In Christ
Abide in me, and I in you.” — John xv. 4.
All instruction proceeds from the outward to the inward.
When some knowledge has been obtained of the actual, in words or deeds, in nature or history, the mind is prepared to seek for the inner meaning hidden in them. It is even so with the teaching of scripture concerning Jesus Christ. He is set before us as a man among us, before us, above us, doing a work for us here on earth, continuing that work for us still in heaven. Many Christians never advance beyond this, an external exalted Lord, in whom they trust for what He has done and is doing for them and in them. They know and enjoy but little of the power of the true mystery of Christ in us, of His inward presence, as an indwelling Saviour.
The former and simpler view is that of the first three Gospels; the latter marks the Gospel of St. John. The former is the aspect of truth presented in the Scripture doctrine of justification. The latter is the teaching concerning the union of the believer with Christ and his continual abiding, as specially taught in St. John and the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians.
To the Christians for whom this book is written and who all ought to be preparing to carry Christ to their fellowmen, I cannot say too earnestly: See that this abiding in Christ and Christ in you be not only a truth you hold in its right place in your scheme of Gospel doctrine, but that, as a matter of life and experience, it animate all your faith in Christ and intercourse with God. To be in a room means to have all that there is in it at your disposal, its furniture, its comforts, its light, its air, its shelter. To be in Christ, to abide in Christ, oh! to know what this means. It is not a matter of intellectual faith or conception, but a spiritual reality.
Think who and what Christ is. Consider Him in the five states or stages that mark and reveal His nature and work. He is the Incarnate One, in whom we see how God’s Omnipotence united perfectly the Divine and human nature. Living IN Him we are partaking of the Divine nature, and of eternal life. He is the Obedient One, living a life of entire surrender to God and perfect dependence on Him. Living in Him our life becomes one of complete subjection to God’s will and continual waiting upon His guidance. He is the Crucified One, who died for sin and to sin that He might take it away. Living in Him we are free from its curse and dominion, and we live, like Him, in death to the world and our