Reading Mike’s post as part of my morning devotion, I had these thoughts.
The discussion about Abiding and Fruit and the Vine are pretty obvious agricultural analogies. It’s pretty clear that the apples on my tree or the boysenberries on our vine don’t produce themselves. It’s the plant i.e. the Vine that does that work. It is true that in many plants it is the Seeds in the Fruit that are spread to or from around the vine by various ways, dropping fruit, birds and animals eating and spreading the fruit wider, and humans cultivating and planting the seeds. I’m not sure the analogy goes that far, but we have a responsibility to spread the Seeds of the Gospel of Christ. It’s not specifically mentioned by maybe interaction with other believers in the Church is sort of like pollination or maybe marriage….
1Jn 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
This aspect, that we have the Spirit given to us is critical doctrine. When we were created God made for us a Body out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into us making us a living Soul.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
But here the scriptures speak about God giving to those in Christ His Spirit. This is clearly differentiated.
”The first proof is that we have the Holy Spirit. How do we know if we have the Holy Spirit? Notice that John does not say that it is our experience of the Spirit, but the objective reality of the presence of the Spirit in our lives. Also notice that John says Jesus “ has given us of his Spirit “. Jesus does not give us an impersonal force, or another spirit like His. He gives us a share in His very own Spirit. We belong to Him because we share in His spirit–the very same Spirit that He has. So our assurance comes from who God is and what He has done, not from what we do or have done. Do you see how imperative it is for our assurance to be based on what God has done and who He is rather than in ourselves and what we have done?”
”We know if we are abiding in Christ by the objective reality of our confession that we believe in the Apostolic testimony of Christ. Again, do you see how our genuiness is not based in what we have produced, but in the fact that we believe the veracity of the Gospel? We must never forget that the unregenerate DO NOT believe this. None of us did until God regenerated us, giving us living faith so that we were able to believe. Those who believe confess that Jesus is the Son of God. This is more than just saying one believes it. This is actually believing and confessing it, which is a product of abiding in Christ through the supernatural work of the living faith given to us at salvation.”
Mike goes on to speak about how this plays out in our lives through love. It’s a great message.
Paul wrote about what I call the three dimensions of our Spiritual Body: Faith, Hope and Love (the old Charity word). Faith is the Spiritual dimension of our understanding of the past, Hope is how we understand the future, and Love/Charity is how we work this out in the present. Paul offers a prayer for this Love of God to be expressed in us:
Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Rainbow Trout 