WHO CAN ABIDE OR REMAIN IN CHRIST?
WHO CAN ABIDE OR REMAIN IN CHRIST?
Bible Reference: Psalm 15:1 “Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?”
Good morning everyone,
We thank God for such a wonderful day given to us. May his name be praised now and forever.
As the theme for this year and many powerful messages has been preached throughout this first half of the year. Today I would like to take it from a different angle by asking the question who can abide or remain in Christ.
The message John wrote was not to unbelievers and I believe most of us agree with that. If that is the case, then it means John in that letter was reminding the people about the need for them to always live a life which demonstrate that whatever they heard and received in the beginning is still at work. The question we should ask is, why does John see it necessary to remind the people or what triggered this instruction?
Now that we all agree that this message by John was to believers let us now see if we can ask some questions and see if there are answers we can get from the bible. Who then can be classified as abiding in Christ or how can we be sure we are abiding in Christ?
From Psalm 15 we get to know what it means by remaining or abiding in Christ as a believer.
- He who is Upright and Righteous (Psalm 15:2): As young Christian one of the ways we can be sure we are abiding in Christ is when we are upright and righteous in the sight of God. Be careful in jumping into a quick conclusion by saying no man can be upright. Our uprightness comes from Christ who has imputed unto us his upright nature. Peter in his second epistle also makes it clear that we have been given all what it takes patterning life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Also, Colossians 1:22, Ephesians 1:4
Who then is an upright person in the sight of God?
- Whole hearted devotion to Christ
- One who walk before God and is perfect (Genesis 17:1, Deuteronomy 18:13
- One who keeps himself or herself from iniquity (Psalm 18:23)
- One who behaves wisely before God and man (Psalm 101:2)
- He who speaks the truth in his or her heart (Psalm 15:2): Here we see a qualification of truth which truth in the heart. This truth is not the same as what flatters who are double hearted speaks as can be found in Psalm 12:2. It should be noted that the description is also not truth from the heart but in the heart.
- Remaining in Christ means you do backbite with your tongue nor does evil to your neighbour (Psalm 15:3): It is interesting to know that backbiting was a serious issue in the olden churches as it is found in our days and so the Apostle seek to always remind the church to put away all these acts. Both Apostle Paul and Peter were concerned about this issue which when found among us clearly means we are not abiding in Christ. (1 Peter 2:1, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Ephesians 4:31)
- Remaining in Christ also means our way of life such as our dressing, should be something that glorifies God. (Proverbs 11:22) It is becoming practically impossible to differentiate between a believer and a non-believer based on dressing. Everything seems acceptable. If indeed we claim we are in Christ and we are abiding in him the everything of us should reflect the image of God and our dressing plays a significant role (1 Peter 3:2-5, Deuteronomy 22:5)
As young Christians it is important for us to always examine ourselves to see if indeed we are still abiding in Christ. Its my prayer the good God through his Son Jesus Christ will grant us the strength and the grace to abide in Him and remain in Him.
God Bless You
Antwi Bosiakoh Isaac