Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
Whosoever abides in Him does not sin, because abiding means remaining in constant daily union and communion with Him as branches of the living vine, and sin is transgression of God's law which has no place in Him. He was manifested to take away sins and destroy the works of the devil, bearing the sins of the world on the cross to vindicate the law and deliver from its curse rather than abolish it. This proves that a sinless life is possible and expected, for the instruction would not have been written if it could not be fulfilled, and His keeping power supplies an abiding principle that gives victory every moment under temptation. The sin meant is wilful, knowing transgression, for no one can become holy while deliberately violating even one requirement, and its commission separates the soul from God and shows He does not abide in the heart. Whoever continues in sin has not seen nor known Him as a personal Saviour, and all claims to holiness, sanctification or fellowship while breaking the commandments and walking in darkness are false, while genuine abiding bears fruit in obedience from faith and love, in doing righteousness and loving the brethren in deed and truth.
Meaning of Abiding
Abiding is remaining in Christ constantly, not thinking of Him and speaking of Him only at times, for whoever remains in Him in this constant way does not commit sin. It is union and communion with God, which is the life of the soul, a daily experience that makes joy full and declares itself in spirit and word and work with good fruit. It is fellowship with one another and with Christ, as fruit on every branch of the living vine, with the clear testimony that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
Abiding means having Christ dwell in the heart, which is impossible without constantly beholding Him. Whoever has Christ so abiding in the heart sins not, and whoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him. It means making home with Him in response to His invitation, kept uplifted as God's great gift to the world. He is always the same yesterday, today, and forever, always seeking to do good, encouraging and guiding and leading onward step by step, a faithful high priest touched with the feeling of human infirmities, guide and teacher and counselor and friend, bestowing blessings in response to faith. When a person abides with Him in this way, sinning ceases, and all friction and ill temper and irritation cease.
Abiding means becoming like Him and living under God's control, and this life of fellowship with Him leads to seeing Him as He is and receiving everlasting life. It belongs to the teaching that salvation has conditions to be understood and fulfilled.
Not having seen Him and not having known Him means not having accepted Him as a personal Saviour. Knowing God and Jesus Christ through personal experience would have prevented sinful conduct, for abiding in Christ is incompatible with sin and sinful conduct reveals failure to have truly seen or known Him.
What Sin Is
Sin is the transgression of God's law, disloyalty to God, and to abide in Christ is therefore not to transgress the law, because in Him is no transgression of the law. He was manifested not to take away the law which defines sin but to take away sins when the transgressor confesses sin and purifies himself from all transgression. His grace makes it possible to keep His holy law and practice His righteousness and become children of God, and full surrender to God makes it possible to live in obedience to heaven's law without sin. His work is to restore the moral image of God in man, calling people to keep the higher nobler world in view and live for eternity and to cooperate with God as laborers together with Him in mental, physical and spiritual restoration. Those who claim to be Christians yet live in sin take an active part against Christ and misrepresent Him, and unless they cease sinning they will be treated as servants of Satan, while true Christians show the fruits of righteousness and free access to God, and those whose works do not show those fruits have reason to fear they are in the bondage of sin and do not know the truth.
Even a single instance in the smallest particular is disloyalty deserving punishment. He bore the sins of the world to satisfy the demands of justice and give the sinner another trial with all divine opportunities and advantages, vindicating and maintaining the law in all its sacred dignity, rectitude and moral excellence before the heavenly universe instead of abolishing it or dispensing with its smallest item to pardon sin. Fig leaves sewed together since Adam and all arguments pieced together cannot cover the nakedness of the soul. Only the pure robes of His righteousness, perfect obedience to the law, substituted for sin can cover the transgressor.
