1 John 2

When my son was about 5, he and I and some of our friends – moms and kids – went to a local festival, complete with rides, games and plenty of cotton candy. When we got to the festival, there were throngs of people everywhere – the crowds so thick you had to squeeze yourself between people on either side, just to move forward. So, we gathered all the kids together and reiterated how important it was for them to stay close to us, the adults. Now, I’m sure, if you’re a parent or have been around kids at festivals, you realize these kids weren’t listening to us at all; they were deciding which ride to go on first, which humongous stuffed animal they wanted to win and how much cotton candy they could buy for $5.

Later, as we were all in full festival mode, we realized one of the kids was missing. We all looked around us, on all sides, and sure enough, our little guy could not be found. We all panicked, most of all his mom, and frantically tried to come up with a plan for how in the world we were going to find him among all these people. After what was just a few minutes, but seemed like an eternity, we looked up and saw our little guy, on the shoulders of a policeman. This wonderful policeman had found him, obviously lost, and put him on his shoulders, above the crowd, so that he could find his mom. And, it worked. We all breathed some sighs of relief and maybe even shed a few tears. We thanked the policeman profusely, then headed back into festival mode, each with our kids’ hands held tightly. As we headed back to the fun, my son, hand in mine, looked up at me and said, “Don’t worry, Mommy; I’m gonna stay right here beside you.”

I John 2 is full of wonderful insight and truths, but what jumps out at me is the theme of abiding. Not only is this a theme John strongly emphasizes in this chapter, but abiding was a theme Jesus Himself emphasized in His teachings. 

To abide means to stay, to remain, to not depart. As we know from Ch. 1 of I John, the early Christians were dealing with some false teachers, who had left their fellowship and strayed from the true message of the Gospel. I know that I have been through a couple of breaks in fellowship, or even “church splits,” as we would call them today, and I bet you have, too. These conflicts are difficult to navigate; they bring hurt feelings, feelings of betrayal and loss, and even confusion. This is where we find our fellowship of early Believers in I John.

John explains that for these individuals to break fellowship with the apostles’ teachings and their group of Believers, meant that they probably never really belonged in the first place – that’s a tough pill to swallow, right? John goes on to explain the way to stay in fellowship and covenant with this group of Believers was to abide: abide in Christ, abide with the truth of the Gospel and abide with their fellowship of Believers.

OK, but how do we do that? In a world filled with throngs of distractions and distortions of the truth, how do we abide? We abide by staying in the truth; and the truth, is God’s Word.

When we are saved, the actual Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, takes up residence inside of us. That Holy Spirit becomes our measuring stick for the truth: when we are confronted with truth, the Holy Spirit confirms it; when we are confronted with teachings contrary to the truth, the Holy Spirit flags it. 

I John 2:27 says,

But you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true – it is not a lie.

The problem occurs when we don’t know the truth – when we don’t spend time in God’s Word, learning the truth. The more of the truth we get inside of us, the more sensitive we will be to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Because here’s the key: the Holy Spirit will always lead us to the truth, and the truth is Jesus Christ.

The more we know the truth, the more we really know Jesus, Himself. And the more we know Jesus, the stronger our desire to abide in Him will be. Because there’s no one like Jesus.

Just like my son saw first-hand how scary it was to be separated from Mom, his protector, in crowds of people, it doesn’t take long for us to realize how scary it is not to abide in Christ in a world where it’s so easy to get lost.

I John 2 Discussion Questions

1. Look up the word advocate. John tells us when we sin, Jesus is our advocate. Why would John call Jesus our advocate?

2. Why do you think John said the false teachers were never really part of the early fellowship of Believers?

3. John cautions the Believers not to love “the things of this world.” What does that mean? What are some things you might be tempted to “love” in the world?

4. John reminds the Believers they already knew the truth, because the Holy Spirit lived inside of them – that’s us, too! What are some of the truths we already know as Believers?

5. In what ways are you abiding in the truth – in Jesus – in your own life today?