1 John 2:6 - Abiding and Walking
The Christians Walk
Our Duty to Walk as Jesus Walked
The Lesson’s to be learned from this passage:
The genuineness of our profession shows in our walk.
1. 1 John 2:4 is a believer who says he knows Christ but does not keep His commandments.
2. 1 John 2:6 is the obligation to the one who says he abides in Christ.
To be a true Christian carries the obligation of walking as Jesus walked.
· Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
· For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
· I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, (Ephesians 4:1)
· For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8)
· For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:9-10)
· As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, (Colossians 2:6)
· You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:10-12)
· Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; (1 Thessalonians 4:1)
We cannot walk with Christ unless He is in us.
Romans 8:9-10, 1 Cor. 12:13; Colossians 1:27
We need to have a “born again” relationship with Jesus – “God imparts to us a new life from above (2 Cor. 5:17)”
1. John 3:1-7 cf. Ezek. 36:25-27… Titus 3:5
· It is instantaneous – just as a child is born from his mothers womb
· It is not the result of human effort – it’s not what you do but what God does to you.
· It is not based on human effort John 1:12-13 – it is an act of God.
2. The Result of Regeneration is:
A new nature divine nature (2 Peter 1:4); new self (Eph. 4:24); a capacity for righteous living
A new Life A new mind that you might now God (1 Cor. 2:16)
A new hear that you may love God (Romans 5:5; 1 John 4:9)
A new will that you may obey God (Romans 6:13)
Ought means debt, constraint, obligation.
1. The person who professes Jesus Christ, who claims that he knows God, is obligated to walk as Jesus Christ walked.
2. He is in debt to walk as Christ walked (if I borrowed money I am in debt to pay it back).
We cannot claim to dwell in Christ and walk differently that Christ walked
1. We must conform our walk to His by yielding to His Lordship
2. As soldiers of the Cross-, we must stay in perfect step with our Commander (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
How Did Jesus Walk?
Jesus said of Himself –
1. “Come to Me, all [you] who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke [is] easy and My burden is light.”
Jesus always had time for those in need.
1. If I walk in pride saying, “I can’t take time for you” then, this is not walking as He walked.
2. Paul wrote, “walk in love as Christ has loved us” – Ephesians 5:2
· Greater love has no man than this than to lay down his life for his friends – John 15:13
Jesus walked in obedience to the will of the Father – Seeking to please Him
So if I walk as He walked I am going to seeking to please the Father.
1. John 8:29 – …for I always do those things that please Him [the father].
2. John 4:34 – Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
3. John 5:30 – ‘I can of Myself do nothing…because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
4. John 6:38 – “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
5. John 14:31 – “But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.”
6. John 15:10 – “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.”
7. John 17:4 – “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
Jesus walked in purity & holiness.
1. He asked the Pharisees, “Which of you convicts Me of sin? John 8:46
2. If I abide in Him, then I should walk in purity & holiness!
3. If I say I am abiding in Him but do not walk as He walked then my profession is false.
Abiding in Christ – Fruit – The Vine & the Branches—John 15:1-8
Fruit Bearing:15:1-8 – Genuine Christians!
Fruit bearing branches seems clear—they represent genuine Christians.
It is the nature of the Christian to produce fruit
1. Ephesians 2:10 we are His workmanship
2. James 2:17 faith without works is dead – this is the result of genuine salvation.
3. Matthew 7:16-17 every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit
There are four stages of fruit bearing given:
1. no fruit (John 15:2)
2. fruit (John 15:2)
3. more fruit (John 15:2)
4. much fruit (John 15:5, 8).
What does it mean to say a Christian is to bear fruit?
1. Believers are chosen to bear fruit (John 15:16)
2. It means to bear converts (Romans 1:13) from laboring (Phil. 1:22); we are part of the harvest (Jn4:35-38)
3. To bear righteousness (Roman 6:21-23)
4. Christians giving is fruit from a dedicated life (15:28)
5. To bear Christian character or the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
6. To bear good works & service (Colossians 1:10)
7. To offer the fruit of praise to God continually (Heb 13:15).
Note also the conditions for bearing fruit in life:
1. Hearing & understanding the word of God (Matthew 13:23)
2. Abiding in Christ (John 15:5)
3. Cleansing (John 15:3 cf. 13:10), by the Word (John 17:17; Eph. 5:26)
4. Obedience (John 15:10, 12).
The Pruning Process – Fruitful Branches are Pruned – v.2
Spiritual pruning is the necessary process whereby the Father removes everything that limits our fruitfulness.
