Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Jesus Commands: Abide in Me

Jesus Commands: Abide in Me

Last updated on: November 5, 2025 at 12:01 pm by Adrian Warnock

Jesus Commands: Abide in Me 2025-11-05T12:01:39+00:00 Adrian Warnock

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

tombstone-2331172_1920

Abide is an old fashioned word. It simply means remain, stay, or dwell. The challenge is for us to continue to be immersed in, satisfied by, surrounded by, empowered by, protected by, and infused with Jesus. Piper calls it ‘the lifelong extension of encountering Jesus.’

If you want to understand what this means, write the word Christ on a piece of paper. Then put the paper in an envelope and write your name on that envelope, then put that envelope inside another envelope that is also marked ‘Christ’. Then, put that envelope in another envelope labelled “God.” Christ enveloping us, inside us, and us inside him. Except, and this will blow your brains, we would need another envelope and to put ‘God’ inside ‘Christ’. Talk about a divine sandwich. The image is us infused with Christ and God such that we are surrounded, enveloped, and filled with him. This is a fact for all Christians but Jesus urges us to live in that fact, and to become more aware of it. Surely in a sense this points back to what we were saying in the last post about hearing Jesus’s voice, although the idea here encompasses so much more than just that:

Christ in us. Us in Christ. Christ in God. God in Christ. What a glorious truth. What an amazing revelation. Read the words of the following verses slowly, meditate on them. Ask Jesus himself to make this plain to you:

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:9)

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32)

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10)

Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27)

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11)

What a challenge this is to us, because it demolishes our proud independence. It is designed to make us realise we can’t do it on our own. Sometimes I think that one of the main purposes of suffering is to rob us of this ridiculous delusion of invulnerability that we all like to foster. The ‘I can do it on my own’ and ‘I did it my way!’ myths are shown for just that.

When you are lying in a hospital bed and needing help to perform the most basic of simply tasks, and totally reliant on the help of doctors and nurses, you realise how foolish our ideas of self-sufficiency really are. There is certainly no doubt that the suffering I have been experiencing in recent months has driven me to my knees, and to a point of recognising my helplessness without Jesus. And it has led me back to the basics, to ask myself afresh: What is it exactly that Jesus wants from me? And, how can I reconnect with this amazing Holy Spirit power that dwells inside me, that to be honest I had lost my awareness of as I was carrying on doing ‘stuff’ on my own.

Jesus is the only one that can satisfy our deepest longings. And yet how often we forget him, and our hearts and minds begin to dwell on other things. There is a strong argument for saying that every sin we ever commit could have been prevented if we had been more consciously, more deliberately dwelling with and in Jesus.

I remember long ago the story of a man who stopped coming to the church I went to at the time. He returned eventually, having been openly living in a way contrary to Christ. When he told his story, he said that all the time he was conscious of someone with him, and of a voice, almost like a parrot on his shoulder constantly reminding him “I’m here and I still love you!” You might have thought that would be a comfort to him. Actually he said he found it annoying, because it made it harder for him to get on with living life his way. Eventually, however, he was melted by the abiding love of Jesus and returned to church, and a God-centered life. It is this abiding presence of Jesus, this knowledge that there is something better than what the world can offer, that sometimes makes a lapsed Christian possibly the most miserable type of person alive.

As we spoke about in the last post, there should be a hunger in our hearts to know more of Jesus. Because if we knew more of him then so many problems in our lives would change perspective for us.

To abide in Jesus means to cherish him. It means to prize him above all other. It means appreciating his value above all else. It means, as Paul says, to count everything a loss compared to knowing HIM.

And, yes, it means to obey his commands.

And that is why this series is so important for all of us.

There is a glorious paradox: Jesus says we can’t abide in him if we don’t keep his commands. And yet it is also true that we can’t obey his commands or do anything useful if we don’t abide in him. It is like a glorious chicken and egg question: which came first, the abiding or the obeying?

What this means is that instead of a vicious circle we see here a glorious one. As we remain connected with Jesus, the life-giving sap travels through the vine to us as branches and causes us to bear fruit. And yet we become connected to Him more tangibly as we make choices to live as Christ wants us to, and to spend time with him, worship him, and dare I say it studying his commands in a humble way asking him to show us how to live.

Is your Christianity a living vibrant experience of knowing Jesus today and hearing his voice? Or does he seem a million miles away? The journey back is sometimes a radical moment of crisis when you radically reconnect to him. But perhaps more often it is a series of small steps, each one taking you closer, and with Him, like the Father of the prodigal son, coming running to you.

I will close this article with a quote from John Piper’s chapter on this command:

“Jesus’ demands are for a lifetime. He does not demand a single decision to repent or come or believe or love or listen. All these continue. The transformation of repentance continues. Coming to Jesus again and again continues. Believing in him hour by hour continues. Listening to his word as the daily source of spiritual life continues. Jesus demands the engagement of our minds and hearts every day of our lives.

