We are continuing in the study of what Abiding in Christ means, we have come to the understanding that abiding in Christ means that a person walks and is in fellowship with Him. We already noted the words of the prophet Amos - "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" If we are in fellowship with God, we are walking with Christ in an intimate and continual way. To abide in Christ, a person actively surrenders himself to keep His commandment.
We already saw where we do not continue in habitual, continual sin. We are able to abide in Christ in fullness and abundance by keeping Christ's commandment. To obey Christ is one mark that we are abiding in Him.
When you consider that the Old Testament contains 613 laws or commandments, the question is do we have to keep them all to abide? If we watch closely, we see that God gave us 10 commandments that summarize the 613 that He showed in the Old Testament. But, we see in the New Testament that the 10 are reduced to just two. Love God and love others. That's what Jesus taught. In fact He said that all the Law and the Prophets was based on these two.
Now, in First John, we see that John tells us what commandments he is speaking about in the verse previous the one in our opening picture. In 1 John 3: 23, John writes these words - "Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us." We can abide in Christ if we believe and love. Believe in Jesus Christ, and love one another.
Muse over how you can keep those two commandments today. What ways can you look to show your belief in Jesus Christ, and what ways can you show your love to others. And, be prepared for God to surprise you with ways to do this today.
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