Meaning of "Remain in Christ"
Meaning of "Remain in Christ"
Remain in Christ Word Study, Lesson 2
Last week, we looked at the Greek background of the word meno, which is often translated “remain” or “live” or “continue” in Christ. It reminds us that we need to be faithful to the call to be connected to Christ throughout our lives. But how does that affect how we live our lives? What should “remaining” in Christ look like?
Christ as Our Model
The Bible gives us a great model for what it means to remain in Christ—Christ himself. Specifically, we can look at the relationship between God the Son and God the Father to understand what it means to remain in Christ. We’re given this instruction by John, one of Jesus’ disciples:
1 John 2:6: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
How did Jesus live? Jesus was clear that he made it a priority to remain in the Father, and we are to follow his example and remain in him.
John 14:10-11: 10 “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”
John 15:9-10: 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
What did remaining in the Father look like in Jesus’ life? We can see from these verses that it means remaining in God’s love, following God’s commands, and doing the work of the Father. We’ll look at each of these in more depth.
Remaining in God’s Love
In John 15:10, Jesus gave us some guidance to remaining in him. The first thing we must do is remain in God’s love. John 14:21 gives us more insight into what it means to remain in God’s love:
John 14:21: “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
To remain in God’s love, we must love Christ. And if we love Christ, we will demonstrate that love in our lives by keeping the commands that he has given us. In other words, our lives provide evidence that we know God and love God by how we keep his commands.
1 John 2:3-5a: 3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.
The ideas of remaining in God’s love and following God’s commands, or obeying his word, are tightly linked. It is through our obedience that our love for God is made complete. So let’s look at what it means to follow God’s commands.
Following God’s Commands
If we can show that we love God and remain in him by following God’s commands, how do we know what his commands are? This is spelled out very simply in 1 John 3:23:
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
This reminds me of the passage in Matthew 22 where the Pharisees, Jewish religious leaders, asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was. How did Jesus respond?
Matthew 22:37-40: 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The passage in 1 John 3 and Jesus’ response in Matthew 22 both show the same pattern. First, we must love God and believe in his Son. This is step one of following his commands, but it is also key to remaining in God’s love. Then, we must love our fellow human beings. This is the second step to following his commands.
The command to love one another is given multiple times in the Bible:
John 15:12: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
John 15:17: This is my command: Love each other.
Hebrews 13:1: Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
Looking ahead: Our next study will be looking at the “one another” commands we are given throughout the Bible. “Love one another” is one of the key points we will discover!
Just like Jesus is our model when it comes to remaining in God, he is also our model of what it looks like to love one another.
John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Jesus showed his love by dying for our sins while we were still sinners:
Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This act of love was tied in to his obedience to God’s will:
Philippians 2:8: And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Because Jesus remained in God the Father, he was committed to obeying God’s commands, even to the extent of dying on the cross. This is how much he loved God, and this is how much he loved us. As Christians, we should model this same love to others to the extent that others can clearly discern that we are Christ-followers:
John 13:34-35: 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
This is the mark of someone who remains in Christ: We will be known by our love.
Doing the Work of the Father
The third way that we remain in Christ is by doing the work of the Father. If we remain in Christ, we will love him, and that love will cause us to follow his commands. As we follow his commands, we are doing his work.
In John 6:27, Jesus tells us:
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
When the crowd asked Jesus what work God required, he gave this response:
John 6:29: Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
This ties so clearly into God’s command that we must follow to remain in him—we must believe in Jesus.
Later in that same passage, Jesus identified himself as the bread of life (John 6:35). Jesus himself is the food that endures to eternal life, and if we remain in him, we will also have eternal life.
John 6:40: “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Not only should we partake of this food for ourselves, but we should share that food with those around us. One of the last commands that Jesus gave us was the Great Commission:
Matthew 28:18-20: 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
If we love God and love other people, we will obey his commands and do his work by sharing Christ with others. As we obey his commands and do his work, we will remain in him, and he will remain in us.
Conclusion
The actions of remaining in Christ are tightly interwoven. If we love God, we will follow his commands. His commands are to believe in him and to love each other. If we believe in him and love other people, then we will be motivated to share Christ with others, doing the work of the Father by fulfilling the Great Commission. Then those new believers step into this same circle, continuing to love God, love people, and spread the gospel. This is the work that endures for eternal life.