John had taken deep into
his heart and life the words that Christ had spoken on the last night-words
about abiding in Him. He always remembered how the Lord had spoken six times of
loving Him and keeping His commandments as the way to abide in His love and to receive
the indwelling of the Father and the Son. Abiding in Christ is one of the key
promises in this epistle that he wrote in his old age. (See 1 John 2:6, 24, 28;
3:6, 24; 4:13, 16.)
In the text verse above,
John taught how we can be kept from sinning. "Whosoever abides in him sins
not." Though there is sin in our nature, the abiding in Christ, in whom
there is no sin, does indeed free us from the power of sin and enable us to
live daily so as to please God. The Scriptures record that Christ had said of
the Father, "I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29).
And so John wrote later in his epistle, "Beloved, if our heart condemn us
not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of
him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in
his sight" (l John 3:21-22).
Let the soul who longs to
be free from the power of sin take hold of these simple but far-reaching words:
"In him is no sin" (l John 3:5), and "He which establishes us
... in Christ .. .is God" (2 Corinthians 1:21). As you seek to abide in
Him in whom there is no sin, Christ will indeed live out His own life in you in the power of the Holy Spirit and will equip
you for a life in which you always do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
Dear child of God, you are
called to a life in which faith-great faith, strong, continuous, and
unbroken-in the almighty power of God is your one hope. As you daily take time
and yield yourself to the God of peace, who perfects you "in every good
work" (Hebrews 13:21) to do His will, you will experience that God indeed works
in those who wait for Him. (See Lamentations 3:25.)
"Whosoever abides in
him sins not." The promise is sure: God Almighty has pledged that He will
work in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Christ Jesus. (See
Hebrews 13:20- 21.) In that faith, abide in Him.
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