John 8:31 Commentary and Bible Study

Now you can see straight away that he was, with his divine insight, not convinced at all that there was any depth – ‘If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed’ – and as the narrative goes on, they didn’t. So here is one difference between superficial faith and belief – assent, recognition only – and saving faith, which really transforms the soul. Here is one great difference – ‘Ye continue in his word.’ And the Greek word translated ‘continue’ is a very simple word, literally means, ‘You stay’. ‘Continue’ is a valid translation, but if I say, ‘stay’ you can see that it is a little deeper than that actually. It means you ‘stand by, you hold onto’. You don’t merely continue in a superficial belief. It qualifies your belief; it defines it. ‘You stay, you stand with, you remain, you become steadfast.’ It means you continue, yes, but you continue, not only on Sunday, but all through Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday; every hour of the day, you are a believer, you are trusting in Christ, you say, ‘His word is everything. To know him is everything. To have my sins forgiven by him is the most important thing. To serve Him, and to yield to Him.’ The superficial believer believes for an hour or two on Sunday, but not during the week – does worldly things, earthly things, doesn’t think of Christ, scarcely prays to Him, doesn’t want to know about Him, doesn’t obey Him, doesn’t make sacrifices for Him, doesn’t serve him.