Jesus is simply saying "Without Me you can do nothing"...so remain/abide in Him and all that He has already done for us as He is our life.
Abiding in Him means to stand in what He has done and who He is because we are one with Him.
It is NOT a work that one does. This is called works-righteousness.
He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. We are one with Him now in our inner man of the heart created in righteousness and holiness.
1 Corinthians 6:17 (KJV)
[SUP]17 [/SUP] But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Sin no more separates the believer in Christ then Daffy Duck and Donald Duck are the 2 witnesses in the book of Revelation.
Sin is stupid and destructive and can shorten our lives here on earth and destroys our witness with people but it does not separate us from God because we are "in Christ". It does however in our own minds affect how we view God but not how God views us.
The gospel of the grace of Christ is offensive to the religious mindset.
How we live here while on this earth affects our quality of life. Either live in grace or in the flesh.
I say that we teach the grace of Christ as it is this very thing that instructs how to live godly in this present world . Titus 2:11
Romans 8:12-13 (NASB)
[SUP]12 [/SUP] So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—
[SUP]13 [/SUP] for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.