :)

God bless


monica

[james415]

Remaining in Him means remaining within the will of God.
Letting go and letting God puts us there. In other words, we should stop trusting in the plans of men (including our own) and trust that the course of our life is being used by God for good.

James 4:14-15 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (not our own).

[JoshuaM]

John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

To me it means believing I was born by the will of God and not man. His seed (Christ) is in me and I belong to His Tree of Life.

I also believe that Christ is Gods will for all of creation. Remaining in Him means believing you were made through Him and are part of Him. You live within the bounds of Gods will. How else could it be since nothing exists without Him according to John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. And John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. And Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. As it is written, the first will serve the second. The flesh (first) will serve the Spirit (second). 1 Corinthians 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

What does remaining in Him mean to you?

It is my ultimate goal. When I am distracted, I am empty feeling, when I am totally focused on Him I have peace that passes understanding. When I know I am close to Him, I do not care what is happening to me. I do believe God has a purpose for me to fulfill some part of His will.