Text- 1 John 5:4-5 (AMP)
V4 For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].
V 5 Who is the one who is victorious and overcomes the world? It is the one who believes and recognizes the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.
Who is born of God? Are you?
1) A child of God believes in God
1 John 5:1
Everyone who believes [with a deep, abiding trust in the fact] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is born of God [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], and everyone who loves the Father also loves the child born of Him.
2) A child of God loves others
1 John 4:7 (AMP)
Beloved, let us [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience].
What is love? Some of us think love is a feeling and so we say we love everyone. But love is a verb, it is a doing word. It is putting others before yourself. Love is what Jesus did on the cross. It is sacrificing yourself for the good of others. 1 Corinthians 13: 2-7 (AMP)
3) A child of God says no to repetitive sin
1 John 3:9 (AMP)
No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him.
What constitutes as sin?
- Those things outlined in the Bible, you can use scriptures such as Galatians 5:19-21 as a reference which says:
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God”.
- However unlike the Old Testament, we are not only to live under a written down set of rules. Jesus did not come to abolish the law and so we should still follow the principles outlined in the Bible but in addition we are also to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. For example, if God tells you to call someone and encourage them and you decide not to because they offended you last week, that disobedience is sin.
- Additionally, some things are not clearly spelt out in the Bible as sin as they did not exist then such as smoking, pornography and so on. But we can see that pornography would not be approved by God as it involves lust.
Matthew 5:28 says:
But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
In terms of smoking, over eating or anything that harms our bodies such as alcohol, drugs, cigarettes
etc. we can refer to: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body”.
If these 3 evidences are not in your life, you need to put it right.
Then once you are certain you are a child of God, then our text assures that you are victorious and will overcome the world.
What does overcoming the world mean?
The Scriptures uses the expression “the world” in different senses. Understanding the different ways it is used can help us appreciate why, on the one hand, the apostle John tells us the world was made through the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:10) and that God loves the world (John 3:16), and on the other, that we should not love the world (1 John 2:15).
“The world” can be used to refer to God’s creation generally, for instance in John 1:9-10
Or ‘The World’ can Refer to the world system which is a fallen world under the influence and power of the devil. The devil is described as the “the god of this world” in 2 Cor. 4:4, and in a sense, the whole world lies in his power (1 John 5:19). Behind the scenes, he shapes the trends, values, direction, perspective and approach of fallen men, encouraging them to indulge in the desires of the flesh.
The spirit of the world exerts a negative influence on our spirit, our spiritual appetite and our values. Its direction, values and approach are opposed to those of God’s kingdom. It is characterised by aggressiveness, arrogance, materialism, self-centredness, human-centredness, a fixation on the visible and temporal realm, and rebellion against God.
The apostle John refers to such an approach to life as “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16); all these flow forth from the flesh and from walking according to the flesh.
We cannot say, “I love the Lord but I also love the world and keep these two issues separated so that they have no bearing on each other.” This is not possible. Whenever the world comes into our lives, it will have an immediate negative effect on our relationship with God and on the quality of our love for God. We must therefore be resolute to deal with the root of the problem of the world in our hearts. Let us ask God to help us deal with it thoroughly and decisively, purging it from our hearts.
We must remember the apostle Paul’s instruction to us, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood”(Eph. 6:12). What we must understand is that our battle against the world is fundamentally a battle against, as Paul says, “the schemes of the devil”(Eph. 6:11).
Now what, exactly are the “schemes of the devil”? Let me simplify that question: ‘What is the devil’s primary goal?’ You can begin to read in Genesis, or you can jump ahead to the Book of Revelation, the devil’s goal is the same: to keep people from worshipping God. By temptation, worry, stress, busyness and the general cares of this world.
Whatever you are going through in your life, whatever defeat you are facing, you need to know that it stems from the battle of two Kingdoms for your heart. Everything you see is ruled by the Spiritual, nothing just happens. Angels and Demons are all around us and the battle is raging, your life is being controlled if you don’t take charge by being on the Lord’s side and walking in the victory already won for you by Jesus on the cross.
How do you overcome?
By having continuing and persistent faith in Jesus.
Faith is not something we can generate by our intellect or by mental determination. Faith, we heard read from Ephesians 2:8, is “not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”.
If faith is a gift, does this mean that we sit back, do nothing, and wait for it? No, that is not what we should do. While John points to the key to overcoming the world–our faith–the apostle Paul directs us back a few more steps.
In Romans 10:17, Paul writes, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”. Not even hearing alone is enough to gain faith. Our hearing must be empowered by “the word of Christ”.
