Abiding is Positional and Progressive
We have said here at One Hundred Fold Ministries’ blog site – Backyard Conversations – that this doctrine of abiding is a big deal. That is too small
a manner of stating this. Abiding in Jesus and His abiding in us is The Key to abundant, victorious and power infused living in the Kingdom of God.
All things we experience on earth – the trials and suffering; the beautiful images of ocean sunsets and mountain top views; betrayed relationships and relationships that give us life; the grief of tragic death and the unbridled joy of unexpected life – all of these and more, in some mysterious way, contribute to my desire and capacity to abide well. And abiding well means that I will be being, moment by moment, increasingly conformed to the image of God’s Son, Jesus.
The 60’s song (a largely Christian song if you listen close) said it pretty well:
“If you hear the song I sing
You will understand (listen!)
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command.”
Get Together by The Youngbloods
And I am making the case that it is the command of Jesus to “abide” that unlocks both fear and love – a proper fear of God and love for our fellow humanity.
Where we left off the last time we were together (Blog 64, August 7, 2025) was with this seminal passage where Jesus compares the idea of spiritually abiding with a vineyard;
“I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. 2 He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops. 3 He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you. 4 Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me. 5 “Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing. John 15:1-5 NLB)
Here Jesus is drawing our attention to an organic relationship, not a legalistic one. I further made the point that if our spiritual soil is good (Mark 4, Matthew 13, Parable of the Soils) and our spiritual roots are deep (Colossians 2:7 among many others) and we are planted near good water (Jeremiah 17:8 also among others) and have ample sunlight (John 8:12, again among others), then we cannot help but produce good fruit. This fruit is not the number of verses memorized or church attendance or robust giving (not awful things as far as they go) but rather a fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Ephesians 5:22). Fruit trees do not strive and strain and set their will to grow fruit. It just happens. And it is this fruit that gives evidence of our lives in Him. We can now rest in the abiding Hope and Grace and Mercy that is Jesus Christ.
We speak often of paradigms here at One Hundred Fold Ministries. If our current Christian paradigm prioritizes “works” of various sorts as the measure of the Christian life, then this paradigm is putting visible “fruit” ahead of the discipline of abiding. That is upside down. This metaphor of Jesus tells us that our job is to concentrate on our heart (the soil), the scriptures (our roots), the covering of the Holy Spirit (Water) and Jesus’ presence (He is our Light).
All that is true, and seems simple enough. But to be fair, abiding is complicated. From our finite side, we know that life is relentless with hard left turns that we did not anticipate. And the expectations or dreams for our lives are never fully met. That is hard. And from a doctrine perspective it can be confusing as well. Take for instance just the subject of the soil.
The soil represents the heart and, just to confuse matters, there is both a positional and a progressive aspect of our abiding hearts.
First, it is important to remember that there is noting in us that is righteous before the Holy Throne of God Almighty. Humanity is not just fallen, we are irredeemably fallen. Excepting for the love of God, who redeems all things to Himself, we would die in this sad broken state. But the good news is that for those of us who believe on the Name of Jesus, we are given a new heart – a good heart!
Ezekiel 36:26
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
This means that, with this gift of a new heart we can declare ourselves to be positionally abiding in Christ. This is something that God does for us without our help! Check out this present tense verse that tells us we are hidden in Christ in the Heavenlies right now:
Colossians 3:2-4
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
This is telling us that we are already, right now, in the present tense, hidden with Christ in God. Positionally abiding in Him.
Clearly, by the parable of the soils, it is all about having a good heart. But scripture tells us that unless we have a new heart we cannot know God. “Thanks be to God”, as the Apostle Paul says, God has stepped into my hopeless estate
But there is a progressive aspect to our heart of abiding as also implied in this verse:
Colossian 3:2
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
As we set our eyes on Jesus in a disciplined manner, our new “good heart” becomes good soil. We welcome the seeds of truth. The Scriptures come alive and we find ourselves rooted deeper and deeper in Him. The Holy Spirit waters our spirit and we find ourselves lingering in a conversation with Jesus moment by moment. Ever progressively and increasingly abiding! The things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
