10/02/2026
Do we abide in Jesus Christ? This is an incredibly powerful question, and our answer to it determines so much. This is the condition that is placed on one of the most sought after promises in the Bible... answered prayer, and it is also linked to other promises such as the love of God, and joy. So how do we approach Jesus? Is Christ abiding in us, or is He just an occasional visitor?
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:7 ESV
Jesus asks us to be more than a casual friend; He wants a relationship with us in which we not only imitate how he lived His life, but come to that place of faith in which we share in it. Acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah sets us apart from the Jewish faith, but that acknowledgement alone is just the beginning. We are also asked to suffer as He did, offer up praise to God through Him, and to share in His life, not just tell others about him by retelling His story (the gospel), but to share in His suffering life, “for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
“Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Hebrews 13:13-16 ESV
When we do this then we know what it is to abide in Christ. We suddenly come to the realization that we are meant to cease the practice of our faith in Jesus, and to become one with Him through that faith. It took me a while to see that when the Church was being referred to as the bride of Christ it meant much more than just a ceremony, or something that “the Church” participated in... it meant that Jesus would become one flesh with each of us. I found this marriage to be the essence of our abiding in Him, and He in us.
“and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh.”
Mark 10:8 ESV
The term “bride of Jesus Christ” is referring to more than just a legal institution of marriage as defined by governments and a similar covenant that is made with the larger entity we call “The Church” ... it is speaking of me, and it is speaking of you... it is highly personal and a relationship in which we must individually become one flesh with Jesus. In other words, it speaks of our faith, belief, and a deep spiritual adherence to God’s definition of what marriage is in His Word. It is in part the process of cleaving unto Him, but also involves the other attributes of scriptural marriage too, such as His loving us, and we must honor and love Him. It also means that our body is subject to Him, and His to us.
“For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.”
1 Corinthians 7:4 ESV
This analogy is complete in its nature, not just partial. We tend to read the words of our marriage to Jesus as if it was simply implying that we will become His property, but it is much more than that. Jesus is loving us and uniting in relationship with us in an incredibly personal way...
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”
Ephesians 5:25, 28 ESV
And we are to enter into our relationship with Jesus in similar fashion; just as the Word of God describes the characteristics of our earthly marriages...
“Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”
Ephesians 5:24 ESV
This is not only the mystery of our marriage, a man to a woman, but it goes much further than that... this is the profound mystery of our relationship with Jesus Christ...
“This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
Ephesians 5:32-33 ESV
So, let’s go back to my original question... “Do we abide in Jesus Christ?” The implication is without a doubt one of relationship, but not a casual one. This is the mysterious relationship of a husband and wife, and their being of one flesh... and it is when this occurs that we receive the promises made to those who abide in Christ. Are you living in Jesus and allowing Him to live in you? Are you just saying that this is true, or have you really allowed yourself to become one flesh with Him?
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
John 15:7-11 ESV
Has the thought of our abiding in Jesus caused you to revisit the relationship you have with not only Jesus, but your spouse as well? Has it revealed to you the image of your earthly marriage as cast in the light of your heavenly one? Do you see that the true gifts of marriage don’t come without our fulfilling the conditions as set forth in God’s Word, just as Answered prayer and joy require us to abide in Jesus? Do whether we are married on earth, or to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are meant to keep the covenant we have made with one another.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the mystery of marriage, and your desire for me to abide in your Son Jesus Christ as a husband and wife abide in one another as one flesh. I thank you Holy Father for hearing my prayers and in as much as I abide in Jesus and He in me, I trust that you have promised to answer them, and share your love and joy with me. Heavenly Father, I lift up my marriage to your Son Jesus today, and ask you to bless it as I obey your Word regarding the tenets that you have set forth. Help me to adhere to my marriage vows and promises as you have laid them out, so that I will also know how to abide in your Son Jesus as we suffer together. Teach me Father what it means to leave the camp with Him, and offer up praise continuously through Him. Instruct me Holy Father in what it really means to share myself with Jesus, to abide in His Word, and for Him to abide in me. In this, our relationship, and by this promise, I offer up my prayers in His name, and know that you will answer them. In this way Father I ask for your Joy and know that I will receive it. Praised be your name Lord, and praised be Jesus your Son. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you the Father in whom the Son abides, and in whom I abide through the Son. Great are you, and greatly to be praised always, and forevermore.
“Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."”
Revelation 21:9 ESV
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes