Andrew Murray. Abide in Christ. 1882; Whitaker House, 1979.

In previous reviews I have mentioned a friend who used to use yellow highlighter when he read. Occasionally he would share an article which he would say should be dipped in yellow ink. Abide in Christ is like that. It has been a long time since I have read a book outside of the Bible which such an anointing.

Christian nonfiction writing is often described as self-help or how-to. The title of Abide in Christ suggests something similar—how a believer can abide or live a life with Christ. That is not the effect. Certainly, the Bible tells us to seek God and do justice, but that is not what this book is about. This book is told, more or less, from God’s perspective—what He has already done. For we mortals, it is a matter of accepting or embracing His plan.

The key Scripture is John 15:1-12 where Jesus told His disciples that He was the vine and they were the branches. He then tells them “Abide in me.” The ultimate reason is simply “that your joy may be full.” So Abide in Christ is more simply a description: not how-to, but this is the way things are.

If a person has received Jesus as savior, then he or she is part of God’s Kingdom. God’s Kingdom is set up in a certain way. Murray shows us the way God has set up His Kingdom and how He deals with us.

Murray reminds us that God has declared the repentant sinner righteous. He has prepared a place for him or her. To truly benefit, we must abide. It is, as Murray writes, that simple. He avoids distractions or deep theological discussions, but simply shows what the Bible says about those who belong to God.

Personally, I have been a Christian for a long time. Hardly any of the verses Murray quotes were unfamiliar to me. But I had to ask myself, have I really been seeing myself that way? Have I really embraced what the Bible says about Jesus and His people? We all need to see ourselves the way God sees us. The unbelievers need to see themselves as needing redemption. The believers need to see themselves as who they are in Christ. This reminds us that we are to live, to dwell, in Him. And because of what He has already set up in His Kingdom, it is not impossible to do so.

A key chapter to understand Murray’s approach is based on II Corinthians 1:21 which tells us that God is the one who establishes us in Christ. It is His anointing. It is not that we are totally passive, but we take Him at His word by faith. If we truly see and accept what God’s Word says about us, we will abide, we will be established. The Greek word for establish is stronger than what we usually think of the word establish today—it means “make strong, make firm, make stable.” (The root of establish is stable, though we do not often think of it that way in modern English.)

Abide in Christ is written in thirty-one short chapters averaging eight pages each. This was intentionally done so the reader could read a chapter a day. It is enough to absorb without being overwhelmed. In a month, the reader would have easily completed the book and, hopefully, drawn closer to God.

I thank my friend who gave me this anointed book. Read it and be blessed. I suspect I will read it again. There is a reason it is still in print after 140 years.