Let Truth Abide

I John 2:24-27

In the previous devotion, John told us what an anti-Christ is. An anti-Christ denies the truth of who Jesus is. As Christians, we are to hold to the truth that is found in Christ. However, this can be difficult at times because every philosophy claims to be truth. Even those that deny the existence of absolute truth claim that the absence of absolute truth is an absolute truth. Let that mull around in your mind for a moment. If we are supposed to hold onto the truth, and everyone is telling us different versions of "the truth", how are we supposed to know what to hold onto?

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Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

I John 2:24-27

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John makes it very easy for us. Since he is speaking to Christians, he tells us that we had the truth from the moment we became Christians. No, this is not from the moment we decided to identify as a Christian. This is from the moment that Jesus saved us from our sins and the Holy Spirit came to live within us. That is the truth that we are to cling to. Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who loved us so much that He gave his life for us.

That one simple truth will sustain us in this life. When things get hard, Jesus gave us eternal life. When things seemed impossible, Jesus gave us eternal life. When people don't like us, or hate us, Jesus gives us eternal life. It is not trite. It is the blessed hope of the glorious gospel. When we truly grab hold of that truth and that hope, it is our strength to endure and overcome this world.

So what about those false teachers? John tells us that we do not need them. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit of God living within them (otherwise they are not a true Christian). When we study God's Word, Jesus said He (the Holy Spirit) would teach us (John 14:26). This does not mean that He just gives us the knowledge supernaturally. We have to be "diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Timothy 2:15). To "rightly divide" literally means to dissect. This requires care and careful analysis for the purpose of learning. It is studying what is there, not butchering to get what we want.

When we abide in the truth, we abide in Christ. Remember that Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Not only do we abide in truth, and abide in Christ, but it gives us access to the Father. It is the communion with God that was lost in the garden, restored.

Father, this world wants to lead us away from You. Those that are of this world want to kill our joy, steal our hope, and destroy our lives. May we cling to the truth that in only found in You. May we also share that truth with any that will listen, and maybe even some who do not want to.