Do your disciples know they are in Christ? Do they complain about their connection with Him?
I’m continuing to work through the New Testament to create a summary of each book to help disciple-makers to teach the Bible. The past month or so I’ve been studying through 1 John.
Assurance of Abiding
The assurance of salvation is the clear theme of 1 John. He wants his readers to know for certain where they stand in their relationship with God. I wrote a post last week outlining the tests of true salvation that Christians pass to prove authentic fellowship with God.
John uses the terms “know” (Gk. ginōskō) and “know” (Gk. eidō) at least 27x in the letter to refer to some level of assurance. Ginōskō has the idea of an experiential understanding or perception. Eidō means to see or be aware of a reality.
John makes it obvious the reality he wanted his readers to know. He gives his purpose statement in 1 John 5:13 — “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
John’s preferred term to recognize this eternal life with God is the word “abide.” In 1 John, he uses “abide” (Gk. menō ) at least 22x to refer to the fellowship believers have with God. He used it more than any other author in this letter and in the Gospel of John.
Put Abiding into Practice:
John had in mind a mutual abiding — God in us and us in God. He makes it very clear in John 15:5 what is at stake:
“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Are your disciples struggling in their walk with God? Are they feeling fruitless?
I hear all the time, “I don’t feel a close connection to God.”
If you begin to hear that theme in your ministry I would suggest a study through this book and John 13-17. There are many correlations between those chapters.
Below is a summary of each section of 1 John. You can print this off and use it as an aid to teach or walk through the book in your own devotional life or with others.
I suggest you pay close attention to the repetitions of “know” and “abide” as you work through the letter.
As you do, let me know what God teaches you!
Download the Summary Study:
