1 John 2:6
Whoever claims to abide in him must walk as Jesus did.
Abiding
in Christ and walking like Christ are two blessings of the new life presented
here in their essential unity. The fruit of a life in Christ is a
life like Christ.
To the
first of these expressions, “abiding in Christ, ”we are no strangers. The
wondrous parable of the vine and the branches, with the accompanying
command, “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4), has often been a
source of rich instruction and comfort. And though we feel as if we have only
imperfectly learned the lesson of abiding in Him, yet we have tasted something
of the joy that comes when the soul can say, “Lord, You know all things. You
know that I do abide in You.” He also knows how often this fervent prayer still
arises, “Blessed Lord, grant to me complete, unbroken abiding.”
The second
expression, “walking like Christ,” is no less significant than the first. It is
the promise of the wonderful power that abiding in Him will exert. As the fruit
of our surrender to live wholly in Him, His life works so mightily in us that
our walk—the outward expression of the inner life—becomes like His. The two are
inseparably connected. The abiding in always precedes the walking
like Him. Yet the desire to walk like Him must equally precede any large
amount of abiding. Only then is the need for a close union fully realized. The
heavenly Giver is free to bestow the fullness of His grace, because He sees
that the soul is prepared to use it according to His design. When the Savior
said, “If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love” (John
15:10), He meant this: the surrender to walk like Me is the path to the full
abiding in Me. Many will discover that this is the secret of their failure in
abiding in Christ: they did not seek it with the idea of walking like Christ.
The words of John invite us to look at the two truths in their vital connection
and dependence on each other.
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