“He begins by saying that those who hold to his words are truly his disciples. Jesus, in response to this crowd expressing faith, lays down exactly what separates counterfeit faith from true faith: ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.’ In short, perseverance is the mark of true faith of the genuine disciple. A true believer abides in Christ’s word, his teaching, and that person, that true believer, seeks to understand it better and finds it more and more precious, and finds it more and more controlling in our lives. It leads us to want to obey Christ’s words.”