If Ye Continue in My Word (John 8:31)

2024-04-21

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31-32)

Let us consider what it means to abide in Christ. Here is one such statement, which we discussed previously.

Even while Jesus spoke being surrounded by many opponents, people began to believe on Him. Jesus, knowing all things, addressed these people directly. The word “continue” is the same as “to abide.” Once these new converts believed, they were to continue in His word.

Herein is what much of modern Christendom has abandoned. If you really want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, it will not suffice to have believed at a given moment in history. To be a disciple, we remain in Jesus, in whom we were placed. The strait gate is the entrance to the narrow way.

Learning daily from our Lord Jesus sets us free from sin (see John 8:34). For those who are His “disciples indeed... shall be free indeed” (John 8:31, 36).

This is salvation, to be saved from both the penalty and power of sin. “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).