1Jo 2:29 | KingComments | STEP | . As a child in faith, that which you have heard from the beginning abides in you and as a result of that you abide in the Son and the Father. There is not the slightest separation between you and the Son and the Father. It is not about whether you always experience it, but it is about how it is. Your feelings are not the measure, but that which God has promised to those who believe is the measure. God has made to us a “promise”. That promise is: “eternal life”. It is not a promise of which the fulfilment is still to come. You have what is promised, that is eternal life, because you believe. God has promised that he who believes in His only begotten Son will receive eternal life ( ). Do you think that God would promise something He would not fulfill? That is impossible and therefore there is no room for any uncertainty. As I already noted at the beginning, there is, beside the aspect of eternal life as the new life in you, also the aspect of eternal life as a sphere of life in which you live. That too belongs to what is promised that you have received. The sphere you have turned into through faith and in which you abide is the fellowship with the Father and the Son. . John writes this all in order to arm you against those who seek to “deceive” you concerning you being a child of God. Even if you have been converted for only a short time, you have the new life in its fullness. Nothing is missing. It is not the beginning of something that is yet imperfect and to which by new truths outside the Bible one thing or another must be added to make it complete. The false teachers are assuming that there is a higher truth to be found in the mysticism of the invisible and that they have the key to it. . Do not let yourself be dragged by these deceptive guide spirits to look for the so-called missing things. It is totally different with you. You absolutely do not need such false teachers, for you are anointed with the Holy Spirit Whom you have received from God and Christ. God’s Spirit, Who abides in you and Who will never leave you ( ), will guide you into all the truth ( ). You are not dependent on certain people who claim that you will not be able to come to the full knowledge of the truth without them. The Spirit teaches you all things ( ). He testifies about the Lord Jesus and makes clear what is true and not a lie ( ). Even if you would only know just a little bit of the truth and you are not able to refute a false doctrine, you will still be able to sense what is the truth and therefore be able to reject the lie (cf. ). Of course this doesn’t mean that you would not need any teaching and that attending the meetings where the Word is explained and that reading Bible study books would be a waste of time. Christ has given gifts to His church, amongst others that of a teacher to edify His church ( ). To disregard that gift by not making use of it, means to disregard the Giver of it and that will at least result in spiritual skewing. The important thing here is that you are able to sense through the Spirit what God’s truth is. Through the Spirit you have the capacity to discern the lie from the truth. By what you have been taught by the Spirit you know that you abide in Him. The Spirit does not sow doubt but He affirms. By the way, ‘Him’ in “abide in Him” may indicate both God and the Lord Jesus. It is one of the characteristics of the letters of John, that it is not always clear whether ‘He’ or ‘Him’ indicates the Father or the Son. That doesn’t matter, for both Persons of the Godhead are equal to each other. . John again as an old believer addresses all children of God as his spiritual children. He exhorts you to “abide in Him”. In that way He wants to exhort you to be aware of your fellowship with the Father and the Son and to remain in that atmosphere. This appeal of John is with a view to the appearance of the Lord Jesus. In that way he refers to His coming which he himself expects. If you live in conscious fellowship with the Lord Jesus you will look forward to Him with boldness and also with eagerness. If you live for yourself and not in fellowship with Him, you will be ashamed when He comes. You will, as it were, turn down your eyes. You certainly do not want that, do you? Therefore remain aware of having your abode in Him. When the Lord Jesus appears and every eye sees Him ( ), each man will acknowledge that the Son is righteous and that He righteously exercises the judgment. You know that already now. . This speaking about the appearance of the Son on earth is a reason for John to continue with passing on characteristics that are typical for the children of God. From what he has written earlier you know that what matters to him is to make clear that everyone who has the Lord Jesus as his life, is characterized by that life. He who has that life, the eternal life, is “born of Him”. John uses this expression for the first time in his letter. He who is born of God has the nature of God and shows it by practicing “righteousness”. The Lord Jesus is righteous and therefore you see that characteristic with each child of God. (Of the Lord Jesus, by the way, nowhere do you read that He is born of God, because He is God.) With practicing righteousness is not meant doing a good deed every now and then. It is about what characterizes the new life, what is the practice of the new life. The new life practices righteousness and nothing else. Practicing righteousness is doing what is right to God and is manifested in your thinking, speaking and acting. Here also it is not about living up to it for the full hundred percent in your life, but it is about what belongs to the new life, the nature of God. Practicing righteousness is only to be found with someone who is born of God. It is living as the Lord Jesus is. Now read 1 John 2:25-29 again. Reflection: What is the meaning of the anointing that you have received?