A transaction with Jesus in the past that has no ongoing expression in our lives was a false transaction. When Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31), he meant that if we don’t abide, we are not truly his disciples. And the opposite of true disciples is false disciples. That’s what we are if we count on past experiences without ongoing devotion to Jesus . . .

Not to abide in Jesus’ love would mean that we stop believing that we are loved by Jesus. We look at our circumstances—perhaps persecution or disease or abandonment—and we conclude that we are not loved by Jesus anymore. That’s the opposite of abiding in the love of Jesus. So abiding in his love means continuing to believe, moment by moment, that we are loved.” John Piper

This series was inspired by the book What Jesus Demands from the World by John Piper. Why not join me in reading through this book in 2018?

Don’t miss the rest of this series on The Commands of Jesus,

Follow the link or subscribe to our newsletter to receive every article in your inbox. Complete the form in the top of the right hand column, or below if you are visiting on a mobile device.

The envelope illustration is not unique to me, several have described this before (see for example this and this)

IMAGES: Pixabay

The Hymn Abide With Me sung by Sara Groves and Billy Graham’s friend George Beverly Shea

(read the full set of lyrics below)

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus abide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Tim Challies has written on the history behind this hymn

Previous Post

January 28, 2018

Jesus Commands: Listen to My Voice

Next Post

February 9, 2018 Jesus Commands: Follow Me

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 and 2 Corinthians 1 and 2 Thessalonians 1 and 2 Timothy 1 John 300 Leaders A Life of Joy Abortion Acts of the Apostles Adrian on radio Adrian on TV Adrian's Story Albert Mohler Amazing Grace Arminocalvinist Spectrum Assurance Atonement Atonement Series Attributes of God Barnabas Best of the Blog Bible Bible Software Bible Translation Biblical Inerrancy Billy Graham Bob Roberts Books C. J. Mahaney Calvinism Cessationism Charis Warnock Charismatic Spectrum Charles Simeon Charles Spurgeon Church Leadership Colossians Complementarian - Egalitarian Spectrum Complementarianism Conferences Culture Daniel Debates Deuteronomy DGM08 DGM13 Discernment Doctrine Don Carson Ed Stetzer Eddy Leo Ephesians ESV Bible Translators Interview Evangelism in a Post-Christian World evolution Exodus Expository Preaching Ezekial Faith and Feelings Family Florida Galatians General Genesis Get Wisdom - Proverbs sermons Gifts of The Holy Spirit Gifts of the Holy Spirit 2006 Global Faith Forum Godly Attitudes Gospel Gospels Grace Greg Haslam Grudem vs Piper: The Baptism Debate Healing Heaven Hell and Rob Bell Hebrews Henry Tyler Henry Warnock Holy Spirit Holy Spirit Baptism Hope Reborn Hugh Palmer Irresistable Grace Isaiah J. I. Packer Jack Hayford Joel Joel Warnock John John Lanferman John MacArthur John Newton John Owen John Piper John Smyth Jonathan Edwards Josh Harris Justification Justin Taylor Kenneth Ulmer Leadership Leadership Lessons from 1 & 2 Samuel Lex Loizides Liam Goligher Lig Duncan Limited Atonement Lou Fellingham Mark Dever Mark Driscoll Martyn Lloyd-Jones Matt Chandler Mental Health Missionary Methods: St Paul’s or Ours? My Story N. T. Wright Nehemiah NWA08 NWA09 NWA10 Opinion OT History Books Pentateuch Personal Personal Revival Philippians PJ Smyth Podcast Politics Preaching Prophecy Proverbs Psalms Raised With Christ Reformed Charismatic Regeneration Relationships Resurrection Resurrection & Salvation Revival Rice Broocks Rich Man and Lazarus Rick Warren Rob Rufus Roland Allen Romans Sam Storms Sanctification Series Sermons Sermons on Philippians Serving Jesus at Work Sexuality Sin St Paul Steve Chalke Strange Fire Suffering T4G T4G Statement TAB09 Tamasin Warnock Teamwork Terry Virgo The Atonement Debate - Chalke book The Soulwinner The Spirit-Filled Church The Traitor Within Theologcial Spectrums Theosis Tim Challies Tim Keller Titus TOAM06 TOAM07 TOAM08 TOAM09 TOAM10 TOAM11 Todd Bentley Tope Koleoso Total Depravity Video Water Baptism Wayne Grudem Worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 May 2025 April 2025 January 2025 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 May 2023 April 2023 February 2023 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 June 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Where does Scripture say, "do not let the sun go down on your anger"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Luke Genesis Proverbs Ephesians

Books by This Author Books by Adrian Warnock

See All Titles »