Colossians 3:16-17
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No Darkness at all
Having the words of Jesus abide in you is more than memorizing them. We know this for several reasons. First, we know it because the devil can memorize Scripture. He quoted it to Jesus in the wilderness to tempt him (Matthew 4:1–10).
Second, we know it because of what Jesus says in John 5:38. He said to the Jews who were questioning him, “You do not have [God’s] word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.” But these people knew much of God’s word from memory. Jewish people who are serious about their faith have always memorized Scripture. But Jesus says that God’s word is not abiding in them. So clearly when the word of God is abiding in us, it is more than mere memorizing.
What then does it mean? It means that the words of Jesus take root and bear the fruit of faith and holiness. John 5:38 connects the word and faith: “You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.” If the word abides in you, you will believe in the word and the one who spoke it.
The abiding of Jesus’s word in us means that his words find a home in us. They fit. They belong. In John 8:37, Jesus says, “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.” That’s the opposite of the word “abiding” in us. When the word abides in us, it finds a place, a home. It’s not foreign. It belongs. You move other things around and even get rid of some things so that the word has room and “feels at home.”
The words of Jesus don’t “abide” without effect. When they take root, they produce faith and holiness.
“Sanctify them in the truth,” Jesus says; “your word is truth” (John 17:17). So when his words abide in us, sanctification happens. We are transformed. Holiness, Christlikeness, happens.
So, in sum, the abiding of Jesus’s words in us means that the words of Jesus take root and bear the fruit of faith and holiness.
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