What Should Abide in the Believer?

Read 1 John 2:24-28 from a NASB, NIV, RSV, NLT, or KJV.
Is there one word that seems as if it's repeated a lot? Actually there's more than one word, but let's look at "abide." Of course, if you're not reading from the NASB version, you're going to have a different word or words that are synonyms for "abide." Perhaps, your version uses remain, continue, lives, or abideth. If you were to look up "abide," you would learn that it means "to remain stable or fixed in a state, to continue in a place."

Read verse 24 again.
What does John tell them they should let abide (remain faithful, live in, continue) in them?
What have they "heard from the beginning" (been taught from the beginning)?
If this phrase sounds familiar, it should. John used it previously in this letter. He's also expressed this thought in other words, such as "message," "proclaim," "testify," "shew," "declare," among others, depending on which version of the Bible you're reading. To quickly find all the places in John's letter where he used the phrase "ye have heard from the beginning" or "ye have heard," I looked up "heard" in Strong's and read through the list for 1 John to find these two phrases. If you like, you can do that now.

Let's list what John specifically stated these believers had heard and had heard from the beginning.

1 John 2:7 (also include verses 2:10 to help you remember what that old commandment is)


2:18


3:11


4:3


This phrase appears twice in the verse we just read--2:24--but it doesn't tell what it is that they've heard from the beginning, so we won't add that to our list.
Read each of those verses to see what John tells them they've heard from the beginning.
Write what they have heard next to each scripture reference.
Read through your list. What do you notice?

There seem to be two things that John has emphasized and wants them to remember. What are those two things? What relationship do you see between these two? How might one affect the outcome of the other?

Read verse 2:24 once more.
Why should they let what they have heard from the beginning abide in them?

Just before this section of verses--24-28--what had John been warning his readers/listeners about?
What are the antichrists trying to do?
How can John's readers/listeners keep from being led astray by these antichrists?
According to 2:25, if we abide with the Father and the Son, what do we have?
What does John tell his readers in verse 26?
From what you've previously read in this letter, who do you think is trying to deceive them (lead them astray)?
In verse 27, what does John say also abides in them?
What if you read this verse in a Bible that uses an unfamiliar term such as "the anointing"--how could you figure out what this term means?

You could look up pertinent cross-references. Or, you could read this verse in some other versions to see how they translate this word. Or, you could use Strong's and Vine's. Use one or more of those to figure out what John meant by "the anointing."

In verse 27, who does John say will teach his readers/listeners all things?
How does verse 27 relate to verse 26?

By remaining in Him, the believers could be confident that "His anointing" would continue to teach them. They didn't need the teaching of the antichrists. John wrote to assure these believers of the validity of their faith and to warn them against these antichrists who were trying to undermine it.

According to verse 28, why should they abide in Him?
What will they have at His coming or when He returns if they continue to abide in Him?
What kind of reaction to His coming or return would a person have who didn't abide in Him?

If we were to draw a linear picture of abiding, starting in verse 24 and going through verse 28,
how would it look?

Let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you-->then you abide in the Son and the Father-->and the anointing from Him abides in you-->and you will have confidence, instead of shame, at His coming.

What a wonderful promise!