Abide In Him

I John 2:28-29

Abide is an interesting word. In the Greek, it is a word that speaks of an ongoing action. For instance, if you speak of a person abiding in a place, then they are staying there for a period of time. They are not simply passing through. If person abides in an abusive relationship, then they continue and survive in that abusive relationship. For a person to abide in the past, they live in the past. Their memory keeps them looking back, rather than looking forward. John tells us that there is someone we need to abide in.

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And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

I John 2:28–29

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John tells us that we are to "abide in Him". The Him that we are to abide in is Jesus. This is made clear by the next statement, "that when He appears...." Of the members of the Trinity, only Jesus appears to believers. We await both the rapture of the church and the second coming (advent) of Christ. What John is saying is that while we wait, we are to abide in Him. This means we continue in His teachings. Not just studying them, but doing them.

John says that by abiding in Him, "that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming". In I Corinthians 6, Paul says that we will reign with Christ. He said, "Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?" (I Corinthians 6:3). The degree to which we will reign with Christ will be determined by how we abide in Him here. This verse is about rewards, not salvation.

So, that begs the question, how do we know if we are abiding in Him? John helps us with that as well. He tells us that Jesus is righteous. Since He is righteous, anyone who does righteous works is in Him. Jesus, warning against false teachers, said "you will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16). This is true for Christians as well. A person can only bear righteous fruit if they are in Christ. Without Him, all of our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

John called his readers "little children". He was speaking as a loving grandfather because he loved the people he was writing too. He wanted that which was best for them. The best for any person is to abide in Christ. That is what we were created for. It is what we lost in the garden. It is what Jesus came and died for, that we could abide in Him and in the Father once again.

Father, we are good at messing things up. You are good at redeeming that which we ruin. We ask You today to help us Abide in You. Create in us a greater desire for this. Help us to recognize the hunger and thirst that only You can quench.