Have you ever pondered the question, “How do I know that I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?” I know that I have. As a student I would consider this question. I grew up in the local church. I was there every time the doors were opened. Quite literally—my parents were the ones who unlocked and locked the church. We even cleaned the church every Saturday morning. And as a student in middle school and high school, I despised waking up early and going to clean toilets. Nevertheless, that was my responsibility and I had to fulfill it.

As I would scrape the toilets, I would always think about my walk with Christ. I would wonder if I was on the right track. You know, you’ve heard about the narrow and the wide paths. I heard about how I “should” be on the narrow path, but how narrow is the path? Am I on the right “narrow” path? Or am I on the path that leads to eternal destruction?

Even as I grew in my understanding of being a follower of Christ, I would still contemplate these questions. Through college, I wrestled with understanding what it meant to be a truly devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Was I doing what God wanted me to do? Am I choosing the right career path, for a bright future ahead? Am I choosing the right friends to have and to hang out with? Am I doing everything the right way? Does my public life match my private life? Am I going to the right church, to be seen by the right people?

All of this boiled down to the question, “How do I know that I am truly a disciple of the Lord Jesus?”

John 8:31-32:

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth with set you free.”

Question: Based on what we just read, how would I know if I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus?

Answer: By abiding in His Word.

What does this mean? Aren’t we abiding in God’s Word right now? I mean, we are at a monthly bible study, in a public place. The answer is yes, you are in a public place with a bible open and hearing it taught. But, friends, is this what Jesus meant by abiding in His Word?

Let’s look at the definition of abide. Abide literally means to stay or remain. Abide means to continue without fading or being lost. According to Webster’s dictionary, abiding means to continuing for a long time or not changing.

So, let’s look at the verse of Scripture but transliterate it.

• “If you continue for a long time in my word…”
• “If you stay or remain in my word…”
• If you continue without fading or being lost in my word…”

One bible scholar writes, “To abide in the bible means to hold on to the teachings of Christ and never let go. It means the bible so fills us up that we can barely contain it. It means we are willing to let the Bible dominate us. It means every area of our lives is being brought under the control of the Word of God.”[1]

So every area of our lives is brought under the Scriptures—from our thoughts, to our actions, from our words to our deeds, it’s all brought under the control of the Word. Abiding in the Word means even if we don’t like something in the bible, we will still obey what the Word says, at the same time, asking the Lord to change our hearts and mold them toward what He desires.

Does this mean this will happen overnight?

No. Abiding in the Word means taking a long-game approach. Think about a marathon or an Ironman event. We have a guy in our Sunday school class who is training for the Ironman event in Phoenix this fall. He is training every day for the event of swimming, biking, and running.

• 2.4 mile swim
• 112 mile bike
• 26.2 mile run

Is he waiting to train for this event a month out from it? Absolutely not! He wouldn’t make it. You can’t train your body to do something like that in a short amount of time. It takes a long time to train and shape your body into a well-oiled machine to compete in an event like that. It’s the long approach.

The same is abiding in the Word. It’s a long-term perspective. Genuine faith is produced over time, while a false-faith flickers and dies. Guys, this is why the bible doesn’t call us to make converts, but disciples of the Lord Jesus. Converts are easy to make. Simply give them something to say and people will say it. Disciples are hard to make. It takes time, intentional effort, and a willingness to walk with people through hard things.

Anyone can follow Jesus for a day, but it is a lifetime that Christ desires.

Abiding in the Scriptures is what we must desire as followers of the Lord Jesus. In this abiding, Christ challenges the way we think, He pushes us to consider things differently—from a Kingdom mindset and perspective. He transforms us into his image, and he is the one who grows us.

In abiding in the Word, we find the eternal truth.

Our world is in a my-truth state. That means what I say is true (whether it is or isn’t), and if you disagree with my statement, then you are wrong and a bigot. This is not the truth at all. We know that the Bible is the clear source of all truth. And there is freedom found in the truth.

What does Jesus tell us in John 14:6? “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If we reject the Word of God, we’ll not be able to discern, understand, or even desire the truth. The false disciples in 8:40 and 45, rejected the Word of God sot they could not know or appreciate the truth. When the Word is rejected, truth is lost.

Again, we are seeing this more and more in our culture and context today. The word of God is being rejected more and more, therefore, the eternal truth seems so far away. Paul warned Timothy of this very thing happening in 2 Timothy 4:3. So, why then are we so appalled when we see it happening around us today?

The world doesn’t need more bible thumpers and unChristlikeness from followers of Jesus. Bible Thumpers: those who look on people who do not believe the Bible as a lower class of citizens; those who have a holier than thou attitude; those who look on other races and ethnicities as inferior. The world needs disciples of the Lord Jesus, who want and desire to know Him and to make Him known to all people, everywhere.

Finding truth in the Scriptures will show us that Christ came for all people. He didn’t just come for the middle class, white American. He didn’t just come for the traditional mode of the local church. He came for all people at all times, everywhere. Finding truth in the Bible will show us that Christ has now sent us on a mission to fulfill until He returns. Finding truth in the Bible will show us that it is our responsibility—as husbands, dads, grandfathers—to train the next generation for the glory of Jesus’ name. Finding truth in the Bible will show us that we are to be disciple-makers of those in whom we have been entrusted to lead (our families and spheres of influence).

Finding truth in the Word will show us that Christ is the one who is to be exalted, not ourselves or own success. Find truth in God’s Word shows us that we exist for the glory of Jesus and his renown among all people, everywhere.

D.A. Carson writes, “True freedom is not the liberty to do anything we please, but the liberty to do what we ought; and it is genuine liberty because doing what we ought now pleases us.”

The truth of the Word is the salvation of Christ for all people. Freedom from sin, death, and the grave. We are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:18). And how do we come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus? Through the proclamation of His word. Paul writes in Romans 10—faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.

Friends, do we abide in the Word? Do we hold tightly and cling to the Word of our God? Do we do what it says, and do we go and proclaim it to all people everywhere?

Genuine freedom comes from submission to the Word of God. We don’t approach this in a legalistic fashion, but in a grace-filled one. Our hope is not found in our ability to perfectly fulfill a list of Bible-reading requirements. (Let’s be honest, we all have lists at home from our spouses, and not one of us is able to keep that. Then how will we keep a list from our King?!) Our position in Christ is not rooted in our capacity to check boxes on a spiritual checklist. Our freedom in Christ has turned our hearts to want and desire to be more like Him, and he will give us the desires of our hearts.

Does this mean we will do this perfectly? No. We will have dry spells, but the Lord desires to bring us to his life-giving, awe-inspiriting Word.

Charles Spurgeon-the Prince of Preachers-writes, “A bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t. Visit many good books but live in the Bible.”

I want to encourage and exhort you today, as we abide in Christ, may we seek to make Christ known for the glory and renown of his great name.

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[1] Matt Carter & Josh Wredberg, Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in John, 195.