ODB: Inside Out
June 5, 2011
Confession to God brings cleansing from God.
READ: John 15:1-8
You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. —John 15:3
During an international publishing conference, a young Frenchman described his experience at a book- signing event. A woman picked up one of his books, browsed through it, and exclaimed, “At last, a story that’s clean!” He replied gently, “I write clean because I think clean. It’s not an effort.” What he expressed in print came from within, where Christ had altered the very core of his life.
John 15 records Jesus’ lesson to His disciples about abiding in Him as the only means to a fruitful life. In the midst of His imagery of the vine and the branches, Jesus said: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” (v.3). Bible scholar W. E. Vine says that the Greek word for clean means “free from impure admixture, without blemish, spotless.”
A pure heart is the work of Christ, and only in His power can we remain clean. We often fail, but “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to . . . cleanse us from all unright-eousness” (1 John 1:9). Renewal is an inside job.
Jesus has made us clean through His sacrifice and His Word. Our speech and actions that strike others as being fresh and pure flow from inside out as we abide in Christ.
— David C. McCasland
Source: Our Daily Bread
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雅米
after reading this paragraph i am very glad to know the depth of the word.
I realized that i am already clean..
I realized that i have to bear fruit..
Thank you God for this opportunity.
Anyone help me understand more about “fruit” we have to bear.
@SethSUNNY..
maybe its the fruit of the Spirit?
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Gal 5:22-23
how do we abide in Christ?
how do we abide in
Christ?
abide
v.
1. (abide by) accept or act in accordance with (a rule or decision).
Abiding is about only few points 1.accepting what Our Lord Jesus is telling Us.
2.following the word of God.
3.obeying the word of God.
By the way thanks for your answer about fruits..
but i still need clarification..
if we abide in christ we will bear fruit. So, is this sure the fruits of spirits is equal to bearing of fruits when we abide in Christ.
I am just asking cause, you wrote “maybe” in your comment.
Thanks to God.