001.37. Chapter 37
Chapter 37 ABIDING IN CHRIST
“And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at his coming.” The apostle was engaged in warning professing Christians against false teachers who desired to corrupt them, yea, who had already prevailed with many of their company (1 John 2:18-19). He had shown them up in their true colours, denouncing them as antichrists and liars (1 John 2:22). He had exhorted the saints to hold fast the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end (1 John 2:24). He had reminded them of the grand promise given for their encouragement (1 John 2:25).
Then he assured the regenerate that the anointing which they had received from Christ was no mere temporary benefit, but one which would remain in them as an incorruptible principle of life and light, supplying them with such spiritual discernment as no human teaching could impart. That “anointing” consisted, as we have seen, of the gift of the Holy Spirit and His saving grace. It is the Spirit as an illuminator and instructor which is here singled out for particular mention.
He teaches nothing but infallible Truth, without the slightest mixture of error. He teaches “of all things:” that is, all things essential unto our ingrafting into and continuation in Christ—the essential and fundamental things of the Gospel, whatever be requisite for our obedience to Christ and communion with Him. That all believers are taught, however ignorant they be in matters of lesser importance.
Paraphrasing the excellent Owen, we would say that, first, all Divine Truth which is necessary to be known and believed that we may live unto God, abide in Christ, and be preserved from seducers is revealed in the Scriptures (Acts 20:32). Second, but of ourselves we cannot understand the Scriptures unto the ends just specified (1 Corinthians 2:14): if we could there would be no need that we should be taught them by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12). Third, by the anointing of the Spirit believers are taught all those things, so that they are enabled to discern, understand and acknowledge them (1 John 2:27). The Spirit is given to Christ’s redeemed for this very purpose: that He may graciously and savingly instruct them in the truth of the Gospel by the supernatural enlightening of their minds, causing the soul to cling firmly unto it with love and delight, transforming them in the whole inner man into the image of the same. Thereby it answers to the anointing of the Lord Jesus with the same Spirit which made Him “of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:3). “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant” (Psalms 25:14). God will not conceal from them the knowledge of His will so far as their salvation is concerned in it, but will teach them the way wherein they should walk if they are to be acceptable to Him. The general end or design of God in the gift and teaching of the Spirit is to provide for believers remaining steadfast in Christ, and thus 1 John 2:27 closes with the emphatic statement, “and even as it [the anointing] hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.” Whatever be required in order to maintain communion with Christ all believers are taught. The especial end in view that is here singled out is preservation and deliverance from all antichrists and seducers, with the lies and false doctrines which they propagate against Christ and His Gospel. The only means whereby we may be kept from such pernicious opinions and ways is by an assured knowledge and inward acquaintance with what is revealed in Holy Writ.
Truth is the only antidote against error, and none but the Holy Spirit can lead anyone into the life-giving meaning of the Truth and quicken him into real fellowship with the Lord thereby. Those who lack this spiritual, sure and establishing knowledge, possessing but a bare conjectural and theoretical acquaintance with it, are Christians only in name, receiving the Gospel from men in the letter rather than in the substance of it; and, not being rooted and grounded in the faith, are subject to any wind of false doctrine.
Nothing else ensures stability and fidelity. Man’s knowledge, skill, or disputing ability is insufficient to preserve from being inveigled with fair pretences or enticed with the cunning sleights of Satan, where he lies in wait to deceive.
Yea, as Owen pointed out, “Temptations may come as a storm or tempest, which quickly drives men from their greatest fleshly confidences. Hence oftentimes those who are forwardest to say, Though all men should forsake the Truth yet would not they do so, are the forwardest upon trial so to do.” But this sacred anointing fails none who receive it, and because of it they never fail. First, because His teaching is not merely an external and doctrinal instruction, but an internal and effectual operation. Whereas He makes use indeed of the written Word and teaches nothing but what is revealed therein, He bestows an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and open our eyes so that we may see clearly the wondrous things that are in God’s Law. The degree of this knowledge varies considerably, both in the clearness with which Divine things are perceived and in the scope or extent of the same, the Spirit acting according to the sovereignty of His will (1 Corinthians 12:11); but none who receives His anointing comes short of whatever be necessary to ensure his abiding in Christ.