1. He cuts out sins and other distractions that sap our spiritual growth.
2. The pruning knife He uses so skillfully is the Word of God “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
3. The word clean is the same Greek word Jesus uses in (v.2) to describe the pruning process.
The purpose for pruning is to bring forth more fruit not to punish
Sometimes the pruning process is painful, but God knows what He is doing.
1. Being pruned by God (John 15:2)
2. By His loving discipline can hurt (Heb. 12:10)
3. But this brings Him glory (John 15:8).
4. Believers have areas in their lives that must be cleaned away and cleared up!
5. Branches are cleansed by abiding in Christ
Note exactly what Jesus said: “Abide in me, and I in you.” This can mean at least two things.
Þ It can mean a promise: “Abide in me and I will abide in you.” The believer is thereby cleansed by his position or by being in Christ (see note, pt.4—§ John 13:6-11).
Þ It can mean a command: “See to it that you abide in me, and I in you.” The believer is cleansed by continuing in Christ and remaining faithful.
Þ Stay on the ship (Christ Acts 27:31)
The Warning of Unfruitfulness
1. John the Baptist warned the Pharisees & Saduducees to bear fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:8)
2. Judgment is based upon repenting & bearing fruit (Luke 13:1-9)
3. The ungodly (unfruitful) are like chaff, will not stand in the judgment, & will perish (Psalm 1:4-6)
Unfruitfulness is caused by
1. False teachers (Jude 12)
2. Loving this world & its life (John 12:23-25)
3. Not abiding in the vine (John 15:1-8) false Christians.
4. Sin (Romans 7:5)
5. Worldliness & covetousness & deceitfulness of riches (Matthew 13:22 cf. Demas 2 Tim. 4:10)
Abiding (Psalm 1:1-3)
to abide, dwell, continue, stay, sojourn, rest in or upon—
It means to keep in fellowship with Christ so that His life can work in and through us to produce fruit.
1. Is used 11x in John 15:1-11
2. Is used 6x in 1 John (2:24, 27, 28; 3:17; 4:13)
It should be noted that the more a branch abides in the vine, the more nourishment a branch draws from the vine and the more fruit it bears.
1. This comes through the diligent study of the Scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15) His Word.
2. To find what He said and did (v.5).
To abide in Christ means eight things.
1. A person walks in open confession before God (1 John 1:6-10).
2. A person walks and fellowships with Christ (1 John 2:6; 1 John 2:27; cp. Psalm 16:11; Proverbs 3:5-6).
3. A person continues in the church; he has not gone out from the church (1 John 2:19).
4. A person possesses confidence, an unashamedness in life that prepares him for eternity (1 John 2:28).
5. A person does not walk in continuous sin (1 John 3:6). He experiences constant victory over sin.
6. A person actively surrenders himself to obey God's commandments (1 John 3:24).
7. A person experiences the indwelling presence and witness of the Spirit (1 John 4:12-13).
8. A person dwells in love and unity and fellowship with all other believers (John 17:21-23; 1 John 4:16; cp. 1 John 4:20).
The Context of John 15:1-8 is John 13:1-2
The Cast of Characters
1. Jesus is the true vine.
2. The Father is the Vinedresser.
3. The disciples (along with all true disciples) are the fruit-bearing branches.
4. Judas (as well as all false disciples) represents the barren branches.
The Judas Branches – (v.2a & 4b-6) – Spiritually Equivalent to a Phony Christian!
This is a warning to professing believers who do not bear fruit.
1. The fruitless branches are only superficially attached to the vine.
2. To the external eye there is a connection but incapable of bearing fruit, fit to be cut off.
Jesus was never fooled by Judas’ hypocrisy, He knew his heart & never counted him as a true disciple.
1. After Jesus washed their feet He said, “Not all of you are clean” (John 13:10).
2. Judas was not clean, he had never undergone “the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
3. Judas even appeared to the others as a follower of Christ (John 13:1-2, 21-30)
Throughout Scripture we read warnings who associate themselves with Jesus but are really Phony!
The Fruitless Branches represent counterfeit disciples – people who were never really saved 1 John 2:19
The imagery of burning suggests that these fruitless branches are doomed to hell.
1. They may be church members
2. They may have acquired much spiritual knowledge
3. They may be teachers of doctrine, even scholars
4. They may have gone through all the right rituals
5. But they are not genuine believers & God will remove them.
Tragically many fit this category. Paul wrote:
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ:
whose end [is] destruction, whose god [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame----who set their mind on earthly things. (Philippians 3:18-19)
They will be cut off & burned!
Do not Misunderstand this Warning!
1. Judas’ commitment was not real.
2. It would have been good for that man if he had never been born (Mark 14:21)
3. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31)
4. Fruitless branches have nothing to look forward to except a fiery judgment!