Abide

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. And now, little children, abide in Him. (1 John 2:24-28)

What does it mean to abide—and why is it the key to a joyful, fruitful, enduring Christian life?

A Shirt and a Word I Didn't Understand

When I was about eight or nine years old, I had a shirt with the word abide on it in big letters. I didn't really know what the word meant. I remember it because of an argument with a neighbor kid named David Rose, who was thirteen or fourteen. In the middle of our argument he said, "That's a stupid shirt—you probably don't even know what that word means." He was right; I didn't. He told me it meant you're drunk. He was wrong—maybe he was thinking of imbibe—but I had to defend my shirt anyway.

As you read the Scriptures, especially the writings of the Apostle John—who wrote 1, 2, and 3 John, the book of Revelation, and the Gospel of John—this word comes up again and again. John uses it some sixty-eight times in his New Testament writings. It was a very important concept for him, and for the church. Why was abiding so important to John? Very likely because of the teaching of Jesus that John himself recorded in John 15.

Where Abiding Comes From: John 15

John was a firsthand hearer of this teaching, and of the four Gospel writers he is the only one who records it. In John 15:1 Jesus says:

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit... Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing... These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

We have been studying through 1 John under the theme of fullness of joy, a phrase that comes from John's opening words: "these things we write to you that your joy may be full." Jesus in John 15 says He spoke His teaching so that His joy might remain in us and our joy might be full. John in 1 John returns to that same purpose—and to the same principle of abiding.

Fullness of Joy Is the Result of the Abiding Life

That is point number one: fullness of joy is the result of the abiding life. As you interact with people—neighbors, coworkers, classmates—you discover that everyone is seeking fullness, abundance, happiness. They don't all describe it the same way or look for it in the same places, but everyone is pursuing fullness of joy. Jesus and John tell us that fullness of joy is connected to, even results from, the abiding life.

Sadly, there are those who do not abide. In the previous section, studied last week, John spoke of people who had the appearance of being followers of Jesus but departed:

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. (1 John 2:19)

That word "continued" is the same word translated abide some sixty-seven other times. If they had truly been with us, they would have abided. They went out, that it might be made manifest that none of them were of us.

This is a grave situation. In John 15:6 Jesus says the one who does not abide "is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." Commentators discuss exactly what Jesus is alluding to, but the majority view is that this speaks of separation from God—outer darkness, what we typically call hell. Abiding is necessary and important, and the consequences of not abiding are devastating.

The Word of Life Brings Joy and Fruitfulness

Abiding is also necessary for fruitfulness. The Father desires that our lives produce much fruit. What is that fruit? The most logical passage is Galatians 5:22-23—the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control. The evidence of that fruit increases our experience of the abundant life.

Knowing this, John writes, "Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning." The word abide means remain, dwell, continue. And what is the "that" which is to remain in us? It is what we have heard from the beginning—which takes us back to 1 John 1:1:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.

That brings us to point number two: the abiding Word of Life brings fullness of joy and fruitfulness. It may seem simple, but it is true nonetheless. I cannot perfectly articulate how it works, but by experience and observation I can tell you it does work. As we allow the Word of God to be planted deep in our hearts and minds, it takes root and transforms us—from the carnal works of the flesh Paul describes in Galatians 5 to the fruit of the Spirit.

We live in the post-Enlightenment Western world, and we want a clear propositional answer for everything. I am very analytical; I want a clean statement for every truth. But some things I cannot perfectly explain—I just know they work. As God's Word remains in us, it transforms us. This is why Paul exhorts in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."

The First Remedy for a Dry Life

If today you are experiencing dryness, barrenness, unfruitfulness, then at the very least start by letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. I can't count how many times someone has come to me lacking joy, peace, or self-control. My first question is almost always: how much time have you been spending in God's Word, letting His Word abide in you? Invariably they answer, "Not as much as I should"—which usually means none.

So I tell them: do some more. Even five minutes more, every morning. Let's get back together in a week or ten days and see if there isn't at least some transformation. And every single time someone takes that to heart, the follow-up conversation reveals the fruit of the Spirit beginning to increase—love, joy, peace, patience, self-control.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly... but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1)

That is three-thousand-year-old wisdom that still applies. People ask, "What good is this book in the twenty-first century? We launch rockets and beam communication around the world." Are you sure? Are you lacking peace, patience, self-control, joy, love? Those aren't produced by a class at Palomar College. You can't buy them at Walmart or Amazon, or download them on Netflix. They come through taking heed to the Word of God.

Endurance and the Promise of Eternal Life

The Word of Life also prepares us for endurance, so that we continue to abide and receive the promise that comes with abiding. "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." Verse 19 told us some did not remain because they did not allow God's Word to abide in them. But if God's Word abides in you, the result is that you will abide in the Father and the Son—and the promise is eternal life, abundant life now and abundant life forever.

John continues, "These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you." He wrote out of concern that false teachers might lead the church away from the simplicity of the abiding Word. There were those in the first century, as there are in the twenty-first, who bring another message, another gospel, another worldview that does not lead to fullness of joy but to barrenness.

