BASIC WORD THE HEART OF THE BIBLE AND THE CENTRAL REVELATION / ABIDING IN CHRIST

               ABIDING IN CHRIST

Scripture Reading: John 1:12-13; 3:3, 6-7; 4:24; 6:63; 12:24; 14:16-20, 23; 15:4; 20:22; 1 Cor. 15:44-46; 1 Thes. 5:17

                                           BRANCHES OF CHRIST ABIDING IN HIM

Abiding in the Lord is a matter in, of, through, and with life; thus, it is an organic matter. Shortly after I received salvation and began to pursue the Lord, I read John 15:4, which says, “Abide in Me and I in you.” When I read that verse, I began to inquire how we could abide in the Lord and He in us. The great Christian teachers under whom I was studying did not know how to answer my question. Hence, I began to search for books that could provide me an answer. When I came across a book by Andrew Murray entitled Abide in Christ, I was happy because I thought that this book would provide an answer. However, after I read the book, I was disappointed because it spoke mainly concerning consecration; it said little about abiding.

I did not receive the answer to my question for a long time. But one day while reading Hudson Taylor’s biography written by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Howard Taylor, I came across a portion describing Hudson Taylor’s unique experience of John 15. At a certain point in his life, Hudson Taylor discovered that he was a branch of Christ. As soon as I read that portion, I realized that in order to abide in Christ, we need to see that we are branches. Even though this biography did not answer my question in full, I received help from it, and it set me in the right direction regarding the way to abide in Christ. Other than Hudson Taylor’s biography, I found nothing helpful regarding the matter of abiding in Christ.

                                           ABIDING IN CHRIST BY THE TWO SPIRITS

Later, when we compiled our hymnal, we found a very good hymn written by A. B. Simpson on abiding (Hymns, #564, published by Living Stream Ministry). However, this hymn does not say much regarding the way to abide in the vine. This lack compelled us to spend more time in the Gospel of John, since the matter of abiding is revealed there. In principle, when we do not understand a point covered in a book of the Bible, we should study the entire book in order to understand it. Eventually, through our study of the Gospel of John, we discovered that the matter of abiding is related to the two spirits.

                                                        The Divine Birth

John 1:12 and 13 say, “As many as received Him [the Lord Jesus], to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” These verses speak concerning the divine birth that issues from believing into, that is, receiving, the Lord Jesus. Some believers may wonder whether or not they have received the Lord. A few years after I believed in the Lord, I read a book that caused me to question whether I had received Him. Sometime later I discovered and gained the assurance that I received the Lord Jesus when I believed into Him. John 1:12 says clearly that we receive the Lord by believing into His name.

Since all the believers in Christ received Him when they believed into His name, verse 13 proceeds to describe them as those “who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” All the believers in Christ are begotten, born, of God. The birth referred to in verse 13 is not a human birth but a divine birth. The unbelievers lack the experience of the divine birth; hence, they may not believe that such a birth is possible. While they remain in the human kingdom, we, the believers, have been born into the kingdom of God, the divine kingdom, through the divine birth (3:5). Through the capacity of the divine life that we received through the divine birth, we are able to know the divine things (17:3; Heb. 8:11).

Many Christians have heard the terms regeneration, born again, and Spirit-born Christian, but they have no realization that all these terms refer to a divine birth. Through regeneration we were born of God with the divine life and the divine nature, which are different from the human life and human nature that we received through  our human birth. Thus, regeneration is a divine birth. Every believer has experienced two births: a human birth and a divine birth. When they were born of their parents, the believers experienced the human birth, but when they were born of God, they experienced the divine birth. Since birth is related to life, the believers, who have had two births, also have two lives—the human life and the divine life.

John 3:3 says, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” and verse 7 says, “You must be born anew.” In these two verses the term born anew can also be translated “born from above.” Thus, to be born anew is to be born from heaven, that is, to be born from God, who is in heaven. We believers are people on earth, but we were born from above. This means that our divine birth took place in the heavens.

                                          The Divine Birth and the Two Spirits

John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In this verse the first occurrence of the word spirit is capitalized, indicating that it refers to the divine Spirit, and the second occurrence is not capitalized, indicating that it refers to the human spirit. Thus, John 3:6 reveals that the divine birth involves two spirits—the divine Spirit and the human spirit. In the divine birth our human spirit is born of the Spirit of God. Thus, regeneration is accomplished in the human spirit by the Holy Spirit of God with God’s life, the uncreated eternal life.

As regenerated persons, something that involves two spirits has taken place within us—the divine birth. Regrettably, many Christians know little concerning such a birth and its implications. They may read the Bible again and again and may be able to recite the verses in John 3, yet they may see nothing of the divine birth, since they know this portion of the Word only according to the letter. In the record of the divine birth in John 3, we see the meeting and interaction of two spirits; a divine birth by the divine Spirit takes place in our human spirit.

                                 Worshipping God, Who is Spirit, in Our Spirit

John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.” According to this verse, we need to worship God, who is Spirit, in our human spirit. Just as the divine birth involves  two spirits, so also genuine worship involves two spirits. The divine birth is carried out by the divine Spirit in our human spirit, and the genuine worship of God, who is Spirit, is in our human spirit.

                                        The Lord’s Words Being Spirit and Life

If we desire to abide in Christ, we need to know the Gospel of John. John 1 speaks concerning the divine birth. Chapter 3 reveals that the divine birth involves two spirits. Then John 4 reveals that the genuine worship of God, who is Spirit, must be in the human spirit. John 6 goes on to reveal the nature of the Lord’s words. Verse 63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” The Greek word rendered “words” in this verse refers not to the written word but to the instant and present spoken words. The Lord’s instant and present spoken words are the embodiment of the Spirit who gives life.