I John 2: 24-25

FFC · Post by **FFC** » Thu May 18, 2006 9:37 am

Can someone explain to me why the following verses don't say you can lose your salvation? Does if really mean if or does it mean since?

1Jo 2:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

1Jo 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, [even] eternal life.

YLTYLT · Post by **YLTYLT** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:18 pm

In verse 24, I do not think he is referring to people that were saved and then lost it. If you back up a few verses to 19, John indicates that they were not of us (not saved), or else they would have continued with us. In other words, these may have been those that "believed in vain".

18Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

20But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

21I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

23Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Just my Observation, but I would like to hear from others.... as well. This could be a very confusing verse in light of the OSAS.

BTW, what would "believe in vain" mean?
Maybe it means to pretend to believe so that others would think you believed. That sound like vanity to me. Does that make sense??

Jac3510 · Post by **Jac3510** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:52 am

I'm surprised no one really picked up on this . . . let me just copy/paste my response from the "Seven Reasons" thread. That post is particularly long, so this exegesis could well get lost in the shuffle:

Jac3510 wrote:
As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself has made to us: eternal life. (1 John 2:24-25)
John here reminds his readers of what he himself first taught them “from the beginning.” That which was taught to them “from the beginning” was “concerning the Word of Life” and related to “eternal life”, and through this Life believers could have “fellowship with the Father” (1:1-3). That message of life, of simple belief in Jesus Christ, was to “abide” in them. They were not to let it go in exchange for what the false teachers proclaimed, but they were to hold to it, to cherish it, to live in it, and let it live in them. If they did that, John promised that they would abide in the Son and in the Father. That is, they would have fellowship with Them, exactly as promised in 1:3. And what is it exactly that they are to abide in? The promise that “He Himself made to us: eternal life.” This is not at all saying that we have to abide in Him to receive eternal life. It is saying that we should let the promise of Him—the thing which we heard from the beginning—abide in us, and that promise is eternal life for all who believe!

As an aside, it is interesting to see how John finishes this section. The next verse, 2:26, tells us that John writes “these things” to correct the false doctrine of those trying to deceive his readers. What are “these things”? It is all the material from 1:5-2:25. Again, there were false teachers, and John is proving that these teachers have no fellowship with God because they lie. They lie in claiming that they don't have to live a righteous life (1:6), that they don't have sin (1:8), that they have never sinned (1:10), that they know Him even as they walk in darkness (2:5), that they abide in Him (2:6), that Christians are free to love the world (2:15-17), and that Jesus is not the Christ (2:22). All of these things are in direct opposition to what the believers heard “from the beginning,” and thus they can be identified as liars. Thus, we see, again, this is a book on tests of fellowship and even doctrinal orthodoxy, not a book on how to be sure that we are saved.

We can summarize by saying that the verse doesn't say you can lose your salvation because heaven and hell aren't in view in the passage. "Abidng" is in view, which pertains to fellowship. We abide in Christ by holding fast our confession, which is that Jesus Christ has offered us eternal life (cf. John 6:47). We have to remember that the key issue in Johannine thought is eternal life through belief. Always interpret John that that emphasis, because that is what is so important to him.

God bless