The verse means wilful, knowing transgression. No one can become holy while wilfully violating one requirement, breaking one of the least of the commandments and teaching men so, or feeling no weight of the moral law and belittling and making light of God's precepts. The commission of a known sin separates the soul from God and silences the witnessing voice of the Spirit, proving Jesus does not abide in the heart. No one can be saved by Christ while knowingly transgressing the Father's law, which is as immutable as His throne. Keeping the law was impossible for man unless Christ died, for Christ never transgressed the law, took the sinner's guilt upon Himself, and suffered the penalty for the whole world so His righteousness might be imputed to the sinner, and through the merits of Christ's righteousness the repenting sinner makes sincere efforts to overcome sin and in Christ and through Christ to keep the law, and his efforts are wholly acceptable. The required change of ceasing to transgress can be produced only by faith in Christ, with repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ working a crucifixion and painful death of self that creates hatred for all sin, and the heart imbued with the love of Jesus will teach the truth in righteousness.
Keeping the law includes the seventh-day Sabbath that God sanctified and blessed as His memorial of creating the world in six days and resting the seventh day. Whosoever sins transgresses the law and is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. The work of exalting a rival spurious sabbath above God is such transgression and belongs to the devil. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, and he that does righteousness is righteous even as Christ is righteous. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin and cannot sin because His seed, which is the words of God, remains in him.
Christ Who Removes Sin
Christ was manifested to take away sins, and in Him is no sin. He is pure and spotless, and the one who does righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous. Whoever abides in Him does not sin, while whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him, because abiding is incompatible with continuing in transgression of God's law. Abiding therefore means a life shaped by His sinless character and expressed in righteousness, with hope in Him purifying the believer even as He is pure.
He bore the sins of the world to satisfy the demands of justice and to give the sinner another trial with every divine opportunity and advantage. In doing so He vindicated and maintained the law in all its sacred dignity, rectitude and moral excellence before the heavenly universe, instead of abolishing it or dispensing with its smallest item in order to pardon sin. He bore the sins of every human being on the cross and gave Himself to deliver from the curse of sin. His work is to restore the moral image of God in man, calling for cooperation with God in mental, physical and spiritual restoration, keeping the higher nobler world in view and living for eternity.
He came in human form to show that divinity combined with humanity does not commit sin. As the Pattern He enables believers to partake of the divine nature and to escape the corruption in the world through lust, so that abiding in Him they do not sin and gain victory over sin. Freedom from sin is essential, because all must meet God's law in character.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. He that commits sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, so to claim fellowship with Him while walking in darkness is to lie and not do the truth. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil, for whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother.
Sinless Life Is Possible
The verse is instruction that every human being should comprehend, and it proves that living without sin is possible, for it would not have been written if sinless living were impossible. It is recorded so that people will not carelessly allow themselves to continue in sin, but will walk in the light of the living God.
Abiding in Christ gives an abiding principle in the soul that enables victory over temptation, for God has power to keep the soul that is in Christ when under temptation, with His keeping power present every moment. Genuine faith confesses that Jesus has pardoned sin and resolves hereafter to resist temptation in and through His might, while a faith that claims pardon while deliberately going on in sin and making no resistance when tempted has no virtue in it. Healing from sin is impossible while knowingly committing sin, for to sin proves not having seen Him nor known Him. Where the truth is really in the heart it makes the life and character holy through sanctification by the truth, so that righteousness must be done and not merely professed. Abiding so supplied with divine power to hold the soul in Christ and not yield makes it possible to become sons and daughters of God and to walk uprightly in a crooked and perverse generation showing the contrast between the principles of Christ and the principles of Satan.
Full surrender to God makes it possible to live in obedience to heaven's law without sin, since sin is transgression of God's law and Christ was manifested to take away sins and in Him is no sin. When a sinner understands God's requirements and the extent of transgression, he reforms through strength received from the Saviour and leads a new, purer life, for a general profession of faith or acknowledgment of imperfection is not enough. Christ gives power to overcome sin, and that power is received through full surrender and a willingness to be changed. This belongs to getting ready for heaven, which is the highest aim, by a sanctification that is the work of a lifetime, not a moment. The sinner must repent of sin and come to Jesus for pardon, confessing sin to be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness, and abiding in Him who was manifested to take away sins thus brings freedom from sin. Many are deceived and confused because they do not know what sin is, but studying the Word of God makes sin known, and no one continuing in transgression and rebellion against God will enter the holy city.
