Abiding in the Vine: Finding Rest in Your True Identity

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Freedom dawns when you finally grasp who you are in Christ. In this episode of Followed by Mercy, Robert Canfield, David Gardner, and I talk about what it means to live from your true identity instead of striving through religious performance.

We examine Ephesians 1 and celebrate the breathtaking truth that believers are holy, blameless, and spotless, not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus has already done. Many Christians live as if they have two competing natures, but the gospel tells us our old nature was cut away. The struggle now isn’t with a sinful identity but with old ways of thinking that haven’t yet caught up to the new life we’ve been given.

From there, we turn to John 15 and Jesus’ teaching on abiding. Abiding isn’t another task to perform. It’s simply staying close to Him. Like a branch drawing life from the vine, transformation flows naturally when we rest in our relationship with Christ. This shift takes us out of the exhausting “try harder” mentality and into the peace of “rest deeper.”

We also expose how rule-based religion often burdens people with guilt and hidden shame. True love for God grows out of a relationship, not regulation. When you live in Christ, pleasing Him is no longer about obligation. It becomes the natural response of a heart captured by love.

If you’ve been weighed down by performance-based Christianity or frustrated by cycles of self-effort, this conversation will encourage you to step into the freedom of your new identity. Abiding in Christ is where transformation begins.

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