ABUNDANT LIFE VISION.
FULLY IN CHRIST. JH 15:4
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. NLT.

Dear friends, good morning and you are welcome to today’s teaching. I pray that God will help us as we strive to remain in Christ in Jesus name. We will look at a crucial topic this morning titled; “Fully in Christ”. The first thing I want us to understand is that “remain in me” or being fully in Christ is an advice for the children of God . If you are not a child of God, you cannot follow the advice of remaining in Jesus Christ. If God wants to address those who have not given their lives to Christ, he will ask them to take the gift of salvation made available to them by the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Rom 1:16.

It is important for us to know why God is asking us to abide in him because our lifestream is derived from God, we cannot do anything or achieve anything outside God. When God opens our eyes to the way and we accept it, the bulk of the work will be done in remaining in Christ. This is so crucial because we cannot have impact if we do not remain in Christ and we cannot make heaven without remaining in him.
As we proceed, let’s breakdown what we have above.

1. We remain in Christ to be fruitful. Jh 15:5
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. NLT.

When someone gives his life to Christ, his spirit becomes different, he becomes a new creation but his soul is still far away from God. In order to bring the soul closer to God, the soul has to be renewed with the word of God. The amount of renewal of the soul will have an impact on the fruits the life of the fellow will produce. Gal 5:19-21 lists the product of the flesh (the unrenewed mind), this means that the renewed mind will produce what the Bible call fruit of the Spirit which are listed in Gal 5:22-23.

2. We remain in Christ for soul winning. Jh 15:8
When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. NLT.

Jesus saying that we prove to be his disciples by bringing in much fruits is talking about Christians making disciples of nations. The true disciple of God is the one that wins souls into the kingdom of God. This act is one of the activities that brings glory to the name of God the Father in heaven. Mark 16: 15-16; “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” NLT. In the light of this, if you are struggling to win souls into the body of Christ, you should check yourself, maybe you are not fully in Christ as you may think. I’m not saying everyone struggling to win souls for God are not fully in Christ, I’m just saying it is an option that needs to be looked at when you have tried everything.

3. Another reason to remain in Christ is to ask and receive from him. John 15:7
But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! NLT.

There is a catch here regarding asking and receiving. Jesus said, ...if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! There is a correlation between remaining in Christ and having our prayers answered. This is because it is what we see in the word of God that we ask from God. No wonder James wrote that believers ask but do not receive because they pray amiss. Asking amiss is rooted in asking based on our lustful passion and asking for things that are not backed by the word of God. James 4:3; “And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” NLT. When we pray with the word of God, we are telling God that the request is based on his promises for us and not on our selfish motives.

At this juncture, we need to answer an important question which is; How do we remain in Christ? The answer is quite simple, we remain in him through his word and by living in his love. Let’s break it down below;
1. The word of God. Jh 6:3
Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. NLT.

The word of God reveals the standard and nature of God to us. The word of God carries the power of God and it transforms and gives us life. 2Tim 3:16-17; “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” NLT.

2. The love of God.
We have established that the word of God equip is to do every good work, 2Tim 3:17, a crucial good work God wants us to do through his word is love. The word opens us to his love and tells us what God wants from us in regard to the expression of love. John 15: 9-13; “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” NLT.

All in all, if you are reading this and you know you are not fully in Christ or you are not in him at all and you are ready to abide on him fully, say this prayer with me; Lord Jesus, I confess you as my Lord and saviour today, please save me and be my lord and bring me into your fold. Amen. If you have recited the prayer wholeheartedly, I congratulate you and I welcome you to the family of God. Make sure you join a bible believing church as you start your journey in Christ.
If you have been blessed by the teaching and you have questions and comments. Contact Abundant Life Vision through the following platforms:
Twitter: @VisionAbundant
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Email: visionabundantlife@gmail.com
God bless you.