a. Abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed: Abiding in Jesus means that we need not be afraid or ashamed when Jesus returns. This is because we have intimately known Him, and therefore we can have confidence at His coming.
i. John brings up a challenging image. When Jesus returns, some people will be afraid, because they never knew Jesus at all. But among those who know Him, some will not be afraid, they will be ashamed before Him at His coming. They will realize that they have been living worldly, unfruitful lives. In one moment, the understanding will overwhelm them that whatever else they accomplished in life, they did not abide in Him as they could have.
ii. Paul the Apostle speaks of those who are “barely saved”: he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:15). There are those who, for at least a moment, the coming of Jesus will be a moment of disappointment rather than glory.
iii. It is important for us to carefully consider these matters, because it is difficult to measure the distance between “barely saved” and “almost saved.” It is dangerous to contemplate questions such as, “how little can I do and still make it to heaven?” or “how far can I stray from the Shepherd and still be part of the flock?” Instead we should be diligent to not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
iv. “What is the way to prepare for Christ’s coming? By the study of the prophecies? Yes, if you are sufficiently instructed to be able to understand them. ‘To be prepared for the Lord’s coming,’ some enthusiasts might say, ‘had I not better spend a month in retirement, and get out of this wicked world?’ You may, if you like; and especially you will do so if you are lazy. But the one Scriptural prescription for preparing for his coming is this, ‘Abide in him.’ If you abide in the faith of him, holding his truth, following his example, and making him your dwelling-place, your Lord may come at any hour, and you will welcome him.” (Spurgeon)
b. When He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed: We never grow beyond our need to abide and find our confidence in abiding in Jesus. Because John used "we" instead of "you," we know that he needed this confidence also.
c. Abide in Him: This is the way to be confident when Jesus comes. When you abide in Him, you are ready for Jesus to come at any time.
i. The idea of living in Jesus is so important in the Bible. Jesus promised in John 14:23: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
ii. Paul expressed this idea in his prayer for the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:17: that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. There are two Greek words to convey the idea of “to live in”; one has the idea of living in a place as a stranger, and the other has the idea of settling down in a place to make it your permanent home. Dwell in Ephesians 3:17 uses the Greek word for a permanent home; Jesus wants to settle down in your heart, not just visit as a stranger.
iii. Do you abide in Him? Or do you just visit Jesus every once in a while? Abiding in Jesus gives us confidence, because we know we wouldn’t change our lives substantially if we somehow knew Jesus would come back next week. We would already be abiding in Him.
Killing someone is not the same as them going to hell.