No sin is blotted out from the book of God except through the faith of the believer who holds the beginning of confidence firm to the end, and hope in the full and entire atonement made is effective only if sin is put away. Abiding therefore means ceasing to sin, which is ceasing to knowingly transgress God's holy law, which is as immutable as His throne, and no one can be saved by Christ while knowingly transgressing the Father's law. Keeping the law was impossible for man unless Christ died, for Christ never transgressed the law but took the sinner's guilt upon Himself and suffered the penalty for the whole world so His righteousness might be imputed to the sinner. The required change can be produced only by faith in Christ, with repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ working a crucifixion and painful death of self that creates hatred for all sin. Through the merits of Christ's righteousness the repenting sinner makes sincere efforts to overcome sin and in Christ and through Christ to keep the law, and his efforts are wholly acceptable, with the heart imbued with the love of Jesus teaching the truth in righteousness and doing righteousness as evidence of being righteous.
Exposing False Claims
Abiding and continuing in sin cannot exist together, for whoever persists in sin has neither seen nor known Him, since sin is transgression of God's law and claiming to abide and be sanctified while breaking that law is self-deception. This gives warrant for speaking plainly about sin without compromising Christian charity. It is the Holy Spirit's personal test, calling the sinner to let Christ abide within, to have Satan expelled from the soul temple, and to open the heart's door to receive the richest blessing.
The verse condemns profession of advanced piety, sanctification, holiness, perfect love, or living without sin while openly casting contempt upon the law and transgressing it by thought and word and deed and teaching others by precept and example that they may sin with impunity. Claiming to know Him without keeping His commandments makes one a liar in whom the truth is not, and claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is lying, for God is light with no darkness at all. No one can become holy while willfully violating one requirement, breaking one of the least commandments and teaching men so, or feeling no weight of the moral law and belittling God's precepts, for the commission of a known sin separates the soul from God, silences the witnessing voice of the Spirit, and proves Jesus does not abide in the heart. Holiness must be brought to the measurement of God's only standard of holiness in heaven and earth, and claims without that foundation are of no esteem in heaven. A claim to holiness or perfect love does not prove the heart right when hidden wrongdoing remains, as later confession of serious sins exposes the corruption beneath the profession.
Those who claim sanctification while defaming the law are in terrible deception as blasphemers of the God of heaven. They are placed by God in the ranks of the powers of darkness in the company of the first great apostate, for doing righteousness means keeping God's commandments and shows one righteous as He is righteous, while committing sin means transgressing the law and shows one of the devil. Unless they cease sinning they take an active part against Christ and misrepresent Him, and will be treated as servants of Satan. Claims of holiness or love for Christ are false when they coexist with selfishness and resistance to God's law, for redemption means ceasing from sin and Christ saves by cleansing from sin, not by the law and not while disobeying it. Those whose works do not show the fruits of righteousness have reason to fear they are in bondage and do not know the truth, while true Christians show free access to God.
The warning exposes all who profess knowledge of God and commandment-keeping without good works, and they will receive according to their deeds. It applies to all church members, including Seventh-day Adventists, for a claim to know God must be shown in a life of obedience and good works. Profession without obedience does not show true knowledge of Christ, for whoever abides has feelings, thoughts, and actions in harmony with God's will, and obedience is the fruit of faith and love, not a way to earn salvation.
Retaining grosser traits of character and continuing to reveal human defects in words and disposition proves one is not eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God and is not dwelling in Him. Merely professing to abide while cherishing imperfections of character does not fulfill the verse, even if the name is on the church book, for persisting in clinging to defects shows the person is not born again. Those who are cleansed and sanctified do not retain old sinful habits and practices, but doing righteousness is evidence of being righteous as Christ is righteous. Truly abiding requires putting away everything wrong, coming to the foot of the cross to learn meekness and lowliness of heart, and thereby preparing in this life for promotion to the higher school above.
