Living the Christian Life Daily

Article 9 of 13 in the Walking with Jesus Series

Many Christians find that the Christian life is harder than they expected. They know what they should do. They want to do it. But they find themselves falling short, struggling with the same sins, and wondering why the transformation they hoped for seems so slow in coming. Is there something they are missing? The answer Scripture gives is not "try harder." It is "abide deeper." The Christian life is not primarily about performance. It is about relationship - and out of that relationship, everything else flows.

Jesus used one of the most vivid images in all of Scripture to describe the relationship between Himself and His followers. The vine and the branches in John 15 is not merely a metaphor for spiritual closeness. It is a description of the mechanism by which the Christian life actually works.

A branch does not produce fruit by trying harder. It produces fruit by remaining connected to the vine. The life of the vine flows through the branch and produces fruit naturally - as the inevitable result of the connection. The branch that is severed from the vine, however healthy it may look for a time, will wither and produce nothing.

This is the model for Christian living. The person who is abiding in Christ - maintaining the living connection through prayer, through the Word, through surrender - will bear fruit. Not because they are straining to produce it, but because the life of Christ is flowing through them.

Jesus is explicit about the alternative: "without me ye can do nothing." Not a little. Nothing. Every attempt to live the Christian life in our own strength, apart from the living connection to Christ, will ultimately fail.

Paul describes the same reality using the language of the Spirit:

The word translated "walk" (peripateo) means to conduct one's life, to order one's behaviour. Walking in the Spirit is not a mystical experience reserved for the spiritually advanced. It is the daily, practical ordering of life under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit:

Notice that Paul calls these qualities fruit, not works. Fruit is not manufactured. It grows. It is the natural product of a healthy tree that is well-rooted and well-nourished. The qualities listed here - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control - are not produced by gritting our teeth and trying harder. They are the natural outgrowth of a life that is genuinely connected to the Spirit of God.

Romans 8 is the great chapter on the life of the Spirit. Paul describes two ways of living: according to the flesh and according to the Spirit.

The person who is living according to the flesh is living with their mind set on the desires and priorities of the fallen nature. The person who is living according to the Spirit is living with their mind set on the things of God. The difference is not primarily in behaviour but in orientation - in what the mind is set on, what the heart is pursuing.

Paul goes on to describe the extraordinary resources available to the believer who is living in the Spirit:

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to the believer for daily living. This is not a small resource. It is the greatest power in the universe, made available to ordinary people for the ordinary challenges of daily life.

It is possible to be very busy in Christian service while being spiritually empty. The church at Ephesus, commended by Jesus for its works and its doctrinal faithfulness, received a sobering warning:

They were doing the right things. But the love that should have been the source of those things had grown cold. The activities had continued while the relationship had withered. The remedy Jesus prescribed was not more activity. It was return:

Return to the first love. Return to the relationship. Let the works flow from the life rather than substituting for it.

Jesus described the Christian life in terms that hold rest and work together:

A yoke is a working implement. Jesus is not promising a life of inactivity. He is promising a different kind of work - work done in partnership with Him, sustained by His strength rather than our own, that does not crush the soul because it is shared with the One who is meek and lowly in heart.

• "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." (John 15:4, KJV)
• "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13, KJV)
• "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Romans 8:37, KJV)
• "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1, KJV)
• "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15, KJV)

"The Christian life is about following a set of rules." Jesus said that the person who loves Him will keep His commandments (John 14:15). The commandments are not the source of the Christian life. They are the expression of it. Love for Christ is the root. Obedience is the fruit. A person who is trying to keep the commandments without love for Christ is attempting to produce fruit without being connected to the vine.

"If I am truly Spirit-filled, I will never struggle with sin." Paul describes an ongoing conflict in the believer's life between the flesh and the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). The presence of struggle is not evidence of spiritual failure. It is evidence of spiritual life. A dead person does not struggle. The person who is genuinely walking in the Spirit will experience the conflict between the old nature and the new - and will find that the Spirit gives them the power to overcome.

"Sanctification happens instantly at conversion." The new birth is instantaneous. Sanctification - the process of being conformed to the image of Christ - is gradual and lifelong. Paul speaks of being "transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2) - a present, ongoing process. The Christian life is not a destination reached at conversion. It is a journey that continues until Christ returns.

"I can live the Christian life on my own as long as I try hard enough." John 15:5 says "without me ye can do nothing." This is not an exaggeration. The Christian life is not a self-improvement project that God assists. It is a life that is entirely dependent on the living connection to Christ. The person who is trying to live it in their own strength will eventually discover the truth of this verse through exhaustion and failure.

1. Prioritise the connection. Before you focus on what you need to do, focus on your relationship with Christ. Spend time in His Word and in prayer before you engage with the demands of the day. The branch that is well-connected to the vine will bear fruit naturally.

2. Set your mind deliberately. Romans 8:5-6 says that the spiritually minded person minds the things of the Spirit. This is a deliberate choice. What are you filling your mind with? What you dwell on shapes what you become.

3. Work out what God works in. Philippians 2:12-13 says to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who works in you. The effort is real, but it is in cooperation with what God is already doing. Ask God what He is working on in your life right now, and cooperate with it.

4. Return quickly when you fall. The Christian life is not a life of perfection. It is a life of direction. When you fall, do not stay down. Return to God immediately. The person who returns quickly after a fall is living the Christian life more genuinely than the person who never falls but never draws near to God.

1. Read John 15:1-11. Jesus uses the word "abide" eleven times in this passage. What does it mean to abide in Christ? What are the practical habits and choices that constitute abiding?

2. Read Galatians 5:16-25. Paul lists the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. What is the difference between a "work" and a "fruit"? What does this difference tell you about how the qualities of the Spirit are produced?

3. Read Romans 8:1-17. Paul describes two ways of living: according to the flesh and according to the Spirit. What are the practical differences between these two ways of living? How does a person move from one to the other?

4. Read Philippians 2:12-13. Paul says to "work out your own salvation" and then immediately says "for it is God which worketh in you." How do these two statements fit together? What is the relationship between human effort and divine power in the Christian life?

5. Is there an area of your life where you have been trying to produce fruit through your own effort rather than through abiding in Christ? What would it look like to approach that area differently?

• Surrender and Consecration - Article 8 in this series
• Prayer: Communion with God - Article 10 in this series
• The Study of God's Word - Article 11 in this series

Primary passages: John 15:1-11; Galatians 5:16-25; Romans 8:1-17

Supporting passages: Matthew 11:28-30; John 14:15; Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:12-13; Revelation 2:4-5

Recommended reading:

• Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, Chapter 9: "The Work and the Life" (Review and Herald, 1892)
• Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ (1882)
• J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit (IVP, 1984)

Do you have a question about daily Christian living? Ask it here - your question may become our next article.

This article was adapted from the themes presented in the classic devotional book Steps to Christ. To access the original book, please click here.