Isaiah 43:19

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

We have just discussed knowing the truth via His abiding presence, His Word. That is the new thing God had never done before, Christ came into the world and changed everything. We have to take on a whole new way of defining truth. Our perception of truth, to know Him, is to know truth that goes beyond what the world defines as truth.

John 1:1

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word became flesh, wholly God and wholly man, Jesus Christ. Never before did God enter into this world in the form of man, giving up His place in the eternal, being on the throne of heaven, just to be with His creation.

• John 3:16
  For God So Loved the World
  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
• John 14:31
  but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
• John 17:23
  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

 For the love of God, what do we do now?

• Psalm 25:5
  Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
• Psalm 43:3
  Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
• 2 Timothy 2:25
  correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

John 8:31

The Truth Will Set You Free

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

This is the preface to John 8:32 that ends in a comma linking the two verses together. That makes this verse important in how to achieve the second, to know truth. Now English is a tricky language and some wording can lead to the wrong conclusions,

“Had believed” implies they no longer believed. I do not know the heart and mind of those people and I need to be concerned with my own understanding and beliefs. The assumption here is that being a disciple leads us to know the truth. Since a disciple is a student then we will once again assume that being a student is enough to know truth.

John 15:7

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

A better understanding comes to us about abiding here in John 15:7. There was a lot to learn between 8:31 and 15:7 for this better understanding. So what does it mean to abide in Him and for His words abiding in us?

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Abide:

a-bid’: Old English word signifying progressively to “await,” “remain,” “lodge,” “sojourn,” “dwell,” “continue,” “endure”; represented richly in Old Testament (King James Version) by 12 Hebrew and in New Testament by as many Greek words.

Since there are many Greek words describing abide, then let us not assume it means one thing.

It is interesting to attach the word progressive to this explanation which tells us that this experience has multiple stages beginning with “await” and ending in “endure”. Some of these words imply stillness while others imply movement. They are various states of being.

Focus on the issue of “I in you and you in me” as it relates to our state of being. It implies intimacy, relationship and reminds us of the marital bond, to become one flesh. Since He is the unchangeable God then in order for us to become one with Him, we are the ones that are changed in this relationship. It is His abiding presence that performs those changes. His Word.