The First Epistle Of John

As it is by keeping the commands of Christ that faith in him must approve itself, so also is this the condition of abiding in fellowship with him. "And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him: and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the spirit which he hath given us." Thus it is by obedience to the commands of Christ as contained in that one command, we attest our voluntary abiding in fellowship with (Christ; this being the necessary condition on our part, in order that we may continue to enjoy the communication of Christ, and that he may abide in fellowship with us. This reciprocity is always presupposed; the keeping of the commands of Christ as depending upon that mutual fellowship, and as being also the condition and the evidence of this continued fellowship.

The Apostle then appeals to that, whereby this continued fellowship manifests itself to the consciousness of each; to that internal fact, of a conscious divine life, imparted by Christ through the Holy Spirit. That we live in fellowship with him, we know by the spirit which he has given us, -- that invisible pledge, manifesting itself to the inward experience, of uninterrupted union with. him. Thus when about to part from his disciples, no more to be with them in his personal bodily presence, he promised that he would be invisibly near and present among them, no less truly than during his earthly manifestation. The proof of this his actual presence among them, should be the communication to them of his Spirit. This should be the medium of union between believers and their Saviour, until vision takes the place of faith; till that immediate view of Christ, enjoyed by his disciples in the familiar intercourse of his earthly life, is restored in heightened glory to believers. It is to this inward experience that the Apostle makes his appeal with these churches, and to it the inward experience of believers in all ages bears witness. Here, then, are conjoined two characteristic marks of fellowship with Christ which cannot be dissevered from each other; the one inward, perceptible to the immediate inner consciousness, -- the other belonging to the outward life, but presupposing the former, of which it is at once the outward expression, and the condition of its continuance. The first is, -- Participation in the Spirit promised by Christ; the second, Obedience to his commands, which is the fruit of that Spirit's agency, and in which such participation makes itself apparent. This being the Spirit's work, is also, as the evidence of this work, the condition of its continuance; all divine gifts being conditioned upon the faithful use of what is bestowed, according to the words of Christ: Whoso hath, to him shall be given.