09.01.26.Abiding

Greek Meaning

Remain; stay; reside; continue; stay on

Interesting Fact: The Message Bible only uses the word “abide” 5 times! NASB95: 57 times

Abide = Continue in His Teaching

John 8:31–32 (NASB95)

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Follow His Spirit = Hear His Voice

John 8:33–37 (NASB95)

33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you (i.e., you can’t hear My voice)

Note: Being a descendent of Abraham, a follower of Wesley, a disciple of Paul or Peter, Augustine, Martin Luther, Calvin - is of NO consequence.

John C. Truth and Freedom (8:31–41)

An earthly family, despite the power of its patriarch, offers no sonship in a heavenly kingdom.

MCB: The “Church” is relying on the promise of salvation while they practice habitual, intentional rebellion against the Holy Spirit. The Bible offers no such provision for this abominable hypocrisy.

Psalm 50:16 (NASB95)

16 But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth?

John 4:24 (NASB95)

24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Matthew 24:50–51 (NASB95)

50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 7:21–23 (NASB95)

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ (The Holy Spirit does nothing on His own initiative

John 6:38 (NASB95)

38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (MCB: This is exactly why the Holy Spirit was sent from Heaven, not to do His own will, but the will of the Father and the Son. To oppose the Spirit is to thwart the will of God.)

John 16:13–15 (NASB95)

13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Luke 6:46 (NASB95)

46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

John 10:3–5 (NASB95) 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

John 10:8–9 (NASB95) 8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

If we are walking with Jesus, He will feed us by His Spirit through His word. If we are not following His Spirit nor listening to His voice, nor immersing ourselves in His word, we will starve. Only by the Spirit feeding the sheep through His word will the sheep be filled to overflowing.

Renewal Theology: Systematic Theology from a Charismatic Perspective B. Reliance on the Scriptures

B. Reliance on the Scriptures Volume 1, Pages 23–24

Most importantly,

John C. Truth and Freedom (8:31–41)

8:34–38. In addition to freedom from error, true disciples are liberated from sin. What relationship does Jesus have with the Father, and what difference does that make in his authority to proclaim truth? People who sin—who are in an ongoing pattern of sinning—show that they are slaves to sin. Slaves are not sons and therefore not in God’s family. Membership in Abraham’s family—or Paul’s, Peter’s, Augustine’s, Martin Luther’s, John Calvin’s, or John Wesley’s—makes no difference whatsoever. An earthly family, despite the power of its patriarch, offers no sonship in a heavenly kingdom.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 8:31–32

8:31–32. Jews who had believed Him indicates that some paid attention to Jesus’ words without necessarily committing themselves to Him personally (cf. 6:53). It was possible to “believe” in the message of repentance and the coming kingdom without being born again. Continuing in the truth is the sign of true followers and learners (disciples). If they really grasped His message, they would find salvation truth. Knowing this salvation truth would liberate them from their bondage in sin.

8:33. Their response indicated that they had not grasped Christ’s message. Even though they were under Rome, they insisted that as Abraham’s descendants they were free men. How could Jesus free them when they were not slaves? They had no sense of their bondage to sin.

1 John 5:1–3 (NASB95)

1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

2 John 9–11 (NASB95)

9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

Note: This is very strong language. The Spirit has revealed that those who have cut themselves off from the Spirit are temples of idols. This scripture confirms this word.

Colossians 2:8 (NASB95)

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

Note: This verse compliments what John is saying concerning abiding in the teaching of Christ.

John 15:4–7 (NASB95)

4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

There are numerous references using the phrase “in Him”.

Expecting protection without abiding in Him, through His teaching and following His example of behavior, is to deceive one’s self.

Examples:

2 Samuel 22:31 (NASB95) 31 “As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 91:1 (NASB95) 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:9–10 (NASB95) 9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. 10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.

Psalm 27:5 (NASB95) 5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

1 John 4:15–16 (NASB95)

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

This is only part of the Biblical requirements that are set forth for anyone who says they are a “Christian” or “follower of Jesus”. You must move in ACTION, that is your behavior must line up with Jesus’ teachings that came from His Father! This is what it means to abide.

Abide = Proper Behavior

1 John 2:3–6 (NASB95)

3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Jesus followed the Holy Spirit AND submitted Himself to the Holy Spirit. This is the “manner” Jesus walked in.

1 John 3:24 (NASB95)

24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

So the Church wants to rely on the Spirit that God has given to us, but they don’t want to listen to that same Holy Spirit?! Or, they are completely ignorant of the Holy Spirit OR they have believed the doctrine of demons that the Holy Spirit no longer speaks.

1 John 4:15–16 (NASB95)

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

To say that “we abide in God” without abiding in the Holy Spirit (listening to His voice and obeying) is to be either a liar or ignorant/chosen to believe a lie. All of which will meet with a sharp rebuke that will be followed by judgment if there is no repentance.

1 John 4:19–21 (NASB95)

19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

And the one who says he loves God, should love His Holy Spirit also! Loving the Holy Spirit means hearing His voice and being obedient to what He says in real time and through His word.

Colossians 2:6–7 (NASB95)

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Pastors and “churches” don’t walk in Him, and yet they think they will continually be blessed and protected by the Lord.

A believer cannot “walk in Him” without hearing, obeying and following the Holy Spirit on a consistent basis. “Well I read my Bible and pray, but I have never heard the Holy Spirit speak to me!” If you are saying that, then one of the following are true: 1). He is speaking but you have never been trained to discern His voice. 2). You know He voice, but are a liar. 3). You don’t care to hear His voice, and have never made it a priority to learn to hear.

The Bible is clear, “My sheep know My voice” (Jn 10:27)

Psalm 15:1–5 (NASB95)

1 O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? 2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. 3 He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

How can one “work righteousness” without submitting to and following the Holy Spirit?

Psalm 95:7–11 (NASB95)

7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. 10 “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. 11 “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

Salvation is conditional upon hearing/following His voice in obedience.

The necessity of hearing and following the voice of the Lord was stipulated prior to the release of the law and the ten commandments: Ex 15:26 NASB95 26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.”

Abide = Having Received His Spirit

1 John 4:13 (NASB95)

13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

Abide = Avoiding the Sin of Presumption

John 8:26 (NASB95)26 “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.”

John 8:28–29 (NASB95) 28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

John 8:30 (NASB95)

30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.

Note: Isn’t this the foundational principle of any ministry? We must hear what the Father is saying, which is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, and say His message, rather than ours. If we relay His message with the words He uses, in the tone He used, then He will be pleased to allow His Spirit to work in and through us. However, if we are constantly saying what He has not relayed, then He will not be pleased and we have no right to expect that there will be any fruit.