Abiding requires manliness and firmness in Christian character, truly representing Him whose name is assumed. A cheap Christian character breaks that abiding, misleads others by false profession, and works more harm in the world than the character of a worldling. Those who abide in Christ and those who belong to the world serve different masters and cannot join hands in fellowship and unity any more than oil and water mixes, for those who serve God are chosen out of the world and set apart to walk in revealed truth while the others remain opposed, so faithfulness brings the cross and the hatred of the world.
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: he that does righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous, and whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother. The message from the beginning is to love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and slew his brother because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning and for this purpose the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. Whatever profession is made amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in actions in works of righteousness, in keeping His commandments, believing on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and loving one another.
Fruit in Righteous Living
To abide in Christ is incompatible with continuing in sin, for when abiding is real and God's love dwells within, feelings, thoughts, purposes and actions are brought into accord with God's law and will in a sanctified heart. Obedience in that state is the fruit of faith and love, not a means of earning salvation, and profession without such obedience does not show true knowledge of Christ. Redemption is ceasing from sin, for Christ saves by cleansing from sin, not by the law and not while disobeying it, so claims of holiness or love coexisting with selfishness and resistance to law are false.
A child of God lives actively against sin and practices righteousness, revealing a character shaped by Christ's sinless character. Sin is lawlessness, Christ was manifested to take away sins and in Him is no sin, and those who hope in Him purify themselves; doing righteousness is evidence of being righteous as He is righteous. Abiding therefore means cleansing and sanctification that does not retain old sinful habits and practices, while persisting in sin proves one has neither seen nor known Him.
Abiding joins love to God with love to the brethren, expressing the great principles of the law in the two great precepts on which hang all the law and the prophets, to love the Lord with all the heart and the neighbor as self, made precious in life and character in treatment of fellow men. It means walking in the light, having fellowship with God and with one another, doing righteousness, loving in deed and in truth, and laying down life for the brethren as Christ laid down His life. In that walk there is no hatred, for hating a brother is murder with no eternal life abiding within, no shutting up compassion from a needy brother, no walking in darkness while lying about fellowship, no child-of-the-devil likeness to Cain whose works were evil and who slew his brother; those who abide do not stumble and are cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Abiding is learning His meekness and lowliness so that His yoke is easy and His burden light, serving as pleasure not task, witnessing in daily life to the power of grace, and keeping hereditary and cultivated tendencies under control. It is speaking as Christ spoke, with no harsh, passionate or rash word but courteously and respectfully, offering sacred fire not common fire, with character daily refined, sanctified and purified. When abiding is a making home with Him in response to His invitation as God's great gift, guided step by step by an unchanging faithful high priest, teacher, counselor and friend who is always seeking to do good, sinning ceases and all friction and ill temper and irritation cease.
Remaining in Christ means not living in sin, and continuing in sin proves never truly to have seen and known Him, calling every professed believer to advance past past mistakes and press forward to what lies ahead with conduct centered in heaven. It requires putting away discontent, murmuring, disagreeable words, disputing, quarreling and a fault-finding spirit, since that spirit cannot enter heaven and does not honor Christ. It means cultivating sanctified refined aspirations and seeking a character representing the perfection of the Lord Jesus, as sons loved by the Father who though unknown by the world will be like Him when He appears and therefore purify themselves as He is pure, turning from law-breaking because sin is breaking the law, trusting Him who was shown to take away sin and has no sin in Him, and doing right so as to be righteous as He is righteous.
Sin is transgression of the law, and abiding means not transgressing it, while committing sin proves not having seen or known Him who is pure and spotless and without sin, was manifested to take away sins, and bore the sins of every human being on the cross to deliver from sin's curse. His work is to restore the moral image of God in mental, physical and spiritual restoration, calling people to keep the higher nobler world in view and live for eternity and to cooperate with God as laborers together with Him. The verse therefore presses knowing on whose side one stands, the adversary's or Christ's who kept His Father's commandments, a decision belonging to new believers and sealed in baptism.