Our new birth makes it possible to overcome the world and all of its temptations, but our victory–on a practical level–is not automatic. Believing rightly, loving unconditionally, and obeying joyfully comes from “the word of Christ”. Overcoming the world requires our humble submission to the teaching of Scripture.
Defeat is the opposite of victory. Are you living a defeated life?
WHAT IS A DEFEATED LIFE?
- A life without fruit. We are commanded by the Lord to bear fruit. Jesus said, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8).
- A life without power. If the power were present, the life would not be defeated. Jesus said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me. . .” (Acts 1:8).
- A life without a positive influence. The life of the victorious Christian points in one direction—toward the Lord. The defeated life has no positive influence.
- A life dominated by the flesh. The Corinthians were defeated Christians. Paul called them “babes in Christ.” They were carnal, not spiritual.
The answer to all this is faith.
Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17
If we are to overcome, if we are to be everything that God intends us to be than we must give ourselves to the reading and applying of God’s Word.
We must read God’s Word because the power to overcome comes from God. Amen.
If faith is a matter of taking God at His word, what does God say about His word? I found the answer in Scripture itself:
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” 1 Peter 1:25 “The word of the Lord abides forever.” Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”
God cannot lie – “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. “—Titus 1:2.
How do I demonstrate faith?
What about feelings?
There may be times when you don’t feel God’s love, maybe He seems distant or the challenges are too much. You could choose to dwell on that feeling, letting it carry you into a state of self-pity, or you could say, “Lord, I don’t feel loved. That is the truth. That is where I am right now. But, Lord, Your Word says that You love me. In fact, You’ve said that You have loved me with an everlasting love. You never stop loving me. Your love for me is one thing that stands when all else has fallen. Your Word says there is no partiality with You. That means You don’t love anyone else in the world more than you love me. So, Lord, I thank You that I am loved by You. Your Word is truer than how I feel.”
This kind of response to your feelings gives you the freedom both to be honest with God about your feelings and to choose to believe God’s Word when your feelings contradict His promises.
Thousands of times my prayers have begun, “Lord, I feel…but, Lord, Your Word says…” This is also the pattern of many of the Psalms that David wrote.
Confessing the Word aloud is a great way of affirming what you believe.
Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised”)
How many times do you speak out loud how your situation looks, or how impossible it is or how tired you feel? Do you feel better after doing it? I guess the answer is no.
Why not change your approach and instead decide to believe that God can turn that situation around and begin to say that out loud instead? Some people feel weird talking out loud but all you are doing is reminding your feelings and the situation that you are facing of the truth.
Confessing God’s Word is the best way of planting the Word of God into our heart.
Hebrews 4:2 The Word of God is living and active. If you confess the Word of God over your heart and life (Isaiah 55:11), it will not return void.
Too many Christians struggle along, desperately begging God for things He has already promised, or already declared that He has given to us. Emotionally tormenting oneself does not impress God or move Him to respond. God responds to faith. Without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).
So how does faith obtain victory for me?
Victory is not accomplished all at one stroke. It is a lifelong business. We are to be overcomers day by day as we exercise our faith.
How do I build my faith?
By exercising it and having testimonies. Just like muscles they need to be exercised. It is not an easy process just like exercising in the gym is hard at first. Seeing the results will encourage you to believe for something greater next time.
In the gym, if you keep at the same level of cardio or resistance training, it will get boring because it’s not a challenge. There is excitement when you add another weight on the resistance machine or you go an extra few miles on the treadmill. In the same way, expect more from God, expect bigger things and you will be astounded by the testimonies.
Be encouraged by this scripture:
1 John 5:14-15 (AMP)
14 This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that [a]if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. 15 And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.
Now is a good time to put your faith into practice.
Repeat this confession out loud with faith and you will be encouraged
Confession – Walking in Victory
Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. I am born of God and I overcome the world. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even my faith. [1 John 5:4]
I want to thank You God that You always cause me to triumph in Christ. [2 Cor 2:14]
And I want to thank You God for giving me the victory through my Lord Jesus Christ. [1 Cor 15:57]
I thank You Jesus that You are my Savior, that You are my baptizer in the Holy Spirit, that you are my Healer, that you are my Deliverer, and the Provider for all my needs.
I thank You Jesus that I am free, no longer in bondage or slavery to anything or anyone. I am no longer a victim, but a victor!
Thank You Jesus that according to John 8:36, I AM FREE! And whom the Son sets free is FREE INDEED!
I am an overcomer in every area of my life. [Rev 12:11] I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ. [Romans 8:37] I boldly declare that I am free!
Whom the Son sets free is free indeed! [John 8:36]