Second, the Spirit so teaches as to give a love unto and delight in the things that are taught. This is the next principal cause of action and practice, being that which binds together the different means and instruments of our security, rendering them firm and stable. Even though the mind be informed and perceives a duty, if the will and the affections be not wrought upon and won over unto a hearty approbation of the same we shall never conform ourselves unto them in the diligent performance of that duty. That which is done merely from convictions of conscience, without any gladness of heart, will neither be acceptable unto God nor shall we be constant therein. No matter how well instructed we be by God’s ministers, or what light we personally acquire by study, unless there be genuine love of the Truth and the personal practice thereof it will prove insufficient unto our preservation and the saving profession of it. This is the outstanding characteristic feature of this Divine unction: it communicates a delight in the Truth wherein it instructs and promotes a glad obedience to what it requires. When the blessed Spirit by His teaching breathes into the soul a holy and spiritual complacence in the things which are taught, then we taste how gracious the Lord is in them, His Word is rendered sweeter to us than the honeycomb, and we run in the way of His commandments. This anointing imparts a secret and infallible assurance unto that which is communicated, for “it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth... He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself” (1 John 5:6, 1 John 5:10). Then, in such a connection, the “and ye need not that any man teach you” should be quite plain to all. They were not ignoramuses who were unacquainted with the Truth. They were not dependent upon Gnostics or any other “great” and wise men to indoctrinate them. No so-called ‘infallible church’ or ‘pope’ was required to authenticate God’s Word and persuade of its verity. As Divinely enlightened they already knew the things John was setting before them. Similarly, Paul wrote, “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9). So here, yet as the well-balanced Calvin remarked, “There is another use to be made of this doctrine: that when men really understand what is needful for them, we are yet to warn and rouse them, that they may be more confirmed.” As every believer has faith, yet there is need for a further increase of it, so there is ever room for an enlarging and deepening of spiritual knowledge.
“And ye need not that any man teach you” is also mentioned to counteract and put down that carnal tendency of idolizing the human instrument. There is a very great danger of this. Young believers especially are apt to think too highly of those who are made a blessing to their souls. Where the affections be fixed upon the messenger rather than upon the message itself, there the teacher comes between the heart and Christ. Nor must we esteem the most gifted as though his interpretation be an oracle of God, but rather test what he says by the Word. It is so easy to fix the eye on the servant who is seen, instead of on his unseen Master. How many go to church hoping to receive something from the preacher, instead of looking to the Lord for a blessing! Though teachers be needed, they must not be relied upon. “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?... So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:5, 1 Corinthians 3:7). What a corrective for preacher-worship is that! Even an apostle could not open their minds to apprehend a single truth unless the Spirit was pleased to bless his efforts.
“Even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.” That is the seventh thing predicated of our Divine anointing: it produces a permanent stabilizing effect, preserving from dangerous error. It so instructs and establishes in the faith, imparts such a spirit of discernment of truth from falsehood, that it is now impossible for Satan to deceive them with his lies (Matthew 24:24). It not only illumines the mind, but sanctifies the heart and turns the will Godward. Such impressions are made upon the soul of the holiness, sovereignty and goodness of God, that they are instinctively repelled by any teaching which repudiates the same. They have a spiritual palate which is acute in distinguishing between what is wholesome and that which is poisonous. They have such a love of the Truth that nothing can induce them to sell it. God has given them the spirit “of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7) which enables them to perceive the sophistries of would-be seducers. It conveys to them a wisdom which makes wise the simple (Psalms 19:7), which none of the schools of this world can impart. And therefore many an unlettered peasant is often far sounder in the faith than preachers with their classical and theological degrees. Nor is their knowledge confined to merely a few simple truths: they have a deeper acquaintance with the entire doctrine of Christ, being taught in their own experience, and in such a way that none can shake them.
“Ye shall abide in Him.” The careful reader will observe that the margin gives as an alternative rendering “or it”—that is, the Truth. The Greek allows either. To abide in Christ and to abide in the Truth are here equivalent. In the whole of this passage the contrast is between those who turn from Christ to antichrists and those who remain loyal to Him and steadfast in the faith. The apostle is comforting the distressed believers by assuring them of his confidence in them: that having received from Christ an anointing which had taught them of all things necessary to their salvation and preservation they would endure to the end. He is saying what another apostle declared of the Hebrew saints, “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39). “To ‘abide in Christ’ is to continue in the true faith and confession of Him, and of all which concerns Him—His truth, His ordinances, His worship. To abide in Christ is to persevere in the truth of His everlasting Gospel” (S.E. Pierce). To abide in Christ is to have Him for our supreme Object, to centre our affections upon Him, to make Him our centre and circumference—our all in all.
