John: Abiding
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Meno and the Doctrine
of Abiding
John Hepp, Jr.
Now he who keeps His commandments ABIDES in Him and He in him.
And by this we know that He ABIDES in us, by the Spirit whom He has
given us.
The verse above is 1
John 3:24, quoted from the New King James Version to show the word
abides. (Hereafter, we will quote from the NIV.) This verse
gives aspects of what has been called “The Doctrine of
Abiding,” based on writings by the apostle John. The key word
(here twice translated “abides”) is the Greek verb meno.
John uses this word twenty-four times in the five chapters of his
first epistle, and three times in 2 John. It is important to see how
he uses it.
Meno simply
means “to stay, remain, continue” in a place, condition,
or existence. Most writers use it only in a literal sense: for
physical or mental remaining. We will call this literal sense “sense
A.” John, however, also uses meno in a non-literal
sense, for moral or spiritual remaining. We will call this—the
basis of abiding—“sense B.” In either sense meno
extends an activity or status that already exists; it does not
start a new one. For example, to stay in a place only extends
being there; it is not a special kind of relationship.
Every New Testament use
of meno outside of John’s writings is in sense A. John
also sometimes uses it that way, as in the following examples from
his Gospel. The words in all-capital letters are the NIV translation
of meno. Notice something else about meno. It does
not itself suggest that the continued activity or status will—or
will not—come to an end. Such a suggestion must come from
other words, such as in the third example below (2:12, “for a
few days”).
| 1:32 | “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven…and REMAIN on him [Jesus].” (also v. 33) |
| 1:38 | “Where ARE you STAYING?” (also v. 39) |
| 2:12 | “There they STAYED for a few days.” (also 4:40; 11:6; each telling how long) |
| 3:36 | “God’s wrath REMAINS on him.” |
Now consider sense B,
to continue morally or spiritually. Over half the time in his
Gospel, and usually in his epistles, John uses meno this way.
Since the KJV often translates meno as “abide,”[note 1]
John’s uses of sense B constitute “The Doctrine of
Abiding.” In the Gospel here are his first such uses, with
comments for each. In them abiding means to continue relationships
necessary for salvation. In other words, John uses sense B to
describe every converted person.
| 5:38 | “nor DOES his word DWELL in you”
(This was the defect that kept some from believing the One whom God |
| 6:27 | “food that ENDURES to eternal life”
(This true bread from heaven—v. 33—is Jesus Himself—vv. —v. 51. Therefore, the food |
| 6:56 | “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood REMAINS in me, and I in him.” (This eating and drinking produces or is evidence of mutual |
| 8:31-32 | “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you HOLD TO [continue in] my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (These were people “who had believed”—v. 31—but |
It seems obvious from
these examples that all genuine Christians abide in Messiah and His
Word. Likewise, He (and God) and His Word abide in them.[note 2]
But this obvious meaning of meno gives us a difficulty in
John 15:1-17. In that last and climactic passage about abiding in
John’s Gospel,[note 3]
it seems to contradict the marvelous doctrine of Eternal Security
(“once saved, always saved”).[note 4]
In John 15 Messiah calls Himself “the true vine” (vv. 1,
5). His purpose as the vine, of course, is to produce fruit
(grapes). “The branches” in this vine (v. 5) are His
disciples, who are known as such by the grapes they produce (v.
8). Notice how He exhorts and warns them in 15:4-6.
4 REMAIN in me, and I WILL REMAIN in you. No branch can bear fruit
by itself; it must REMAIN in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit
unless you REMAIN in me. 5 I am the vine. You are the branches. If
a man REMAINS in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. 6 If
anyone DOES not REMAIN in me, he is like a branch that is thrown
away…thrown into the fire and burned.
Thus, Messiah exhorts
people to remain in Him (v. 4) who are already branches (v. 5). And
He warns them on the assumption that some “branches” will
“not remain in” Him and will be “burned” (v.
6). This exhortation and warning seem to conflict with Eternal
Security. Doesn’t that doctrine guarantee that all true
believers will persevere and cannot be lost? If so, why exhort them
to remain in Messiah? Why warn them them about not remaining?
To harmonize John
15:1-17 with Eternal Security, some interpreters redefine meno.
In this passage they restrict it to selected believers. All
believers, they say, are in the vine, but not all abide.
In their interpretation abiding has become a new and optional
activity. It is not—as you saw in its earlier uses—a
continuation of an existing activity (here being “in” the
vine). Some of these interpreters conclude that not all believers
bear fruit (v. 4) and that being “burned” (v. 6) is a
temporal, not eternal, judgment. However, their explanation is not
valid. It changes the meaning of meno (whether sense A
or sense B) that you consistently saw in the earlier references.
