Abide In Him - 1 John 1-3

 1 John 2:28-29 (ESV)

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

In the book of 1 John, the writer uses the term “abide” 18 times in this letter.   It is used over 100 times in the New Testament.  John using it over 50 times in the Gospel of John, 1, 2, 3 John and Revelation.  So, to say this is a theme and favorite word of the writer would be an understatement.   By this point in the book he has already used the word eight times.   The word means to “continue” and/or “remain.”   

But, to really know the meaning of how John is using it in verse 28, we only have to read verse 29.   In the 28 he tells us to “abide in him” (meaning Christ).   However, in verse 29 he tells us that if we are going to be righteous like Christ (abiding in him) we, too, will practice righteousness.   So, abiding in Christ is practicing righteousness through Christ.   We are not to say we love Christ and then live a life absent of His righteousness.  

A second lesson from these two verses is the “confidence” we can have when we are actually abiding in Him.  If we are “practicing righteousness when Christ comes we will not be ashamed when Christ returns.  This is the shrinking in shame he is trying to help us avoid.  When a righteous Christ appears we do not want to be practicing unrighteousness.   The only way to avoid that shame is to make sure we “abide” by being obedient to His commands.   Living a Christian life is never that complicated.   It is always simply by faith obeying the words Jesus told us to obey.  Not that hard to understand.  Without the Spirit impossible to do, however.  That is what he starts writing about at the end of chapter three.