Whosoever abides in Him does not sin, because abiding means remaining in constant daily union and communion with Him as branches of the living vine, and sin is transgression of God's law which has no place in Him. He was manifested to take away sins and destroy the works of the devil, bearing the sins of the world on the cross to vindicate the law and deliver from its curse rather than abolish it. This proves that a sinless life is possible and expected, for the instruction would not have been written if it could not be fulfilled, and His keeping power supplies an abiding principle that gives victory every moment under temptation. The sin meant is wilful, knowing transgression, for no one can become holy while deliberately violating even one requirement, and its commission separates the soul from God and shows He does not abide in the heart. Whoever continues in sin has not seen nor known Him as a personal Saviour, and all claims to holiness, sanctification or fellowship while breaking the commandments and walking in darkness are false, while genuine abiding bears fruit in obedience from faith and love, in doing righteousness and loving the brethren in deed and truth.
Meaning of Abiding
Abiding is remaining in Christ constantly, not thinking of Him and speaking of Him only at times, for whoever remains in Him in this constant way does not commit sin. It is union and communion with God, which is the life of the soul, a daily experience that makes joy full and declares itself in spirit and word and work with good fruit. It is fellowship with one another and with Christ, as fruit on every branch of the living vine, with the clear testimony that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
Abiding means having Christ dwell in the heart, which is impossible without constantly beholding Him. Whoever has Christ so abiding in the heart sins not, and whoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him. It means making home with Him in response to His invitation, kept uplifted as God's great gift to the world. He is always the same yesterday, today, and forever, always seeking to do good, encouraging and guiding and leading onward step by step, a faithful high priest touched with the feeling of human infirmities, guide and teacher and counselor and friend, bestowing blessings in response to faith. When a person abides with Him in this way, sinning ceases, and all friction and ill temper and irritation cease.
Abiding means becoming like Him and living under God's control, and this life of fellowship with Him leads to seeing Him as He is and receiving everlasting life. It belongs to the teaching that salvation has conditions to be understood and fulfilled.
Not having seen Him and not having known Him means not having accepted Him as a personal Saviour. Knowing God and Jesus Christ through personal experience would have prevented sinful conduct, for abiding in Christ is incompatible with sin and sinful conduct reveals failure to have truly seen or known Him.
What Sin Is
Sin is the transgression of God's law, disloyalty to God, and to abide in Christ is therefore not to transgress the law, because in Him is no transgression of the law. He was manifested not to take away the law which defines sin but to take away sins when the transgressor confesses sin and purifies himself from all transgression. His grace makes it possible to keep His holy law and practice His righteousness and become children of God, and full surrender to God makes it possible to live in obedience to heaven's law without sin. His work is to restore the moral image of God in man, calling people to keep the higher nobler world in view and live for eternity and to cooperate with God as laborers together with Him in mental, physical and spiritual restoration. Those who claim to be Christians yet live in sin take an active part against Christ and misrepresent Him, and unless they cease sinning they will be treated as servants of Satan, while true Christians show the fruits of righteousness and free access to God, and those whose works do not show those fruits have reason to fear they are in the bondage of sin and do not know the truth.
Even a single instance in the smallest particular is disloyalty deserving punishment. He bore the sins of the world to satisfy the demands of justice and give the sinner another trial with all divine opportunities and advantages, vindicating and maintaining the law in all its sacred dignity, rectitude and moral excellence before the heavenly universe instead of abolishing it or dispensing with its smallest item to pardon sin. Fig leaves sewed together since Adam and all arguments pieced together cannot cover the nakedness of the soul. Only the pure robes of His righteousness, perfect obedience to the law, substituted for sin can cover the transgressor.
