Why the Jesus Way Means Total Trust All the Time

Robert Schuller relays this family story about the issue of total trust. In his words, he says, “One problem I remember was a time when our son Bob broke our trust and lied to his mother and me. He was still young, dating Linda, his wife-to-be, and was only allowed to see her on certain nights. Well, one night, he wanted to see her without permission and told us he was at his friend’s house. When we found out the truth, there was a real scene between us. He had violated our trust; it was like a crack in a fine cup that marred its appearance. In the confrontation, I smashed a fine English teacup on the floor and told Bob that restoring our trust would be like gluing that cup back together again.

He said, “I don’t know if I can do that.” And I said, “Well, that’s how hard it is to build confidence and trust again.” The outcome was that Bob spent weeks carefully gluing the pieces together until he finished. He learned a vital lesson. ¹ There are lessons here in this story that help us understand what it means to follow Jesus. Believing and then abiding in Him means total trust all the time. Robert’s son violated parental trust, and it caused a momentary ‘crack’ in their relationship. Continuing in the words of your Father God builds an intact trust. Why the Jesus Way Means Total Trust Total Time is our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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You can view a primary transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Work the Word until the Word works; that is, continue looking for ways to apply the Bible in your everyday situations.

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Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

How do you practice abiding in the Word? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

You can find additional information on the subject of John’s Gospel in the resources listed below.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Review of ‘Why Believing and Abiding Is the Key to the Happy Life’ – Part 2

John 8:29–36 (ESV) — 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

In a previous podcast, we ended with some more verses on the topic of ‘abiding in Jesus’ in John’s gospel.
Abiding is a favorite Johannine word.

John 15:6 (ESV) — 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

To be a faithful follower of Jesus, you must trust Jesus, that is, have complete confidence, with total commitment, and afterward continue in that state or activity.
The lack of trust and steadfast perseverance leads to a withered state.
These types of pseudo-believers eventually fall away.

Total Trust: Two More Believing and Abiding Verses

Now, here are two more passages in John’s gospel, where the terms ‘believe’ and ‘abide’ occur.

John 5:38 (ESV) — 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

John 12:46 (ESV) — 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

The word ‘remain’ is the word ‘abide.’
So, you can see that the terms ‘believe’ and ‘abide’ are comfortable in one another’s presence.

Abiding in the Word: The Badge of True Discipleship

Let’s notice verse thirty-one again.

John 8:31 (ESV) — 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.
The word ‘truly’ means in accordance with truth or fact or reality.
If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples, in fact – my disciples, in reality – my disciples.
Word-doers are the real deal.
Acting on the Word separates the real disciples from the not so real ones: it divides the ones who say they believe from the ones who really do.
Real disciples continue; they persevere, and they work the Word until the Word works.
Reading the Word is good; pulling out a verse from the promise boxes of old is fair, but, it’s not great.
We read the Word so that we might know what we are to act on.
It’s not just reading the Word to be devotional.
Nor should we read the Word to alleviate the conscience; that’s religion.
We should read the Word hunting what to do.
What Word of God can you put into motion?
Again, remember that to abide means to continue.

2 John 9 (ESV) — 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

If you don’t abide in the teaching, the Word, you don’t have God working in your life.
God works through His Word, and His Word was in Jesus’ lips.
The exciting truth is, that God will work the Word through your lips.

Keeping the Word: Another Way to Say You Are Abiding

In John 15:10, Jesus says the following.

John 15:10 (ESV) — 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

If you ‘keep my commandments, do you hear that?
Keeping the Word, and keeping the commandments is abiding.
Jesus said so.
It’s just another way to say the same thing.
So, John says if you ‘keep’ – you abide, that is part of total trust.
Let’s leave no stone unturned then; let’s define the word ‘keep.’
The word ‘keep’ here in John 15:10 means to conform one’s action or practice to.
If you are not conforming, you are not keeping.
We are repeating this concept several times because that’s what Jesus did. He repeated it.
All these passages we are looking at are in red.
You must continue in the Word to keep the commandments.
In reverse, it means the same.
To keep the commandments is to continue, to persevere to bring forth fruit with patience, total trust – total time.
So, if you bend your life or bend your actions to what the Word says, that is a mark of discipleship, or can we say, the mark of believing.

Jesus as Lord Is in the Continuing

That is also one part of calling Jesus your Lord.
Jesus said as much.

Luke 6:46 (ESV) — 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

So, the principle of Word first, that is continually asking yourself, what the Word of God says about the situations you come across daily and then conforming your actions to that Word despite your inherent nature, is the mark of discipleship.
It is the signifying sign of a Jesus follower
When I say conforming your actions, I mean ‘act according to the Word and not your feelings.
Your feelings will lead you wrong.
Act according to the Word, not your opinions.
Again, this is part of total trust.
Respond according to the Word, not your ‘this is how I am,’ this is how I was raised’ etc. excuse.

A Present-Day Total Trust Example of Believing and Abiding

So, here’s an example.
Say you feel ugly toward a person because they have wronged you.
You’re stewing over that, and you want to strike out verbally and give that person a piece of your heated thinking.
The Word of God says to forgive.
You know it does.
It states that you should overlook the offense you’ve experienced and live in peace.

Proverbs 19:11 (ESV) — 11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

Romans 12:18 (ESV) — 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

You see these verses, you hear them in your heart, you think about them with your mind, and then you act on them despite your feeling and opinions because Jesus is your Lord.
All of that is abiding in the Word.
Every part of that is continuing in the Word.
The whole of this is the lifestyle of a disciple.
Asking the question, ‘What does the Word of God say about this fill-in-the-blank situation that involves you and then bringing your thoughts, thinking, and ways into harmony with the answer to that question is what believing, and abiding is all about.
You cannot call yourself a disciple and not participate in this process.
You must have the Word as part of your thinking.
And you follow this process for the whole of your life: that’s total trust for the total time.

