Abiding in God

Two things here: Context and Wording

Context is critical to correct biblical interpretation. So, I recommend that you read the entire book of 1 John to get the full context before you start interpreting what you read only from select sections of the Scriptures. Why? Because Scriptures taught outside of their original context may present a completely different message from what is being taught and presented in the book, as a whole. This is not always the case, but many times it is. And this is one of those that needs the whole context to get the right message.

It is important that we understand the wording, too. And I obviously speak American English, and the Bible translation I am reading is also written in American English. But our English words don’t always capture well the true meaning of the original Greek words. So, in this case, many people will read this, and they will assume that if they make a verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ, believing that he is the Son of God, and that he is God, that God now abides in them, they are saved, and are on their way to heaven.

But is that what this is teaching? No, it isn’t. How do I know that? I read the whole book. And the first three chapters tell us that if we say that we have fellowship with God/Christ, yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars who do not practice the truth. And if we claim that we know him, but we do not obey his commandments, we are liars, and the truth is not in us. And no one born of God makes a practice of sinning. But the ones who die to sin and who obey God, in practice, are those who abide in God, and God in them.

So, why does chapter four, then, appear to give the impression that we can just confess that Jesus is the Son of God and now God abides in us and us in him? It has to do with the wording and how it is understood in the English versus its original meaning in the Greek. For the word essentially means to agree with God and with what God says, to speak the same thing as God, to voice the same conclusion as God, and to align (cooperate) with God. And if we align with what God says about Jesus, this is not just words we speak.

And let’s move on. “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” So, what is this love being spoken of here? Well first of all God is love, so if we abide in (comply with, obey, follow, conform to, remain in) God, then God abides in us. And the word “love” centers in moral preference, and it prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful and obedient to our Lord and to his commands, which is described for us in the first three chapters.

And then it says, “By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.” So if we are as He is, as he was when he lived in the world, then our lives should reflect the life of Jesus Christ. Now we won’t be perfect as he was, but lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin. We should aim to please our Lord in every way, following him wherever he leads us in doing all that he commands that we must do.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, we must take this to heart if we want to abide in Christ and him in us, and if we want to have the assurance of salvation and eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Abide in Him

Based off Psalm 27:14; Isaiah 40:31; John 14-15
An Original Work / July 31, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

If you wait for the Lord, put your hope now in Him,
He will give you His strength and endurance within.
He will renew your strength, so you will not lose heart.
You will soar on wings like eagles, never depart.

“If you abide in Me, and My words live in you,
You will walk with Me daily and follow what’s true.
I will live now in you; give you peace now within,
If you obey My teachings and turn from your sin.”

“If you listen to Me, and do all that I say,
I will give you My comfort; be with you always.
I will heal all your pain; life with Me now you’ll gain,
If in fellowship with Me you always remain.”


Abiding in God
An Original Work / January 14, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love