“And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” (1 John 2:28)
Having completed his distinct instructions and exhortations to the fathers, young men and babes (1 John 2:13-17), John returns to and again addresses the whole family collectively under the same name of endearment (teknion) as in 1 John 2:12. With paternal affection the apostle now exhorts them to abide in Christ. That term “little children” was the one His beloved Master had employed that never-to-be-forgotten night when He so graciously instructed the eleven in the upper room on the eve of His crucifixion: “Little children, yet a little while I am with you” (John 13:33). Doubtless that tender word made a particularly deep impression upon the one who was wont to recline on His bosom, and was tenderly cherished in his memory: so much so that he in turn made use of it when addressing his dear converts. As his mind reverted to the great “paschal discourse,” he would recall how that the Saviour had used the word “abide” no less than eight times in John 15:4-11, for “continue ye in My love” (John 15:9) and “that My joy might remain in you” (John 15:11) are the same in the original as the “abide in Me” of John 15:4. Now this exhortation “abide in Him” is so blessed, so important, and so comprehensive, as to call for a fuller opening by the expositor. To abide, in the language of Scripture, means more than merely to remain in one place. It has a moral force, and signifies to adhere unto. Thus it implies a previous union or connection with a person or thing. To be in Christ, and to abide in Him, are distinct thoughts. In order to abide in Christ, one must first be in Him. The former respects a union which is effected by the gracious power of God, and cannot be dissolved or suspended. Accordingly, believers are never enjoined to “be in Christ,” for that could not be the subject of exhortation, since it already exists as an accomplished fact by new creation. But to “abide in Christ” is the subject of injunction, because the exercise of the believer’s responsibility is involved therein. Union with Christ has made possible a life of communion with Him, and that life may be suitably addressed, and is required to respond to His call. Unlike the being in Christ, the abiding is capable of interruption. When assured that “we are in Him that is true” (1 John 5:20), the reference is to a union which cannot be disannulled, to a standing which cannot be shaken. But when we hear the Lord saying “abide in Me” (or an apostle repeating His word) it implies that we are exposed to failure at this point, or have already failed therein. It is therefore a word which calls us to vigilance. In calling upon believers to abide in Christ, John was bidding them to adhere steadfastly to His Gospel, to live in constant dependence upon Him in faith and hope, to render loving obedience to His commandments, to enter into fellowship with Him. Thereby they would have the assurance of being approved disciples, and in the day to come would not be ashamed before Him, as will all hypocrites and apostates. Some may consider it needless, if not meaningless, to press the duty of perseverance when the exercise of it is certain. Having stated so emphatically, “Ye shall abide in Him,” why, in the very next breath, enjoin them to do that very thing? Because privileges do not cancel obligations, but rather increase them. While our abiding in Christ is ensured by the grace of the Spirit, that releases us not from the discharge of our accountability. The Spirit is not given to exempt us from the performance of duty, but to enable us to discharge it. It is just because He indwells us that we ought to be the more diligent and faithful. Talents are given us to use, and not to bury in the ground. It is the Spirit’s presence and power which makes failure on our part inexcusable. The Lord Jesus informed Peter, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not,” nevertheless, shortly after, He bade him “Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:32, Luke 22:40). He who regards those things as being “inconsistent” knows nothing yet as he ought to know. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, another apostle definitely assured the saints, “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” Then might they not remain passive and be carried down the stream of temptation? No indeed: very different is the use which he makes of that encouraging assurance, namely “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14). He drew an argument from that very promise for the performance of duty. Promises are given for the purpose of quickening industry, and animating us in the use of means. God does not preserve His people by physical force, and compel them to retain their standing in Christ—as He establishes the earth and the heavens by the forthputting of His might. Instead, He is pleased to use rational means which are suited to moral agents. The inward workings of His grace do not set aside or render nugatory external warnings, expositions and admonitions. In Php 2:12-13, Paul employed the same spiritual logic that he had used when addressing the Corinthians: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” There he argues that we ought to be active and diligent because God is working in us! Both the willing and the doing are freely ascribed unto God, and yet for that very reason we are to do. He will assist in the performing of it. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God leaves you not alone. Though the task be far beyond your puny strength, He gives assurance, My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in your weakness.
Grace is a dynamic, an operating, principle, and, where it dwells, radically affects our thoughts, influences our desires, produces good works. Divine grace cannot tabernacle in a human heart without breaking forth to act in the life. It is evidenced by its fruits. Just because you have received a Divine anointing which assures your spiritual preservation from all seducers of souls, see to it that you abide in Christ—remain loyal to Him at all costs.
We must now consider the reason or the motive by which the exhortation is enforced: “And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
Christ is now hid from the eyes of the world, for He has gone into heaven itself “to appear in the presence of God” (Hebrews 9:24) as the great High Priest of those for whom He died. But the Scriptures plainly and repeatedly testify that Christ will appear again—personally, publicly (Acts 1:11), when He shall sit upon the throne of His glory (Matthew 25:31), when “every eye shall see Him” (Revelation 1:7). In view of this blessed and solemn fact the questions may well be asked, “But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth?” (Malachi 3:2). God’s Word makes answer. On the one hand, it assures the saints, “he that dwelleth [abideth] in love dwelleth in God, and God in him: Herein is our love made perfect [i.e. reaches its designed end], that we may have boldness [confidence] in the day of judgment” (1 John 4:16-17). On the other hand “the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment” but will be “like the chaff which the wind driveth away” (Psalms 1:4-5). In the great day to come, the searchlight of Divine holiness will be turned upon two radically different classes of persons, clearly revealing them for what they are, and each will, righteously, be dealt with accordingly. Those that have done good will come forth unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:29); or, to cite an Old Testament passage whose language approximates more closely unto that of our present text, Daniel 12:2, speaking of the same event, declares that “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” The two classes will be separated one from another, “as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32). On the one hand, Christ will take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel; on the other, He will be glorified in His saints (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 2 Thessalonians 1:10). That same clear-cut and searching distinction is preserved in our text: those who abide in Christ will have confidence before Him at His appearing; but those who were disloyal and followed the antichrists will “be ashamed before Him at His coming.” As the Saviour announced, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).