ANOTHER OVERCOMER TRUTH
1 John 5:3-5 NKJV
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
John, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is making a strong case for believers as overcomers.
He says that we are able to keep God’s commandments and that they are not too much for us because we are overcomers.
“For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments.” To love God, we do more than just say we love Him. We do what He has commanded us to do. And His commandments are not burdensome. They are not too much for us. God’s commandments are not out of reach. And there is a good reason for that.
In the Old Testament, the old covenant commandments that we looked at in the Book of Hebrews were out of reach for the Jewish people. They tried but always came up short. This is why Jesus had to come to buy us out of the bondage of sin and enable us to walk with God in righteousness. So now we can do that because we are born of God. This is a truth we looked at yesterday. One reason we are overcomers is because of the Greater One, the Holy Spirit, living in us. Another reason is that we are born of God. And whatever is born of God overcomes the world. So, by birthright, we are overcomers. And because of our faith, we are overcomers. This is the victory, or the means of success, by which the world is overcome, our faith. So, our faith in the new birth helps us overcome. Our faith in what Jesus did for us causes us to overcome the world and everything in it.
When believers do not know what Jesus did for them and who they are because of Him, it hinders faith. But the more we know, the more we believe what has been done for us and the victory we have in Christ. The more we know about the power of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, the stronger our faith and the more we overcome the world and all its negatives. Many of us can say we overcome more now than we did years ago. Our faith has become stronger, and the stronger we become, the more we overcome. There are things that used to trip us up that we are able to move past now with apparent ease because we have grown in Christ and become stronger.
John says the ones who are overcomers are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Simple enough. When we believed in Jesus and made Him Lord, we joined the ranks of the ones who overcome. Now, we have to accept that we are on the victorious side in Christ and resist the temptations and negative influences that come our way. But accepting the fact that we are born to overcome and no longer are we the weak victims will give us an advantage. God did not leave His children down here at the mercy of Satan. He enables us by His Holy Spirit and has given us His promises that help us overcome in every area of life. Our faith in God and in His promises position us to overcome. So we can say with Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
PRAYER
Thank You, Father, that You have made me an overcomer when I believed in Jesus. I still believe in Him, and I believe in what He has done for me. Thank You