Walking in grace with Grace

 

John 15:4 (ESV) records Jesus as saying,

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

Biblically speaking, abide is defined as “to dwell”, “to remain” or “to be in a continuous state of unwavering fellowship”, however, generally speaking abide can have various meanings, such as, “to wait for” (await), “to accept without objection”, but the one I found most interesting was, “to bear patiently” (tolerate).

That last meaning got me thinking of Jesus’ call for us to abide in Him but even more so Jesus’ abiding in us.

The first part, about us dwelling in Him, remaining in a continuous state of unwavering fellowship, all well and good but then I couldn’t help but imagine the second part of this mutual abiding, as Jesus dwelling in us, accepting all our flaws and annoying behaviour without objection, bearing patiently as He waits for us to finally “get it”.

It must take a lot of grace on Jesus’ part to put up with us humans; don’t you think?

And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace (free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving-kindness) with God. – Luke 1:30 (AMPC)

Grace signifies the free, spontaneous, absolute favour and loving-kindness of God to human beings who don’t deserve it, but God shows us grace (undeserved, unmerited favour and mercy) because of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation). – Ephesians 2:5 (AMPC)

Through this wonderful grace, the Father who dwells in the Son (see John 10:38 & 14:10), calls us into living fellowship and union with Him through His Spirit who dwells in every believer.

The Father is determined to extend grace – undeserved, unmerited favour – to anyone who has faith in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, the very embodiment of His grace.

And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. – John 1:14 (AMPC)

This tells us that when we accept Jesus’ call for us to abide in Him, it is us walking in grace with Grace.

Beloved, as a believer in Jesus Christ, grace is the instrument and Grace is the Person, through which God has effected your salvation and that of all believers.

In Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus, he writes,

For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind. – Titus 2:11 (AMPC)

Grace not only secured your salvation, but grace is the sustaining influence that maintains it throughout your life, and it is that which enables you to persevere in your spiritual journey as you continue walking in grace with Grace.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Walking in grace with Grace” ©2026 June 5, 2026