What Are the Benefits of Believing and Abiding?

So, you take part in the process of believing and abiding, now what are the benefits of that?
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Now, think about these words ‘know the truth.’
You know the truth AFTER you act on the truth.
So, you don’t just know the truth by reading it; you don’t just know the truth by hearing it; you know it by acting on it, by continuing in it.
That’s what Jesus said.
The Greek word ‘know,’ as in ‘know’ the truth and the truth will set you free, means experiential knowing.
It means to know or have knowledge about (someone or something); usually as acquired through observation or the senses.
So, let’s put this definition into what Jesus said.
If you continue in the Word, you will know the Word by experience, and that experience leads you to freedom.
During the Revolutionary War, men fought to be free from the tyranny of England.
They fought, they exerted tremendous effort, and they didn’t sit back and read about how nice it would be to be free.
The colonists acted.
The result of acting on God’s Word leads to freedom.
William Barclay said these words.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.²

You must do something to be free, and that something you need to do is continue in the Word.

What Total Trust Doesn’t Look Like: The Face of Nominal Believers

The Jews of John eight, whom the scripture says believed in Him, were still slaves to sin.
How do we know that?
Jesus said so.

John 8:36–37 (ESV) — 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.

So, you can see, these offspring of Abraham were nominal in their following of Jesus.
They’re saying that they are free, but they are not totally free.
They only professed to believe, never backing the talk with an adjusted walk.
Just a few verses later, these same people who say they believed in Jesus in verse thirty of John eight, try to kill Jesus six verses later.
And the reason for their reaction?
Because listen to it now, ‘because my word finds no place in you.’

Total Trust: The Real Danger of Not Abiding

And therein lies the real danger of not abiding.
Abiding is in ‘the doing.’
It’s in ‘the continuing to do.
Do the challenging work of believing.
The demanding work of believing is in the abiding.
It’s in ‘the continuing.’

An academic colleague, who was on the faculty of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, invited me to come and explain to his students how Christianity could be a movement that would foster positive and radical social change. I welcomed the opportunity, and as I spoke to his students I tried to do so with convincing passion. I could sense that the students were being swayed by what I had to say. They were coming to see that Christianity could in fact be a primary means through which poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, militarism, and a host of other evils could be overcome by people joined together in a movement inspired by Christ and infused by His Holy Spirit.

As I was doing my best to win over these secularized sociology students, my colleague, standing in the back of the auditorium, interrupted me and shouted aloud and clear, “Tony! Tony! Be sure to tell them the cost! Tell them what it will cost them if they become the kind of Christians that Jesus expects them to be. Explain to them the sacrifices that they will have to make if they are to be true followers of Jesus.”

I was stunned. He was so right. And as I spelled out the cost, I could see that the enthusiasm that had once reigned in the classroom withered away.³

There is a cost to abiding.

John 6:29 (ESV) — 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Saying you believe but not abiding or remaining or continuing is cheap living.
Believing and abiding is total commitment – total time.

Our Great God Has No Grandchildren

Notice the Jew’s response to Jesus, — you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free — declaration in verse thirty-three of John eight.

They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

So, Jesus gives the prescription for freedom, continuing in the Word.
It’s not philosophical feel-good something.
He’s talking about real freedom, true liberty in the very essence of the term.
It’s the doers of the Word who experientially know what real freedom is about.
But look at the reaction Jesus received.
They answered Jesus with these words: ‘we are already free.’
“They answered him…” did you hear that – they, they?
Who are they again? – the Jews who believed in Him of verse thirty-one.
These believers who are operating at a ‘low level’ of believing are now offended, because of the Word they said they believed.
They argue with Jesus over their status.

John 8:33 (ESV) — 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Freedom Status to the Abiders

Jesus said, ‘freedom status’ belongs to ‘Word Abiders.’
Now, put yourself in their sandals for a moment.
How would you respond?
Would you react in humility upon hearing the words of Jesus?
Receiving the Word with meekness would entail a different response than what the Jews said, right?
The Jews said they didn’t need the freedom that comes via abiding because they were never in bondage to any man in the first place.
Their answer is based on lineage, ‘after all, we’re Jews, they replied.’
“Don’t you know that Jesus?”
“We’re circumcised Israelites; that gives us favored status.”
“Nationality is our inside track.”
“If anybody gets bonus points, it’s us sons of Abraham.”
Does this line of thinking work?
No, it doesn’t work. What does nationalism have anything to do with real Holy Ghost freedom?
Religious pride by itself never equates to freedom.
You don’t get a pass because of physical descent.

Romans 3:9 (ESV) — 9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

Do I dare say that you don’t get a pass because your are American or whatever your country of origin is?
What about spiritual lineage?
Do you get a pass because your parents were ministers?
You may have grown up sleeping on a church pew.
Does that give you an inside track to God?
Or does every tub have to stand on its own bottom?
Spiritual lineage gives no one an insider’s advantage to getting into the Kingdom.
No one gets a pass on obeying the Word of God.
Spiritual genetics never trumps abiding.
You’re not an automatic follower of Jesus because your parents walked with God.
God has no grandchildren, only sons.

Why Taking the Forgiveness Test Helps Your Faith in God

References:

Dr. Robert H. Schuller, in Homemade, Jan. 1985, Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002). ↩
—William Barclay, The Revelation of John – Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 217. ↩
Tony Campolo, Stories That Feed Your Soul (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2010). ↩

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Why the Jesus Way Means Total Trust All the Time

Encore Podcast: Light on Life Season 9 Episode 34

by Emery Horvath

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