Answer
First John 3:6 conveys an important truth of Christian living: “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (ESV). In the same chapter, John clarifies the concept of abiding when he states, “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us” (verse 24, ESV).
To abide in God means to engage in fellowship with Him by keeping His commandments through the power of the Spirit. John offers a clear picture of what those commandments are: “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us” (1 John 3:23, ESV). Everything expected of a Christian can be encapsulated in these two commandments.
The first commandment that signifies our abiding in God involves believing in the gospel message. This forms the foundation of Christianity: Jesus the Messiah died for our sin and rose again to usher us in His kingdom and reconcile us to the Father. What John writes as the first commandment aligns with Jesus’ declaration about the most important commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Believing in the person and work of Christ is pivotal to loving God. Indeed, it would be impossible to love God and reject His Son, and we can’t truly love God except when we are in Christ.
While believing in the gospel draws us into abiding with God, the second commandment, which is loving others, indicates that we are genuinely abiding in God. John emphasizes that it is impossible to love God and harbor hatred or ill-will toward a fellow believer (1 John 4:20). Love for others is vital, as it is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8–10; Galatians 5:14–15). Our love for God is demonstrated by how we treat others. Love should be more than a theoretical concept; it is something applied in our daily lives. John provides a practical example: “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (John 3:17–18).
We are to live in a permanent state of love and faith. As we believe in God’s Son and love others, we abide in Him. And John says that those who abide in Him will not keep on sinning: “No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6, ESV). That is, the believer will evince a decreasing pattern of sin in his or her life. The Christian, who abides in God, will not “deliberately, knowingly, and habitually [practice] sin” (1 John 3:6, AMP). Sin is no longer normative.
Jesus affirms the vital importance of abiding in Him: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5, ESV).
