Today's encouragement comes from John 15:5, where we read these words of our Lord Jesus Christ:
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."How much can we do, of any spiritual good, without Christ? Nothing at all. The single basic key to Christian living is this concept of "abiding in Christ." But, what does this mean; and how do we do it? It means that we are trusting in Christ’s person and righteousness alone, plus nothing. How do we do that? By sovereignly-bestowed regenerative faith.
Only those who remain faithful in the church covenant “abide in Christ.” All those who forsake their covenant vows are “broken off” from Christ, (cf. v. 2). “Abiding in Christ” has a subjective dimension (heartfelt real faith), and an ob-jective dimension (staying faithful in a true church).
[Puritan quote of the day: "We must know for our comfort that Christ was not anointed to this great work of Mediator for lesser sins only, but also for the greatest sins—if we have but a spark of true faith to lay hold on Him.” —Rich-ard Sibbes, in, "The Bruised Reed"]
