Lesson 8
“Will you trust Me?”
The Challenge of living the FAITH-REST LIFE
Rabbit
trail - 1 John 2:3-6 continued:
2. The Sign of Imitation (vv.
5b-6)
In verse 5b John states the assurance of the
believer and in verse 6 sets forth the evidence that demonstrates the basis for
it.
Viewed
as a second sign, John now points to an objective standard by which we as
believers may measure our own conduct. Jesus Christ!
a.
The assurance of the believer (v.
5b).
This
phrase "By this we know that we are in Him: " gives us a new expression of our assurance as believers.
To
be "in him"
expresses the reality of an intimate union with Him; He is the sphere of being,
relationship, a koinwnia, that shapes/directs the
life and conduct of the one united to Him.
b. The resultant obligation of the believer (v.6).
the one
who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He
walked.
"abides" menw means
far more than just remaining or abiding in a place; to live or dwell; it
implies relationship, fellowship, harmony.
The use of "ought" (ovfei,lw) rather
than "must" (dei) makes it clear that the compelling power for
such conduct is not an external compulsion but the result of an abiding inner
consciousness that is a result of the ongoing relationship with Him.
In thus insisting that the believer's
relationship with Christ involves an obligation of consistent moral conduct,
John delivers a crucial blow against the Gnostics who tried to divorce their
claimed spiritual enlightenment from their daily moral manner of life.