Abiding in Christ: The Gospel, Our Position, and Our Enjoyment
Orientation
Abiding in Christ is often misunderstood as a mystical achievement or a reward for spiritual effort, creating anxiety and obscuring the Gospel's announcement.
- The problem is viewing abiding as something we must earn or achieve through our own striving.
- This false assumption turns our inheritance into a wage and our sonship into servitude.
- It shifts focus from Christ's finished work to our unfinished performance, undermining assurance.
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)
— Romans 8:17
Clarification
Abiding in Christ is not a process we initiate, but a positional reality we receive and enjoy because Christ has already finished the work and shares His inheritance.
- Abiding is the result of the Gospel's announcement, not a prerequisite for it.
- Our union with Christ, secured in justification, is the basis for all experiential fellowship and obedience.
- The Holy Spirit, given as our inheritance, is the one who multiplies Christ's life within us, enabling us to abide.
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Colossians 1:12)
— Colossians 1:12
Structure
Biblical logic reveals abiding as the enjoyment of our inheritance, where Christ's life, imparted by the Spirit, produces joyful obedience as a natural outworking.
- The cause-effect chain begins with Christ's finished work and attainment of reward (the inheritance).
- Faith gives us access to this inheritance, making us joint heirs and distributing Christ's life to us via the Holy Spirit.
- Focusing on this Gospel announcement enables us to abide, resulting in a life patterned after Christ's walk and fullness of joy.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
— Galatians 2:20
Weight-Bearing Prose
The Gospel announces Christ’s finished work and His entrance into His reward—the inheritance. This is not a wage but a testamentary distribution to heirs. By faith, we are positioned as joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), qualified to partake of the inheritance (Colossians 1:12). This inheritance is Christ Himself, and its present substance is the Holy Spirit, who multiplies Christ’s life to His members. Our union with Christ, established in justification, is the sole basis for the Christian life. Therefore, abiding is not a technique but the experiential reality of enjoying our inherited position. Sanctification is the feast of enjoying Christ as our satisfaction (1 Corinthians 5:7-8; John 6:35). Obedience and walking as He walked are not means to abiding but its fruit, generated by the Spirit from our union. Any teaching that makes abiding a condition we must meet to secure blessing or inheritance nullifies grace and collapses the Gospel foundation, exchanging sonship for servitude.
Integration
You are complete in Him. Abiding is not a challenge to overcome but a reality to rest in. Christ is your righteousness, sanctification, and reward. The Holy Spirit within you testifies to this truth. Your assurance is anchored in the Gospel announcement, not in your fluctuating performance. There is no pressure to advance or achieve a higher state of fellowship; you are already a son and heir. Let your mind be renewed by this assurance. The same Spirit who sealed you is now multiplying the life of Christ in you. This is your landing place: Christ has done it, Christ shares it, and Christ in you is the hope of glory. Enjoy Him.