28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
Commentary
In the verse twenty eight the Apostle John in light of
those who went out from them now exhorts us all to continue to abide in Christ,
in His teachings and commandments given us in the N.T. Scriptures; but yes we
still need the Old Testament, and yes I still regularly read and study it (and
learn much from it) because it is apart of the Word of God, and it puts the
N.T. (and all of human history) into context, as well there are many things
written in it that are not only personally edifying and instructive, but also
are still to be fulfilled. And so, let no one think that the O.T. Scriptures
are any less important than the New Testament Scriptures, because they both
support and depend upon each other. That said and returning to our focus we are
to abide in Jesus Christ (who is in both Testaments) so that when He appears,
we may have confidence and not be ashamed at His appearing. For there will be
those who are saved, and yet will be ashamed when He appears, because they were
not steadily abiding in Him. And so, in verse twenty-nine the Apostle John
makes a very clear and simple statement to help us little children who are naïve of the devil and all of his works in sowing false brethren amongst us, to know
that the test of anyone’s testimony is simply do they practice righteousness,
because Jesus Christ Himself is Righteous and all who are born of Him likewise practice
righteousness, not sinlessness, but righteousness as a course of their lives. Living
good and doing good then is the mark of every Christian, and not what others
slanderously say or evil thoughts they have and propagate about us as being
true. True Christians then don’t bear false witness against others, nor do they
heed those who do.
Scripture Quotations
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