The verse means wilful, knowing transgression. No one can become holy while wilfully violating one requirement, breaking one of the least of the commandments and teaching men so, or feeling no weight of the moral law and belittling and making light of God's precepts. The commission of a known sin separates the soul from God and silences the witnessing voice of the Spirit, proving Jesus does not abide in the heart. No one can be saved by Christ while knowingly transgressing the Father's law, which is as immutable as His throne. Keeping the law was impossible for man unless Christ died, for Christ never transgressed the law, took the sinner's guilt upon Himself, and suffered the penalty for the whole world so His righteousness might be imputed to the sinner, and through the merits of Christ's righteousness the repenting sinner makes sincere efforts to overcome sin and in Christ and through Christ to keep the law, and his efforts are wholly acceptable. The required change of ceasing to transgress can be produced only by faith in Christ, with repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ working a crucifixion and painful death of self that creates hatred for all sin, and the heart imbued with the love of Jesus will teach the truth in righteousness.
Keeping the law includes the seventh-day Sabbath that God sanctified and blessed as His memorial of creating the world in six days and resting the seventh day. Whosoever sins transgresses the law and is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. The work of exalting a rival spurious sabbath above God is such transgression and belongs to the devil. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, and he that does righteousness is righteous even as Christ is righteous. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin and cannot sin because His seed, which is the words of God, remains in him.
Christ Who Removes Sin
Christ was manifested to take away sins, and in Him is no sin. He is pure and spotless, and the one who does righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous. Whoever abides in Him does not sin, while whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him, because abiding is incompatible with continuing in transgression of God's law. Abiding therefore means a life shaped by His sinless character and expressed in righteousness, with hope in Him purifying the believer even as He is pure.
He bore the sins of the world to satisfy the demands of justice and to give the sinner another trial with every divine opportunity and advantage. In doing so He vindicated and maintained the law in all its sacred dignity, rectitude and moral excellence before the heavenly universe, instead of abolishing it or dispensing with its smallest item in order to pardon sin. He bore the sins of every human being on the cross and gave Himself to deliver from the curse of sin. His work is to restore the moral image of God in man, calling for cooperation with God in mental, physical and spiritual restoration, keeping the higher nobler world in view and living for eternity.
He came in human form to show that divinity combined with humanity does not commit sin. As the Pattern He enables believers to partake of the divine nature and to escape the corruption in the world through lust, so that abiding in Him they do not sin and gain victory over sin. Freedom from sin is essential, because all must meet God's law in character.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. He that commits sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, so to claim fellowship with Him while walking in darkness is to lie and not do the truth. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil, for whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother.
Sinless Life Is Possible
The verse is instruction that every human being should comprehend, and it proves that living without sin is possible, for it would not have been written if sinless living were impossible. It is recorded so that people will not carelessly allow themselves to continue in sin, but will walk in the light of the living God.
Abiding in Christ gives an abiding principle in the soul that enables victory over temptation, for God has power to keep the soul that is in Christ when under temptation, with His keeping power present every moment. Genuine faith confesses that Jesus has pardoned sin and resolves hereafter to resist temptation in and through His might, while a faith that claims pardon while deliberately going on in sin and making no resistance when tempted has no virtue in it. Healing from sin is impossible while knowingly committing sin, for to sin proves not having seen Him nor known Him. Where the truth is really in the heart it makes the life and character holy through sanctification by the truth, so that righteousness must be done and not merely professed. Abiding so supplied with divine power to hold the soul in Christ and not yield makes it possible to become sons and daughters of God and to walk uprightly in a crooked and perverse generation showing the contrast between the principles of Christ and the principles of Satan.
Full surrender to God makes it possible to live in obedience to heaven's law without sin, since sin is transgression of God's law and Christ was manifested to take away sins and in Him is no sin. When a sinner understands God's requirements and the extent of transgression, he reforms through strength received from the Saviour and leads a new, purer life, for a general profession of faith or acknowledgment of imperfection is not enough. Christ gives power to overcome sin, and that power is received through full surrender and a willingness to be changed. This belongs to getting ready for heaven, which is the highest aim, by a sanctification that is the work of a lifetime, not a moment. The sinner must repent of sin and come to Jesus for pardon, confessing sin to be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness, and abiding in Him who was manifested to take away sins thus brings freedom from sin. Many are deceived and confused because they do not know what sin is, but studying the Word of God makes sin known, and no one continuing in transgression and rebellion against God will enter the holy city.
