Faith: The Vine and the Branches 3 (John 15:1-8)
Our Power in Christ (abiding in Him) vv4-7
Jesus tells us that the source of our power, the way to reproduction, is in our abiding in Him. We need the relationship with Christ, not simply the understanding that He died for us. And that relationship exists in obedience.
I Peter 1:1, 2. Peter describes the followers of Jesus as aliens. They are fully other than those in the world around them. (Jesus expands on this idea as well, later in John chapter 15.) He goes on to explain what makes Christians that way. They are CHOSEN by God. It is nothing they did themselves or any special status they have earned. It is literally a choice made out of grace. They have been SPRINKLED by the blood of Christ that washes them clean from their sin, allowing them to relate to a Holy God. They are SANCTIFIED through the work of the Holy Spirit that changes them and causes them to grow more and more into the person God intends for them to be each day. AND, they are saved (CHOSEN, WASHED, and made HOLY) in order to obey Christ. Obedience does not save us. But obedience is that for which we are saved.
That is what becoming a Christian is about really. In light of what Christ has done to bring us back into a right relationship with our creator, we surrender back into that relationship. We embark on a path of obedience, and follow the instructions that we discover daily with the help of the Holy Spirit. We trust and obey.
Jesus tells us that the source of our power, the way to reproduction, is in our abiding in Him. We need the relationship with Christ, not simply the understanding that He died for us. And that relationship exists in obedience.
I Peter 1:1, 2. Peter describes the followers of Jesus as aliens. They are fully other than those in the world around them. (Jesus expands on this idea as well, later in John chapter 15.) He goes on to explain what makes Christians that way. They are CHOSEN by God. It is nothing they did themselves or any special status they have earned. It is literally a choice made out of grace. They have been SPRINKLED by the blood of Christ that washes them clean from their sin, allowing them to relate to a Holy God. They are SANCTIFIED through the work of the Holy Spirit that changes them and causes them to grow more and more into the person God intends for them to be each day. AND, they are saved (CHOSEN, WASHED, and made HOLY) in order to obey Christ. Obedience does not save us. But obedience is that for which we are saved.
That is what becoming a Christian is about really. In light of what Christ has done to bring us back into a right relationship with our creator, we surrender back into that relationship. We embark on a path of obedience, and follow the instructions that we discover daily with the help of the Holy Spirit. We trust and obey.
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