A better solution
maintains that in John 15 abiding means to keep on believing. There
is—even in John’s Gospel—belief that does not
continue and does not save. I give evidence of that in Appendix B
(p. ). For now, see how the normal meaning of meno fits in
some of its uses in 1 John and 2 John. As above, the
translations of meno are in all-capital letters. For your own
study there is a complete list, at the end of this appendix, of the
use of meno in those books.
| 2:6 | “Whoever claims to LIVE in him must walk as Jesus did.”
(“Live in him” continues “are in him,” from |
| 3:24 | “Those who obey his commands LIVE in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he LIVES in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” (By definition every genuine disciple of Messiah obeys Him—Matthew |
| 4:12,13 | “If we love one another, God LIVES in us….We know that we LIVE in him and he [LIVES] in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” (Our love is evidence that we are His disciples—John 13:35. |
| 4:15 | “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God LIVES in him and he [LIVES] in God.” (As in the previous example, this sentence begins with a protasis |
| 4:16 | “Whoever LIVES in love LIVES in God, and God [LIVES] in him.” |
| 2 John 9 | “Anyone who…DOES not CONTINUE in the teaching of Messiah does not have God; whoever CONTINUES in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” (Could there be any stronger way of equating meno with |
Thus, abiding is not a
special relationship but a continuance of what already exists—of
believing. Will genuine believers unfailingly abide (continue to
believe)? The doctrine of Eternal Security says yes. However, the
exhortations to abide are essential. God designs to keep us secure
in part through our heeding the exhortations. As in all His
dealings, He treats us not as inanimate objects (like rocks) but as
people who respond.
Those who do not abide
(continue, remain) are not genuine believers. The false teachers did
not abide, which is John’s proof that they never were
believers: “If they had belonged to us, they would have
remained with us” (2:19). Similarly, when he says that “no
murderer has eternal life [remaining] in him” (3:15), he simply
means that eternal life was never present (see v. 14). Whatever was
not there could not remain.
Meno
in 1 John and 2 John: Continue Morally or Spiritually
|
Reference |
New King James Version Text |
NIV Translation of Meno |
|
1 John 2:6 |
He who says he ABIDES in Him, |
LIVE |
|
2:10 |
He who loves his brother |
LIVES |
|
2:14 |
because…the word of God |
LIVES |
|
2:17 |
He who does the will of God |
LIVES |
|
2:19 |
for if they had been of us, |
WOULD HAVE REMAINED |
|
2:24 |
Therefore LET that ABIDE in |
SEE THAT…REMAINS [If WILL REMAIN |
|
2:27 |
But the anointing which you |
REMAINS REMAIN |
|
2:28 |
And now, little children, |
CONTINUE |
|
3:6 |
Whoever ABIDES in him does |
LIVES |
|
3:9 |
for His seed REMAINS in him |
REMAINS |
|
3:14 |
He who does not love his |
REMAINS |
|
3:15 |
no murderer has eternal life |
[omit] |
|
3:17 |
How DOES the love of God |
CAN…BE |
|
3:24 |
Now he who keeps His |
LIVE LIVES |
|
4:12 |
If we love one another, God |
LIVES |
|
4:13 |
By this we know that we ABIDE |
LIVE |
|
4:15 |
Whoever confesses that Jesus |
LIVES |
|
4:16 |
God is love, and he who |
LIVES…[LIVES] LIVES |
|
2 John 2 |
because of the truth which |
LIVES |
|
2 John 9 |
Whoever transgresses and DOES |
DOES CONTINUE CONTINUES |
Note 1 (return to text)
KJV also uses “continue,” “remain,”
or “dwell.” NIV most often translates it “live”
but also “remain” or “continue.” The NET
Bible translates “remain” if possible change seems
involved—but usually “reside.”
Note 2 (return to text)
John’s next uses of meno, in 8:35; 9:41; 12:46; and
14:10, 17; have the same obvious meaning.
Note 3 (return to text)
Not only is John 15:1-17 the last passage in John’s Gospel
that uses meno. It also gives meno great emphasis,
using it ten times: in vv. 4 (twice), 5, 6, 7 (twice), 9, 10
(twice), and 16.
Note 4 (return to text)
Eternal Security is evident from many Scriptures and many
considerations. For example, see John 10:28-30; Romans 5:1-11; and
8:28-39. Salvation is entirely a gift of God’s grace. The
elect were—and still are—unworthy recipients of that
grace. Since they do nothing to earn God’s approval, they
count on God’s completing the good work He has begun in them.
Having made them part of His family, He will never forsake them.