Our Faith Overcomes The World

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:1-4 NASB1995)

I will stress here again that it is important that we read and interpret Scriptures based on their full and appropriate biblical context. So, I recommend that if you are not familiar with the book of 1 John, in its fullness, that you read the entire book (it is not long) so that you read each section of it in light of its full context. And that way you should not be in danger of misquoting and misinterpreting and misapplying what it teaches, for there are parts of it that people could and do easily misinterpret.

I suggest that you also do some biblical research on the meaning of the word “believe” or “faith,” for this is not lip service only, as many make it out to be. For we cannot even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ. And the faith to believe in Jesus is not of our own doing, not of our own flesh, but it is of God, and it is gifted to us by God. And it is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die to sin and to walk in obedience to God.

So, yes, obedience to our Lord and to his commandments is part of the faith which comes from God, which is required of God for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God. And part of that faith, as well, has to do with us denying self, dying to sin (not just once, but daily), and us surrendering our lives to the Lord Jesus to do the will of God and to now live for Christ and no longer for self and for self-pleasure. For if sin is still our practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, no matter what.

So, what does it mean here when it says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith”? What does the world represent here? It is all that is opposed to God and to Jesus Christ and to his gospel message, is it not? It is sin and wickedness, lying, cheating, stealing, moral impurity, adultery, and all that is contrary to God’s will and purpose for our lives. So if our faith overcomes the world, that means that we are no longer living as slaves of sin, but we are now living as servants of God and of his righteousness in obedience to God.

So, faith in Jesus Christ is not just so we can get forgiveness of all sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven. Faith, which comes from God, and which is persuaded of God, if it is genuine biblical faith, will result in us dying to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commandments, in daily practice, or it is not biblical faith which saves. Yes, we might still sin, at times, but sin must not be our practice, our habit. Righteousness, godliness, and obedience to our Lord must now be our daily practice, by God’s grace.

Yet, the most popular gospel message spreading throughout the world today is not teaching that faith = obedience to God. It is teaching that all we have to do is just profess faith in Jesus and we are now good to go, and that how we live from now on will not impact our eternity. It is called “the gospel” but it is not the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles. So overcoming the world must also include us spreading the truth of God’s word to the people, and us refuting the lies of the enemy which are stealing people’s souls. For they promise them heaven while sending them to hell.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10] 

The Prayer

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, 

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

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Our Faith Overcomes The World

An Original Work / September 15, 2025

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love