“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.”
1 John 3:24 (NASB)
How do I know if I am abiding in Christ? In his first epistle John gives us two ways that we can know we are abiding in Christ. The first test is obedience. Am I obeying the commandments of God? Jesus summed all of the commandments into two: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself'(Lk. 10:27). If I am abiding in Christ I will love God and love others. An abiding live is marked with the love of Christ. Secondly, the presence and work of the Holy Spirit is evidence of a life that abides in Christ. If I am in Christ I will be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14) and bear the fruit of the Spirit(Gal. 5:22-23).
Questions for application…
How can we tell if we are abiding in Christ?
Who enables us to obey Christ and to love others as He loved them?
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