Chapter 34: His Love and Fellowship

In chapter thirty-two we considered His love and fellowship as He dwells in us. Now let us look at the other side of that same coin: what the Bible says about love and fellowship when we are in Him. For the two belong together; the indwelling of Christ and our abiding in Christ are one reality seen from two directions, and out of that union flow perfected love, answered prayer, abundant fruit, freedom from condemnation, and every spiritual blessing.

His Love Perfected in Us

When we are in Him and keep His Word, His love reaches its intended goal in us—it is “perfected,” brought to completion:

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked (1 John 2:5–6).

Keeping His Word is not a way of earning His love; it is the channel through which His love flows to full maturity in us. And it is also the evidence—“hereby know we that we are in him.” A life increasingly shaped by obedience and love is the sign that we truly abide in Christ. The test of our union is not merely what we feel or say, but how we walk: “even as he walked.”

Abiding, Asking, and Bearing Fruit

As we abide in Him and let His Word abide in us, two great privileges open up: answered prayer, and a life that bears much fruit for the Father’s glory. Jesus joins them together in the vine passage:

Abide in me, and I in you… If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples (John 15:4–8).

“Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done.” This is not a blank check for our every whim; it is the promise given to the abiding heart. For the one who truly abides in Christ, and in whom Christ’s words abide, comes to want what Christ wants—and such prayers, shaped by His will, are answered. As we abide, our desires are purified, our asking is aligned with His purposes, and our prayers bear fruit.³⁴²

And the fruit we bear is manifold. We share the good news of salvation; we do good works in Jesus’ name; and we display the fruit of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, and all the rest—in our daily lives. In all of this the Father is glorified, “that ye bear much fruit.” And here is a beautiful thought to close the circle of this whole book: when we bear fruit, we present to the world the very attributes of God. The love, the compassion, the goodness, the faithfulness that we have traced all through Scripture as the attributes of God—these begin to be seen in us, His children, as the Spirit bears His fruit through our lives. We become, in a small but real way, a display of what God is like.

No Condemnation

When we are in Jesus Christ and His Word is in us, the love of God is perfected and we walk in fellowship with Him. And there is a further, blessed consequence of being in Him: we are set free forever from condemnation.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Weigh every word of this glorious verse. “There is therefore now no condemnation”—not someday, not perhaps, but now, already, settled. “No condemnation”—not little condemnation, not reduced condemnation, but none at all. And to whom? “To them which are in Christ Jesus.” There is the key again: our freedom from condemnation rests entirely on our being in Him. We are no longer condemned for what we have done, because the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin, and God has already poured out upon His Son the judgment our sins deserved. God will not condemn twice what He has already judged at the cross. For the one who is in Christ, every trace of condemning wrath has been replaced by fatherly love.³⁴⁴

Let this truth sink deep, for it is the ground of all our assurance. When your own heart accuses you, when the enemy whispers that God must surely be against you, you may answer with the authority of this verse: there is now no condemnation, because I am in Christ Jesus. This does not mean sin no longer matters—far from it. The very next verses speak of walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh; the grace that frees us from condemnation is the same grace that sets us walking in newness of life. But it does mean that our standing before God is secure, resting not on our performance but on Christ’s finished work. We take our sins seriously and hate them—yet we never again fear the Father’s condemning wrath, for that fell on Christ in our place.

Blessed With Every Spiritual Blessing

And being in Christ brings not only the removal of every curse but the lavishing of every blessing:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

“All spiritual blessings”—every one that God has to give—“in heavenly places,” and all of them “in Christ.” Once again the little phrase carries everything: it is in Christ that we are chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, sealed, and made heirs. Outside of Him there is condemnation and want; inside of Him there is acquittal and abundance. To be in Christ is to be moved from the one realm to the other—from Adam to Christ, from death to life, from condemnation to blessing.

This mutual indwelling—we in Him and He in us—is an intimate, vital, living union between God and His people. It is the closest relationship in all the universe, closer than friendship, closer than marriage; it is the branch in the vine, the member in the body, the child in the family. And through this union we are no longer under condemnation but full of heavenly blessing; no longer strangers at a distance but sons and daughters at home. From separation, all the way to union: this has been the story of the whole book, and it finds its rest here—in Christ, and Christ in us, forever.