And now, dear children, CONTINUE IN HIM so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. 1 John 2:28
John warns us not to be enticed by this world and the things of the world, they’ll disappoint. Then he tells us that there are deceiving spirits, anti-christ(anti, against and ultimately to replace Christ in us). He tells us we have an anointing which can teach us what is of the Lord. He warns us to remain in Christ.
V28 says we must CONTINUE IN HIM. We need to be righteous like Jesus and not go on sinning.
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins and in Him is no sin. No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him”. 1 John 3:4-6
So there is a battle going on for the souls of men and women, the things of this world and the spirit of anti-christ are trying to entice us and our own soulish nature still wants to sin. So what’s the answer?
“How great is the love the father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! Dear friends(again John calls us children and now friends), now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears we shall be like Him… Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He is pure”.
Today is Ascension Day, commemorating the Lord’s return to heaven but we know that He’s returning for His Bride. John tells us that this hope, of His imminent return, will purify us. I believe people who don’t have this hope (confident expectation) will be seriously disadvantaged in these last days.
“No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, BECAUSE GOD’S SEED REMAINS IN HIM; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God”. God’s very own nature has been placed in our spirits, we are truly children of God and the whole cosmos is awaiting our unveiling — the climax of all creation.
May God bless and keep us in His hand as the day of His return draws nearer.