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"Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning; if that which
ye have heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son and in the
Father. And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even aionian life. . . . the
anointing. . . . abideth in you. . . . ye shall abide in Him. . . . abide in Him"
(I John 2: 24-28).
Now what of the one who profess aionian life, one who, in other words, professes to
be abiding in Him? "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even
as He walked" (I John 2: 6). Saying is forcefully contrasted throughout this epistle with
doing; "He that saith he is in light and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now,
he that loveth his brother abideth in the light" (I John 2: 9, 10).
The next occurrence of aionian life continues this thought, "We know that we have
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren", we know this fact upon the
bare statement of God's Word, but we have evidence in our attitude to our brethren.
"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath aionian
life abiding in him" (I John 3: 15). Do not let us seek to turn the edge of this Scripture.
It is not a question of whether a criminal can be saved, but whether a believer who hates
his brother has aionian life abiding in him. If aionian life is synonymous with salvation,
then, either a believer never has, and never can hate his brother, or some believers who
have hated their brethren will be lost. We do not believe aionian life is synonymous with
salvation, but that Scripture most definitely declares that a believer who hates his brother
HAS NOT aionian life abiding in him, but we do not thereby believe such an one is
"lost"--he will be a "loser" rather. In I John 5: 4, 5 we read:--
"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith; who is he that overcometh the world, but he that
believeth that Jesus is the Son of God."
It may be objected that there are some who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who
do not appear to possess the faith of the overcomer. That is true, and unless we have due
regard to the atmosphere of the epistle, we may be importing into one dispensation that
which is true in a full sense only of another. I John 4: in its opening verses makes it
clear that the believers to whom John wrote were constantly confronted with "spirits" and
"false prophets", "that spirit of Antichrist". This spirit of Antichrist confessed not that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, but, said the apostle, "ye are of God, little children,
and have overcome them". Again in 2: 22 the apostle says, "Who is the liar but he that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son".
Of these believers it is said:--
"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things. . . . but the
anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man
teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie,
and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (I John 2: 20, 27).
These things are not the normal atmosphere of the Church of the One Body: the
denying spirits, Antichrist, and the anointing with its supernatural power of instruction
belong to other times; "Little children, it is the last hour" (I John 2: 18). All these things