1 JohnSýnishorn

John begins his address by referring to the early Church (and us followers) as “children.” A child is reliant on their parents and unable to perform daily life independently. This is true of our Father in Heaven. John is expressing throughout 1 John 2 that, daily, we are constantly and desperately in need of our reliance on God. And so, from our understanding of need and reliance on God, we are told by John here to “continue in Him.”

Jesus is coming, and what a glorious day that will be! How can we ensure that “we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming?” The answer is in the preceding text, “continue in Him,” or in another translation, “abide in Him.” But what exactly does this mean? To abide in Christ is to rest in Him. It is to continue trusting His word and to hold fast to the truth of the gospel of grace. Our relationship with Christ becomes deeper and more intimate when we abide in Christ, resulting in a relationship with Christ that will allow us to be “confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” Abiding in Christ also spurs us to do, as the scripture above notes, “what is right.”

We see a good picture of this in Psalm 119 (recommend reading for context), where the authors praise God for His commandments. As we continue to abide (or rest) in Christ, we will want to please God. The mentality is not, “I have to keep His commandments so that He will be pleased,” but rather, “I want to and get to keep His commandments because it pleases Him.” This shift in the mentality of abiding in Christ builds us up in Christ, ultimately pushing us to be confident in Christ and carry out His will.

Finally, as children who rely on God, abide in Christ, and are confident and unashamed before him at his coming; we understand who God is and how righteous He is. From here, as followers, we will begin to see God’s fingerprints everywhere, including the hearts of those around us who are doing "right," as the scripture notes. Our mentality will shift from what is “good” to what is righteous and pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.

Prayer Points

• Thank God for being the Father. Thank Him for being the one in control and taking care of all your needs.
• Ask God to continue refining your heart to be more like Jesus and to reveal to you what is righteous to him.
• Proclaim to God that you will abide in Him so that when he appears, we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.