...let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life. 1 John 2:24-25
You can argue all you want that it's a given that a believer will always let the word of God remain in them, and so remain in the Son and the Father and the promise of eternal life. The point is, you have to let the word of God remain in you to remain saved. Stop focusing on the osas vs. non osas nonsense and focus on the necessity
to let the word of God remain in you. That's not in dispute. That's what we need to be telling people. But instead we focus on the stupid osas/non osas argument.
There are certainly a couple of ways this passage might be understood.
1 John 2:24 KJV
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.
1 John 2:24 LITV
24) Then what you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you will abide both in the Son and in the Father.
Let what you heard abide in you. If you do, you will abide in the Son and in the Father.
You can see this as something you do once, or something you do on an ongoing basis. The Apostle had been speaking of those who deny Jesus, and he goes on to say this.
There is the parallel passage in John 15,
John 15:1-7 KJV
1) I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
And you can ask the same question here.
You say, Stop focusing on OSAS . . . you are the one who keeps bringing that up. You want to impugne your perception, your version of "OSAS". Stop getting so focused on OSAS, and start just looking at what the Scriptures say and don't say.
Here's something that these passages don't say. They don't say whether or not you have the option to stop abiding in Jesus once you've begun. They don't say that you might stop abiding in Jesus. They just don't.
So we need understand more of the Bible than these verses to understand what God is telling us.
And we know that the Bible will not contradict itself. So we can know that the explicitly stated Scriptures will give light and understanding to those which are less specific, such as these.
Once we get the explicitly stated passages understood, we'll know how to understand those that can be taken different ways.
So what are some of these passages?
Here's the first one that comes to my mind:
1 Peter 1:22-23 KJV
22) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23)
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
And of course I often think of this one:
Colossians 3:1-4 KJV
1) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4) When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
There are others I think of, but let's stay with these for the moment.
These are both plainly stated passages, without ambiguity.
There are not two ways to interpret "then shall you also appear with Him in glory". So whatever you have to say about these other passages, it's going to have to agree with this, or it won't be correct.
So then, if we're considering whether John is telling us if we let Jesus remain in us, we'll remain in him, and that this means we may or may not allow Him to stay after He comes into us, then we need to remember that John says the Word of God lives and abides forever. And we need to remember that Paul said those who are risen in Christ, who have died in Him, WILL appear with Him.
So we can understand the proper way to see this passage is that if we let Jesus abide in us, as in, Come in, Jesus, and He comes in to stay. That's how this passage harmonizes with these others, without doing damage to the text.
But instead we focus on the stupid osas/non osas argument.
It seems to me this is your focus. Mine is in understanding the reality of our relationship with God, so that we will put this arguments behind us, and so we can actually live the lives He intends.
Much love!
