E. Stanley Jones was a missionary, a theologian, and a prolific writer. In his devotional book titled In Christ he shows how we give our all once and for all to the Lord Jesus and then abide in Him by continuous self-surrender:
". . . the relationship between the Vine and the branches is the relationship of self-surrender--you abide in Him before He abides in you. But the moment you begin to abide in Him by self-surrender, that moment He begins to abide in you [at least that's the way you experience it].
"The term 'self-surrender' needs to be supplemented if it is to express this relationship. Self-surrender is once and for all, like a good marriage. It doesn't have to be done over again each day--it is once and for all and forever. Yet while it is once and for all, it is continuous. You give your all once and for all, and yet there are little 'alls' of self-surrender wrapped up in that big once-and-for-all surrender. These little 'alls' have to be surrendered daily. So it is once and for all and yet continuous. The continuous part is expressed in these words: 'Abide in me, and I in you' (John 15:4). So the relationship is surrender plus abiding. You don't plug into Jesus to get His light and power as needed and then plug out again. That is the attitude of many--they plug into Jesus once on Sunday and get their batteries recharged, and the rest of the week they are on their own. No, this is a continuous relationship--a life committal and a lifelong committal--you 'abide' in Him. You are not in and out of Christ--you are 'in' forever. You may cloud the relationship by a momentary slip, stumble, or even fall. But if you confess it immediately the relationship is unbroken. It was clouded, but not broken. The only way to break it is by continuous, deliberate, willful sinning.
"To 'abide' in Him is to surrender all you know and all you don't know. You give up all you know and if anything comes up you do not know, then that belongs to Him too. 'His' is written across the known and unknown. There are no reservations in anything, at anytime, anywhere.
"'My Lord, Thou are Lord. Full stop. I have no ifs or buts left over--this is all, all the time, in all places. I'm bound to Thee unreservedly. And yet how free! I abide in Thee and yet I walk the earth free--free to the degree that I abide. Amen.'"
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". . . the relationship between the Vine and the branches is the relationship of self-surrender--you abide in Him before He abides in you.
What is required in order to have Jesus ABIDE in us and we in Him?
Can we do it:
1. By accepting Him as our our own personal Lord and Savior ?
No. Where does the Bible say that?
2. By the grace of GOD only? Sola Gracias?
No. Where does the Bible say that?
3. By faith in GOD alone? Sola Fides?
No. Where does the Bible say that?
It is simple common sense that since He commanded that we must do something, then doesn't it stand to reason that He would also tell us how to do it?
Jesus was very clear in what we must do in order to have Him ABIDE in us and we in Him.
Jesus left this command for us in John 6:53-57:
53 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (the taken away branch);
54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 HE WHO EATS MY FLESH AND DRINKS MY BLOOD ABIDES IN ME, AND I IN HIM.
57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me."
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