No sin is blotted out from the book of God except through the faith of the believer who holds the beginning of confidence firm to the end, and hope in the full and entire atonement made is effective only if sin is put away. Abiding therefore means ceasing to sin, which is ceasing to knowingly transgress God's holy law, which is as immutable as His throne, and no one can be saved by Christ while knowingly transgressing the Father's law. Keeping the law was impossible for man unless Christ died, for Christ never transgressed the law but took the sinner's guilt upon Himself and suffered the penalty for the whole world so His righteousness might be imputed to the sinner. The required change can be produced only by faith in Christ, with repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ working a crucifixion and painful death of self that creates hatred for all sin. Through the merits of Christ's righteousness the repenting sinner makes sincere efforts to overcome sin and in Christ and through Christ to keep the law, and his efforts are wholly acceptable, with the heart imbued with the love of Jesus teaching the truth in righteousness and doing righteousness as evidence of being righteous.
Exposing False Claims
Abiding and continuing in sin cannot exist together, for whoever persists in sin has neither seen nor known Him, since sin is transgression of God's law and claiming to abide and be sanctified while breaking that law is self-deception. This gives warrant for speaking plainly about sin without compromising Christian charity. It is the Holy Spirit's personal test, calling the sinner to let Christ abide within, to have Satan expelled from the soul temple, and to open the heart's door to receive the richest blessing.
The verse condemns profession of advanced piety, sanctification, holiness, perfect love, or living without sin while openly casting contempt upon the law and transgressing it by thought and word and deed and teaching others by precept and example that they may sin with impunity. Claiming to know Him without keeping His commandments makes one a liar in whom the truth is not, and claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is lying, for God is light with no darkness at all. No one can become holy while willfully violating one requirement, breaking one of the least commandments and teaching men so, or feeling no weight of the moral law and belittling God's precepts, for the commission of a known sin separates the soul from God, silences the witnessing voice of the Spirit, and proves Jesus does not abide in the heart. Holiness must be brought to the measurement of God's only standard of holiness in heaven and earth, and claims without that foundation are of no esteem in heaven. A claim to holiness or perfect love does not prove the heart right when hidden wrongdoing remains, as later confession of serious sins exposes the corruption beneath the profession.
Those who claim sanctification while defaming the law are in terrible deception as blasphemers of the God of heaven. They are placed by God in the ranks of the powers of darkness in the company of the first great apostate, for doing righteousness means keeping God's commandments and shows one righteous as He is righteous, while committing sin means transgressing the law and shows one of the devil. Unless they cease sinning they take an active part against Christ and misrepresent Him, and will be treated as servants of Satan. Claims of holiness or love for Christ are false when they coexist with selfishness and resistance to God's law, for redemption means ceasing from sin and Christ saves by cleansing from sin, not by the law and not while disobeying it. Those whose works do not show the fruits of righteousness have reason to fear they are in bondage and do not know the truth, while true Christians show free access to God.
The warning exposes all who profess knowledge of God and commandment-keeping without good works, and they will receive according to their deeds. It applies to all church members, including Seventh-day Adventists, for a claim to know God must be shown in a life of obedience and good works. Profession without obedience does not show true knowledge of Christ, for whoever abides has feelings, thoughts, and actions in harmony with God's will, and obedience is the fruit of faith and love, not a way to earn salvation.
Retaining grosser traits of character and continuing to reveal human defects in words and disposition proves one is not eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God and is not dwelling in Him. Merely professing to abide while cherishing imperfections of character does not fulfill the verse, even if the name is on the church book, for persisting in clinging to defects shows the person is not born again. Those who are cleansed and sanctified do not retain old sinful habits and practices, but doing righteousness is evidence of being righteous as Christ is righteous. Truly abiding requires putting away everything wrong, coming to the foot of the cross to learn meekness and lowliness of heart, and thereby preparing in this life for promotion to the higher school above.
