Principles of Abiding in Christ

quietbloke

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You're welcome. It came to mind.
Hi 'W2L' l love v.1 'My dear children,I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin,we have One who speaks to the Father in our defence - Jesus Christ,the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world'. How important it is to abide in Christ and He in us. To dwell in Him and He in us. To remain in Him and He in us,to be united in Christ and He in us',that we may go on to produce fruit in Him.
 
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W2L

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Hi 'W2L' l love v.1 'My dear children,I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin,we have One who speaks to the Father in our defence - Jesus Christ,the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world'. How important it is to abide in Christ and He in us. To dwell in Him and He in us. To remain in Him and He in us,to be united in Christ and He in us',that we may go on to produce fruit I'm Him.

I agree. Its an edifying scripture today.
 
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quietbloke

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I agree. Its an edifying scripture today.
Yes. This Abiding in Christ transforms our life. The more we abide in Him and He in us the more we shall be like Him and bear fruit that brings glory to His name and extends His Kingdom. So how do we abide in Christ?
 
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W2L

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Yes. This Abiding in Christ transforms our life. The more we abide in Him and He in us the more we shall be like Him and bear fruit that brings glory to His name and extends His Kingdom. So how do we abide on Christ?

I would rather not talk much. I often get into trouble when I go to denominational forums. However I will keep it simple and avoid that, if I can.

I believe, in my opinion, that following His command is how we abide in him. There is much that the Lord teaches through his written words, but also through the apostles written word. There are many commands and exhortations we can find. We see in Philippians 4 that we should rejoice in the Lord always, think about good things, and to follow the example that Paul gave us as well. I like pauls example, it has helped me a lot I think. He learned to glory in necessities and hardships, and found that the power of Christ rested on him as a result of enduring those things. I believe that "power" is love, and we can find evidence of this in Romans 5:3-5, in my personal opinion. Rejoicing in the Lord always reminds me of what I felt when I meditated on that scripture you mentioned above. Humbleness of mind and gentleness are needed too I believe. As paul says, we should consider others as better than ourselves. This is not so hard when we submit to Gods chastening (in my opinion) because we will end up experiencing contrition and see the wickedness in our own hearts. I cant really answer your question, but those are things I often follow myself.
 
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quietbloke

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I would rather not talk much. I often get into trouble when I go to denominational forums. However I will keep it simple and avoid that, if I can.

I believe, in my opinion, that following His command is how we abide in him. There is much that the Lord teaches through his written words, but also through the apostles written word. There are many commands and exhortations we can find. We see in Philippians 4 that we should rejoice in the Lord always, think about good things, and to follow the example that Paul gave us as well. I like pauls example, it has helped me a lot I think. He learned to glory in necessities and hardships, and found that the power of Christ rested on him as a result of enduring those things. I believe that "power" is love, and we can find evidence of this in Romans 5:3-5, in my personal opinion. Rejoicing in the Lord always reminds me of what I felt when I meditated on that scripture you mentioned above. Humbleness of mind and gentleness are needed too I believe. As paul says, we should consider others as better than ourselves. This is not so hard when we submit to Gods chastening (in my opinion) because we will end up experiencing contrition and see the wickedness in our own hearts. I cant really answer your question, but those are things I often follow myself.
That is so encouraging 'W2L' Some lovely thoughts. When we think of Christ as the Vine and we are the branches we want to do what pleases Him. We do what is pleasing to Him by allowing Him to live His life through us. I remember an old christian gentleman teaching me this through an old hymn,'LORD Jesus Christ,grow Thou in Me and all things else recede. I would Thy living image be,from sin be daily freed'. As we allow His grace to flow through us we can abide in Him. V.6 of 1 John 2: says 'He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked'
 
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W2L

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That is so encouraging 'W2L' Some lovely thoughts. When we think of Christ as the Vine and we are the branches we want to do what pleases Him. We do what is pleasing to Him by allowing Him to live His life through us. I remember an old christian gentleman teaching me this through an old hymn,'LORD Jesus Christ,grow Thou in Me and all things else recede. I would Thy living image be,from sin be daily freed'. As we allow His grace to flow through us we can abide in Him. V.6 of 1 John 2: says 'He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked'

Yes, we do want to walk as he walked. Very good meditation on the "Vine" as well.
 
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quietbloke

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Should not following Jesus' commands, walking in the same way he walked, following in his example, and being made to be like him involve following the same commands that he followed?
As Christians we are no longer under the Jewish laws and regulations. We live in the new dispensation of grace. We please Him by living in His grace. We become united in Him through faith and He forgives our sin and we receive the righteousness of God. If we sin we confess our sin and the Blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. If we are living in Him and He in us we are branches within the vine. The sap of the vine flows through us.. We allow Jesus to live His life through us and live fruitful lives. 'Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey'
 
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Soyeong

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As Christians we are no longer under the Jewish laws and regulations.

Do you believe that Gentiles are no longer under Jewish laws or that Jewish laws were never given to Gentiles in the first place? I don't think someone can consistently hold both beliefs. If we are to walk in the same way that Jesus walked and follow his example, then we should look at what he did and do the same things, and what he did was live in obedience to God's law, so are you saying that only Jews are supposed to follow his example?