This was Paul's concern too. In 2 Corinthians 11:3 he writes, "I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." And in Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men... and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him."

Only in Christ Is There Life

That brings us to point number three: only by the abiding Word of Life do we have the promise of eternal life. I realize that is almost an anathema to twenty-first-century Westerners, because our culture grates against the exclusivity claims of Jesus. He said in John 14, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me." That is a massive stumbling block today—but it was no less a stumbling block two thousand years ago. Paul said the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing, a stumbling block to the intellectual Greeks and Romans of his day. There is no life outside of Christ—not abundant life, not eternal life.

The Anointing That Abides in You

John adds another gift that comes by abiding:

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... you will abide in Him.

What is this anointing? Paul answers in Ephesians 1:13: "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance." When you hear the gospel and receive it by faith, you are given the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who comes to indwell you. Paul tells the Corinthians, "Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?"

Jesus promised this in John 14, the same passage where He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." As He prepared His troubled disciples for His departure, He said: "I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth... He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

Every Christian Has the Indwelling Spirit

That is point number four: every Christian has the abiding presence of God's Spirit within. This is important because there is a teaching that says when you become a Christian you must later experience a "second blessing" to receive the indwelling Holy Spirit. But that is not what Scripture teaches. Every Christian, upon conversion and faith in Jesus, is baptized by Jesus with the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit comes and indwells that person by the grace of God.

So John says he writes these things because there are those trying to deceive you—but he is not terribly concerned, because you have the Spirit in you. He says you "do not need that anyone teach you." Does that mean you shouldn't go to church or have a teacher? No. The false teachers of his day claimed you needed them, that there was secret knowledge—what this passage calls gnosis—a guru or spiritual guide to direct your path. John says you don't need that. You have the Word of God to abide in you and the Spirit of God's anointing in you, and together they give you the discernment of spirits. This is why in 1 John 4 he says, "Test every spirit to see if they are of God." Jesus said in John 16:13 that the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth.

Our Work: Let the Word Abide

So what is our work? Verse 24: "Let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning." We need God's Word to dwell in us richly. This is an exhortation we keep returning to because it is so important. Research from groups like Barna and LifeWay shows that the average American Christian rarely reads the Bible—only about twenty-five percent of regular churchgoers spend any time in Scripture outside of Sunday. And we wonder why we feel deficient in power, why we're so easily deceived, why we don't see love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control, and patience growing in us.

We need to let God's Word dwell in us richly beyond the forty minutes we gather on Sunday—reading devotionally, studying systematically, joining a small group, memorizing and meditating on Scripture. Notice verse 28: "And now, little children, abide in Him." How do we abide in Him? By causing God's Word to abide in us.

Step Out and Teach

Maybe God would even challenge you to lead a Bible study. For some of you that is the scariest thing imaginable—"I'm not equipped." But you have the anointing of God abiding in you and the Word of God He inspired. With both, you have the ability to begin to study Scripture with someone else.

I was nineteen when my youth pastor asked me to teach the junior high ministry. My first inclination was no—"I'm not equipped." So I said I'd pray about it, which is the Christian equivalent of no. Then on February 14th, Valentine's Day, 1999, I found myself standing up to teach Galatians chapter one. I did not feel ready. He handed me a Bible and a service time and said I'd learn. And you will never learn the Bible quite so much as when you are forced to read it to be ready to share with someone else. It was a horrible Bible study, but by God's abundant grace there are still people in this church today who were part of those early studies. God is greater than us.

God's Word Abiding in You Produces Abundant Life

That is point number five, and where we'll close: God's Word abiding in you will produce abundant life. Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly"—and that abundant life is connected to the abiding Word of God in us.

So if you are experiencing dryness, barrenness, or the works of the flesh overpowering your spiritual life, I challenge you to do something that may seem incredibly simple. Begin to read through the Scriptures daily. Take the first ten minutes of your morning, pick a book—the Gospel of John, Matthew, Ephesians, Romans—and read. Then pray, "God, I don't understand what I just read, but help me understand it, help me apply it, and help me make it a part of my life." Do this for just thirty days and see if there isn't a transformation. Test God; see if it's really true that there is an abundance, a fullness, and a fruitfulness that comes through His abiding presence by His Word. It has been my experience and observation that God makes good on His word.

Closing Prayer

God, thank You for Your Word. You promised that it would not return void, but would accomplish what You set it forth to do, just as the water waters the earth and causes it to grow and produce fruitfully. Your Word, like water, pours out on our dry hearts and causes fruitfulness in our lives. I pray that would be our experience. I pray for my brothers and sisters here, and for myself, because there are so many things in this hyper-busy culture that distract us and hinder us from spending time in the morning with You, looking through Your Word and allowing it to become a part of our lives. Give us a hunger for Your Word, and work in our lives mightily by Your Word and by the anointing of Your Spirit at work in us. Make us a fruitful people who bear the evidence of Your Spirit—love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control. We pray for it in Jesus' name. Amen.