Abiding requires manliness and firmness in Christian character, truly representing Him whose name is assumed. A cheap Christian character breaks that abiding, misleads others by false profession, and works more harm in the world than the character of a worldling. Those who abide in Christ and those who belong to the world serve different masters and cannot join hands in fellowship and unity any more than oil and water mixes, for those who serve God are chosen out of the world and set apart to walk in revealed truth while the others remain opposed, so faithfulness brings the cross and the hatred of the world.
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: he that does righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous, and whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother. The message from the beginning is to love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and slew his brother because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning and for this purpose the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. Whatever profession is made amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in actions in works of righteousness, in keeping His commandments, believing on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and loving one another.
Fruit in Righteous Living
To abide in Christ is incompatible with continuing in sin, for when abiding is real and God's love dwells within, feelings, thoughts, purposes and actions are brought into accord with God's law and will in a sanctified heart. Obedience in that state is the fruit of faith and love, not a means of earning salvation, and profession without such obedience does not show true knowledge of Christ. Redemption is ceasing from sin, for Christ saves by cleansing from sin, not by the law and not while disobeying it, so claims of holiness or love coexisting with selfishness and resistance to law are false.
A child of God lives actively against sin and practices righteousness, revealing a character shaped by Christ's sinless character. Sin is lawlessness, Christ was manifested to take away sins and in Him is no sin, and those who hope in Him purify themselves; doing righteousness is evidence of being righteous as He is righteous. Abiding therefore means cleansing and sanctification that does not retain old sinful habits and practices, while persisting in sin proves one has neither seen nor known Him.
Abiding joins love to God with love to the brethren, expressing the great principles of the law in the two great precepts on which hang all the law and the prophets, to love the Lord with all the heart and the neighbor as self, made precious in life and character in treatment of fellow men. It means walking in the light, having fellowship with God and with one another, doing righteousness, loving in deed and in truth, and laying down life for the brethren as Christ laid down His life. In that walk there is no hatred, for hating a brother is murder with no eternal life abiding within, no shutting up compassion from a needy brother, no walking in darkness while lying about fellowship, no child-of-the-devil likeness to Cain whose works were evil and who slew his brother; those who abide do not stumble and are cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Abiding is learning His meekness and lowliness so that His yoke is easy and His burden light, serving as pleasure not task, witnessing in daily life to the power of grace, and keeping hereditary and cultivated tendencies under control. It is speaking as Christ spoke, with no harsh, passionate or rash word but courteously and respectfully, offering sacred fire not common fire, with character daily refined, sanctified and purified. When abiding is a making home with Him in response to His invitation as God's great gift, guided step by step by an unchanging faithful high priest, teacher, counselor and friend who is always seeking to do good, sinning ceases and all friction and ill temper and irritation cease.
Remaining in Christ means not living in sin, and continuing in sin proves never truly to have seen and known Him, calling every professed believer to advance past past mistakes and press forward to what lies ahead with conduct centered in heaven. It requires putting away discontent, murmuring, disagreeable words, disputing, quarreling and a fault-finding spirit, since that spirit cannot enter heaven and does not honor Christ. It means cultivating sanctified refined aspirations and seeking a character representing the perfection of the Lord Jesus, as sons loved by the Father who though unknown by the world will be like Him when He appears and therefore purify themselves as He is pure, turning from law-breaking because sin is breaking the law, trusting Him who was shown to take away sin and has no sin in Him, and doing right so as to be righteous as He is righteous.
Sin is transgression of the law, and abiding means not transgressing it, while committing sin proves not having seen or known Him who is pure and spotless and without sin, was manifested to take away sins, and bore the sins of every human being on the cross to deliver from sin's curse. His work is to restore the moral image of God in mental, physical and spiritual restoration, calling people to keep the higher nobler world in view and live for eternity and to cooperate with God as laborers together with Him. The verse therefore presses knowing on whose side one stands, the adversary's or Christ's who kept His Father's commandments, a decision belonging to new believers and sealed in baptism.