We live in the new dispensation of grace. We please Him by living in His grace. We become united I'm Him through faith and He forgives our sin and we receive the righteousness of God.

Romans 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Do you think that God is divided against Himself and that His grace is opposed to His law? Does God's law contain his instructions for how to do good works, how to live a godly life, and how to renounce ungodliness? Does God's grace not train us to live in obedience to God's instructions by faith? Is not God purifying for himself a people who are zealous for following His instructions for how to do good works? Does it say that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from the law or to redeem us from lawlessness?

If we sin we confess our sin and the Blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. If we are living in Him and He in us we are branches within the vine. The sap of the vine flows through us.. We allow Jesus to live His life through us and live fruitful lives. 'Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey'

1 John 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

Romans 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

How do we know which actions are the sins that we need to confess unless God has revealed them? When Jesus was telling people to repent from their sins, how did they know what actions to repent of doing? Does Jesus being sinless not mean that he obeyed God's law perfectly? Does being told not do what God has revealed to be sin mean that we shouldn't do the same? Should trusting and obeying God about how we should live not involve following His instructions and following Jesus' example?
 
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quietbloke

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None of us can be saved by keeping the law because salvation is not keeping the law but living in the grace of God. This requires trust and obedience in following the LORD Jesus Christ. He is the Vine and we are the branches. As we live by the principles of God's Word we show that we want to please Him. One of the results of abiding in Christ is being more like Him but it is all of grace,not keeping the law. God is glorified in our lives by us being like Him and bearing fruit for Him
 
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quietbloke

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As we abide in Christ our prayers are answered. His word must be in us so that we will do His will. We abide in Him as we follow Him as disciples and He wants us to be fishers of men. As we continue in love we abide in Him and enter into the joy of the LORD.
 
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Soyeong

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None of us can be saved by keeping the law because salvation is not keeping the law but living in the grace of God. This requires trust and obedience in following the LORD Jesus Christ. He is the Vine and we are the branches. As we live by the principles of God's Word we show that we want to please Him. One of the results of abiding in Christ is being more like Him but it is all of grace,not keeping the law. God is glorified in our lives by us being like Him and bearing fruit for Him

I never suggested that we can become saved by keeping the law - that was never the purpose for which it was given. Our salvation is from sin, so our salvation involves being redeemed from lawlessness, but also necessarily involves being trained to do the things that God has revealed to be godly, righteous, or good works and being trained to stop doing the things that God has revealed to be ungodly, sin, or lawless, in accordance with the salvation that Titus 2:11-14 says God's grace brings. According to Ephesians 2:8-10, we are saved by grace through faith, not by doing good works, but rather we are new creations in Messiah for the purpose of doing good works and according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, all OT Scriptures are God-breathed and profitable for training us in righteousness and equipping us to do every good work. Living by faith is depending on God to lead us in how we should live, so in other words, we are being saved from doing the things that God has revealed to be sin by God's grace training us to renounce those things and training us to do what He has revealed to be righteous through depending on Him to lead us in how we should live. So the law was never given to instruct how to become righteous, but rather it was given to instruct those that God has made righteous by faith how to live righteously, for the righteous shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4). Living by faith does not refer to living in some other manner that is not dependent on God for instructions for how to live righteously.

John 1:16-17 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[d] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

These verses say that grace was added upon grace, so the grace of Messiah was added upon the grace of the law. Strong's defines grace as "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life", so God's grace is not opposed to His law or His instructions for how to do his will, but it is what trains us to do His will. As I pointed out with Romans 1:5, we have received grace to bring about the obedience of faith, and if we trust God about how to live, then we will live in accordance with His instructions. So there is no dichotomy between God's grace and God's law, but rather God's law is His instructions for how to bear good fruit and God's grace is what trains us to obey those instructions by faith.
 
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Sam91

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I would rather not talk much. I often get into trouble when I go to denominational forums. However I will keep it simple and avoid that, if I can.

I havent had chance to read the rest yet but that made me chuckle > . < May God bless you. x
 
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Sam91

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I would rather not talk much. I often get into trouble when I go to denominational forums. However I will keep it simple and avoid that, if I can.

I believe, in my opinion, that following His command is how we abide in him. There is much that the Lord teaches through his written words, but also through the apostles written word. There are many commands and exhortations we can find. We see in Philippians 4 that we should rejoice in the Lord always, think about good things, and to follow the example that Paul gave us as well. I like pauls example, it has helped me a lot I think. He learned to glory in necessities and hardships, and found that the power of Christ rested on him as a result of enduring those things. I believe that "power" is love, and we can find evidence of this in Romans 5:3-5, in my personal opinion. Rejoicing in the Lord always reminds me of what I felt when I meditated on that scripture you mentioned above. Humbleness of mind and gentleness are needed too I believe. As paul says, we should consider others as better than ourselves. This is not so hard when we submit to Gods chastening (in my opinion) because we will end up experiencing contrition and see the wickedness in our own hearts. I cant really answer your question, but those are things I often follow myself.

W2L, well said. I agree with all of that. Great post.
 
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