‏ 1 John 2:29

Anointing and Abiding In Him

1Jn 2:25. As a child in faith, that which you have heard from the beginning abides in you and as a result of that you abide in the Son and the Father. There is not the slightest separation between you and the Son and the Father. It is not about whether you always experience it, but it is about how it is. Your feelings are not the measure, but that which God has promised to those who believe is the measure.

God has made to us a “promise”. That promise is: “eternal life”. It is not a promise of which the fulfilment is still to come. You have what is promised, that is eternal life, because you believe. God has promised that he who believes in His only begotten Son will receive eternal life (Jn 3:16). Do you think that God would promise something He would not fulfill? That is impossible and therefore there is no room for any uncertainty.

As I already noted at the beginning, there is, beside the aspect of eternal life as the new life in you, also the aspect of eternal life as a sphere of life in which you live. That too belongs to what is promised that you have received. The sphere you have turned into through faith and in which you abide is the fellowship with the Father and the Son.

1Jn 2:26. John writes this all in order to arm you against those who seek to “deceive” you concerning you being a child of God. Even if you have been converted for only a short time, you have the new life in its fullness. Nothing is missing. It is not the beginning of something that is yet imperfect and to which by new truths outside the Bible one thing or another must be added to make it complete. The false teachers are assuming that there is a higher truth to be found in the mysticism of the invisible and that they have the key to it.

1Jn 2:27. Do not let yourself be dragged by these deceptive guide spirits to look for the so-called missing things. It is totally different with you. You absolutely do not need such false teachers, for you are anointed with the Holy Spirit Whom you have received from God and Christ. God’s Spirit, Who abides in you and Who will never leave you (Jn 14:16), will guide you into all the truth (Jn 16:13).

You are not dependent on certain people who claim that you will not be able to come to the full knowledge of the truth without them. The Spirit teaches you all things (Jn 14:26). He testifies about the Lord Jesus and makes clear what is true and not a lie (Jn 15:26). Even if you would only know just a little bit of the truth and you are not able to refute a false doctrine, you will still be able to sense what is the truth and therefore be able to reject the lie (cf. Jn 10:4-5).

Of course this doesn’t mean that you would not need any teaching and that attending the meetings where the Word is explained and that reading Bible study books would be a waste of time. Christ has given gifts to His church, amongst others that of a teacher to edify His church (Eph 4:11). To disregard that gift by not making use of it, means to disregard the Giver of it and that will at least result in spiritual skewing.

The important thing here is that you are able to sense through the Spirit what God’s truth is. Through the Spirit you have the capacity to discern the lie from the truth. By what you have been taught by the Spirit you know that you abide in Him. The Spirit does not sow doubt but He affirms.

By the way, ‘Him’ in “abide in Him” may indicate both God and the Lord Jesus. It is one of the characteristics of the letters of John, that it is not always clear whether ‘He’ or ‘Him’ indicates the Father or the Son. That doesn’t matter, for both Persons of the Godhead are equal to each other.

1Jn 2:28. John again as an old believer addresses all children of God as his spiritual children. He exhorts you to “abide in Him”. In that way He wants to exhort you to be aware of your fellowship with the Father and the Son and to remain in that atmosphere. This appeal of John is with a view to the appearance of the Lord Jesus. In that way he refers to His coming which he himself expects.

If you live in conscious fellowship with the Lord Jesus you will look forward to Him with boldness and also with eagerness. If you live for yourself and not in fellowship with Him, you will be ashamed when He comes. You will, as it were, turn down your eyes. You certainly do not want that, do you? Therefore remain aware of having your abode in Him. When the Lord Jesus appears and every eye sees Him (Rev 1:7), each man will acknowledge that the Son is righteous and that He righteously exercises the judgment. You know that already now.

1Jn 2:29. This speaking about the appearance of the Son on earth is a reason for John to continue with passing on characteristics that are typical for the children of God. From what he has written earlier you know that what matters to him is to make clear that everyone who has the Lord Jesus as his life, is characterized by that life. He who has that life, the eternal life, is “born of Him”. John uses this expression for the first time in his letter.

He who is born of God has the nature of God and shows it by practicing “righteousness”. The Lord Jesus is righteous and therefore you see that characteristic with each child of God. (Of the Lord Jesus, by the way, nowhere do you read that He is born of God, because He is God.)

With practicing righteousness is not meant doing a good deed every now and then. It is about what characterizes the new life, what is the practice of the new life. The new life practices righteousness and nothing else. Practicing righteousness is doing what is right to God and is manifested in your thinking, speaking and acting.

Here also it is not about living up to it for the full hundred percent in your life, but it is about what belongs to the new life, the nature of God. Practicing righteousness is only to be found with someone who is born of God. It is living as the Lord Jesus is.

Now read 1 John 2:25-29 again.

Reflection: What is the meaning of the anointing that you have received?