He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.
—1 John2:6

Abiding in Christ and walking like Christ are two blessings of the new life presented here in their essential unity. The fruit of a life in Christ isa life like Christ.

To the first of these expressions, “abiding in Christ,”we are no strangers. The wondrous parable of the vine and the branches, with the accompanying command, “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4), has often been a source of rich instruction and comfort. And though we feel as if we have only imperfectly learned the lesson of abiding in Him, yet we have tasted something of the joy that comes when the soul can say, “Lord, You know all things. You know that I do abide in You.” He also knows how often this fervent prayer still arises, “Blessed Lord, grant to me complete, unbroken abiding.”

The second expression, “walking like Christ,” is no less significant than the first. It is the promise of the wonderful power that abiding in Him will exert. As the fruit of our surrender to live wholly in Him, His life works so mightily in us that our walk—the outward expression of the inner life—becomes like His. The two are inseparably connected. The abiding in always precedes the walking like Him. Yet the desire to walk like Him must equally precede any large amount of abiding. Only then is the need for a close union fully realized. The heavenly Giver is free to bestow the fullness of His grace, because He sees that the soul is prepared to use it according to His design. When the Savior said, “If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love” (John 15:10), He meant this: the surrender to walk like Me is the path to the full abiding in Me. Many will discover that this is the secret of their failure in abiding in Christ: they did not seek it with the idea of walking like Christ. The words of John invite us to look at the two truths in their vital connection and dependence on each other.