1 John 2:28
28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.
In some of His final teaching before returning to heaven, Jesus introduced the idea of abiding (remaining) in Him.
In John 15 He compared the two words to the relationship of a vine and its branches, saying that fruitfulness indicates everything is as it should be – both the vine and its branches are healthy and growing as they should. How does the believer (a branch) “remain” in Jesus (the vine)?
Primarily by being attached to and drawing life from the vine. John 15:5 "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” A branch cannot bear fruit of or by itself, it must remain in vital union with the vine, manifesting the life of the vine.
This is Spiritual Reality – nothing being faked, just life surrendered to Christ who bears fruit as He lives His life through the yielded branch. When you live this way, you live in confidence that you’ve got it right and you won’t have to shrink away in shame before Him when He comes.
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