The Recipe for Overcoming the World

The thought process of overcoming sin and thus the world could certainly begin here in verse 1. However, I want to jump to the summary statement that is made in verse 5. I believe that this is where we need to begin in order to fully grasp the weight of this passage. First,

Overcoming the World Begins with Believing

This fifth verse in the final chapter of 1 John is exclusionary in nature. When I say that, what I mean is that John is leaving out any person who has not believed “that Jesus is the Son of God”. It is asked in a question form because the four verses that come before it make it clear to anyone reading that no person who fails to believe will overcome the world.

In a sense, this comes across as a certain exclusivity to the gospel and that would be true. However, in thinking about how it is that a person comes to this point of overcoming, we should be clear that this option is available to anyone. But it begins with belief. And so we need to go back to the stop and see the progression that takes place.

Belief and Love Yields Being Born of God

The belief that is mentioned in verse 1 has a certainly level of trust that is included in it. We shouldn’t fail to understand that there is trust that is placed in God when a person believes that Jesus is the Christ. They are trusting that God has provided an appropriate sacrifice in Jesus for the atonement of our sins. It seems to me that there are so many in this world who have not believed in Jesus because they fear that the cross is not enough. They can’t come to a point of belief and so they commit themselves to perrishing for eternity.

We must trust that His promises are true, as is His word states over and over again. Is the tomb really empty? Was Jesus really the son of God? Was He actually a human? These are facts about Jesus that seem to run counter to how most people view reality. As a result, there is a difficulty in believing that Jesus is the Christ.

Now, we’ve already covered that belief is where this process begins. However, verse 1 includes a second condition for a person to be born of God. It is the person that loves God the Father. This second aspect of being born of God has its roots in belief of Jesus as the Christ.

If a complete stranger was to walk up to you and write you a $100,000 check, would you feel some feelings toward them, knowing you’ve done nothing to deserve the money?

Now, God the Father is anything but a stranger. He knows us well and loves us dearly. And has given to us so much more than a check. He has provided a way! It only seems natural that we would love Him! What are the results of loving God, then?

Next, we can see that

To Love God is to Obey His Commandments

I want to begin with the second half over verse two because it is what determines the first half. If we love God, it then makes sense that we would desire to adhere to His commands. Because we love God, we ought to desire to live in a way that He would have for us to do.

Just as a child loves their Father and Mother, they desire to do what pleases them because of the care that they have shown. Do you love God? Does your life reflect that in your obedience to His commandments? This should be a natural outflow of our love for him because of the sacrifice that His Son, Jesus, made on the cross on our behalf.

The implied obedience of the commandments of God are repeated in verse three for another purpose but it should be noted that it is repeated a second time in this passage.

Now, there are many commandments that are included in this obedience but John comes back to a specific one that will be clear evidence to the world of God’s existence.

If We Obey His Commandments, We Will Love His Children

Whenever we consider the command to love one another, our minds ought to eventually wander to John 13:35.

This is one of the clearest examples we have of obedience declaring to the world both who we belong to as well as who the one true God is. If we are to take other commands of Jesus seriously, such as the great commission, it will be extremely beneficial for us to first master the difficult task of loving one another. This idea

After all of this talk of the commandments of God,

The Commandments of God are Not Restrictive

The first half of verse three reiterates the natural obedience that will come from the one who loves God. But John adds an interesting note in the second half of the verse regarding our ability to bear the weight of obedience to His commands. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30.

This passage is interesting because a person who comes to Jesus is giving up all of their own wills over to Jesus.

The point John is making is that God desires that we would keep his commandments and these commandments are not restrictive to us or even overbearing. They might seem to take away the things that we formerly wanted to do but they do not prevent us from living well any longer.

In the same way, not a single of the commandments of God are ridiculous at all. There are some laws that seem extreme. For instance, it is annoying that I am not supposed to use my cell phone while I am driving. Yet, that law has been put into place both for my good as well as for the drivers around me. The same can be said for the laws that God has given us to abide by.

To keep the commandments of God is not burdensome on our lives. In fact,

The Commandments of God are Freeing and Lead to Victory Over Sin

The difficulty with sin and the ability to overcome. When we adhere to the things that God has commanded us to do, we are better for it.

Believing in Jesus Christ Radically Changes a Person’s Life

And returning to verse 5, we can see that such a belief changes everything! It is because of our faith that we can overcome. Less about our own faith, though, but the source of our faith.