Mutual abiding

And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandments. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us (1 John 3:23-24)

And this is His commandment…

1. The commandment being referred to is a specific one
2. This specific commandment is two-fold:
   1. To believe on the name of Jesus the Son of God
   2. To love one another

Believing on the name of Jesus

1. Jesus as the Christ (Anointed One)
2. Jesus as the Son of God

Love for one another

1. To love one another as recipients of God’s love
2. To love one another as Christ Jesus has loved us

Belief in Jesus and love for one another

1. This is the commandment we have been given
2. This is the commandment we must seek to abide by
3. This in fact is the work of God we all must do (John 6:29)

Now he who keeps His commandments abides …

1. This is a promise and condition given
2. Only by keeping His commandments, there will come a mutual abiding between us and Jesus the Christ

And by this we know…by the Spirit whom He has given us

1. This mutual abiding is made possible by the person of the Spirit
   1. Jesus abides in us by the Spirit of God
   2. Jesus’ abiding in us is by the person of the Spirit
2. This ‘Spirit” of God is given to those of us who obey God in full compliance (Acts 5:32) one way to ensure that the Spirit of God abides in us
   1. Is by keeping the commandments given
   2. Is by letting the Spirit take control of our life (Cf. Eph. 5:18)
3. Our keeping of the commandments of God also ascertain that we are truly indwelled by the Spirit of God, not any other spirits in the world