1 John 2:6

1 John 2:6 calls Christians to live as Jesus lived.

📖 Exegetical Commentary on 1 John 2:6 (NKJV)

Text:
“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” — 1 John 2:6, New King James Version

🔍 Context and Meaning

The Apostle John writes to believers to assure them of their salvation and to call them to authentic Christian living. Chapter 2[i] begins with pastoral tenderness: “My little children…” (verse 1), showing John’s deep concern for spiritual integrity. Verse 6 sits within a section (verses 3–11) that tests the genuineness of one’s relationship with God.

To “abide in Him” means to remain in close, ongoing fellowship with Jesus Christ. It is not a fleeting feeling or occasional religious activity. It is a settled, enduring union with Christ, marked by trust, obedience, and love. John uses “abide” repeatedly in his writings (see John 15:4–7[ii]), always pointing to a life rooted in Christ.

The phrase “walk just as He walked” refers to the moral and relational pattern of Jesus’ earthly life. It is not about miraculous deeds or divine prerogatives, but about humility, love, truthfulness, and obedience to the Father. Luther rightly noted, “It is not Christ’s walking on the sea, but His ordinary walk, that we are called on to imitate” Bible Hub.

🧠 Theological Insights

• Union with Christ: Abiding in Christ is a covenantal reality. It is the fruit of regeneration and the work of the Holy Spirit. Those who truly know Christ will reflect His character.
• Sanctification: Walking as Jesus walked is the outworking of sanctification. It is not perfection, but direction. The believer’s life is increasingly shaped by the Spirit to resemble Christ.
• Ethics of Love and Obedience: John links love for others and obedience to God’s commands as inseparable marks of true faith (verses 3–11). This echoes Jesus’ own teaching in John 14:15: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

🏡 Application to Modern Christian Living

In our modern context, where individualism and moral relativism often dominate, this verse is a counter-cultural call to Christlike living. It challenges nominal Christianity and invites believers to integrity.

• Authenticity in Faith: Claiming to be a Christian must be matched by a life that resembles Jesus. This includes honesty, compassion, and moral courage.
• Daily Obedience: Walking as Jesus walked means making choices that honour God — in relationships, work, and public life.
• Love in Action: In a society marked by division, Christians are called to love sacrificially, especially within the church and towards the marginalised.

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[i] 1 John 2

New King James Version

The Test of Knowing Christ

2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

The Test of Knowing Him

3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Their Spiritual State

12 I write to you, little children,
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13 I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Deceptions of the Last Hour

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Let Truth Abide in You

24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

The Children of God

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

[ii] John 15:4-7

New King James Version

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.