We will be unable to overcome the world until obedience to God’s Word is desirable. Once God’s commandments are no longer seen as burdensome, we can experience the victory intended for us.
1 John 5:1-5
If your belief and behavior sound and look more like this world, it might be because you still belong to it.
The Belief of Overcomers
- Your sin is so severe that it brought about spiritual death and requires a spiritual rebirth (5:1).
- Salvation demands a belief in what Christ has done and not evidence of what you can do (5:1).
- A genuine love for God is the only force strong enough to change our motives for why we do what we do (5:2).
- Believing that God is worth any sacrifice is the only reason we will ever make a change.
The Behavior of Overcomers
- An indicator of possessing a genuine love for God is when obedience is preferred (5:3).
- We overcome the world when its empty promises are no longer our greatest passions (5:4).
- Faith allows us to neglect the temporal opportunities for the eternal guarantees (5:4).
- If Jesus is who the Bible says He is, the claims of this world no longer have any hold on me (5:5).
- If you try to behave for God, your belief is in what you can do rather than what Christ has done.
- If you believe in Jesus, it will gradually change your behavior.
- If you aren’t overcoming the world right now with correct behavior, it might be because you never started with proper belief.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
