“Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father” (1 John 2:24). We need three facts about Jesus to “abide,” or make its home in us, so we can progress in our faith and grasp of the Word. Jesus is God. Jesus is Savior. Jesus is Lord. These are facts we received when we heard and believed the gospel of salvation “from the beginning” of our faith journey. If these facts are not settled in you, then you will have doubts and fears and anxieties. How can we read the Bible with hope and progress with those feelings holding us back?
Jesus is God. When this is a settled fact in our hearts, we won’t be so quick to doubt the promises of the Bible. God can do what He says. He is faithful to carry out His promises—to those who believe Him for them. Nothing is too hard for God. Actually, Jesus said “with men, it is impossible , but not with God; for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). God is the one who changes us; we don’t.
Jesus is Savior. Jesus came specifically to save us from our sinful ways and the problems that arise because of sin. We look at our abilities and cannot see any way out. If Jesus is Savior is a spiritual fact settled in our hearts, then we will look to Him for saving and changing us from many kinds of dangers. We don’t give up but turn to Him. We don’t grow weary in praying for change, because Jesus came to deal with sin in our lives.
Jesus is Lord. With this fact a settled reality in your life, you will be seeking His will for you in all things. Why read the Bible if you don’t think God will teach you what to do? When Jesus is Lord, you make the effort to study the Bible and respond to what you are reading. When you respond with faith, or repentance, or joy, or prayer, or praise, or some other way in faith, as though God has spoken to you, then Jesus is being Lord in your life. And when you act on what you read, then God works in you to help make it happen (Philippians 2:13), and you go further than you expected.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Repeat these truths to yourself when you lay your head on your pillow and when you get up in the morning. “Jesus is God. Jesus is Savior. Jesus is Lord.” Memorize verses about these to settle them in your mind. Regularly make decisions that reflect these truths to settle them in your heart. You want these facts to “abide,” or be at home, in you. “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.”
John’s first epistle is about several things. One of them is to get the church ready to stand against false believers who deny Jesus is God incarnate, Savior, and Lord. They will deny Jesus is Christ, the one the Bible foretold would come. Someone who lies about Christ and the Father is an antichrist. “This is antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). And these antichrists are in the church where they can lead believers from the Way, the Truth, and the Life who are not strong in the faith. These antichrists will relentlessly attack who Jesus is. Keep faith in the essential facts of the gospel you heard from the beginning, that Jesus forgives sins, Jesus helps overcome the evil one, and Jesus brings about fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 2:12-14). All these ideas are under attack.
If you have been knocked out spiritually because your faith is weak regarding Jesus as God, Savior, and Lord, then repeat these doctrines. Look them up. Then let these facts influence your ways of thinking. Cut out the old ways, the fears, worries, and doubts; and think better thoughts in keeping with these better truths.
Jesus is God: Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:15; Titus 1:3, 2:13; Heb. 1:8-9; 2 Peter 1:1. Revelation 17:14.
Jesus is Savior: Luke 2:11; John 4:42; 2 Timothy 1:10; Titus 1:4, 2:13.
Jesus is Lord: Romans 5:1, 5:21, 7:24-25, 10:9, 13:14, 14:9.
(Of course, you can enlarge on your vision of Jesus Christ. Jesus is love; Jesus is good; Jesus is faithful.)
Jesus is a God for whom nothing will be impossible for you. Jesus is a Savior who can deliver you from all manner of evils. Jesus is a Lord who desires to lead you into the fullness of life and purpose He has promised you.
