1 John 5: Faith in Christ Overcomes the World

Introduction

"Overcomers in Christ": that is the title Hayden Smith was given for this message on 1 John 5:1-5. He opens by calling it a "very encouraging" text, because the victory Christ gives to those who believe in him is "truly astonishing."

The passage, he explains, describes the true believer by three marks: he loves the people of God, he walks in obedience to God, and he shares in God's victory. These marks make it possible to discern the authenticity of faith, because only true believers have a share in Christ's victory.

The preacher begins with a simple question: do you remember a resounding victory, where the opponent was beaten decisively? The answer of the Gospel goes far beyond all human triumphs.

Outline of the Message

1. Human Victories That Do Not Last

Hayden Smith remembers the 2006-2007 Ashes series: as a child, he watched the Australian cricket team crush the English 5 to 0.
Everyone can think of another example: an unforgettable sporting event, a great military victory, a political landslide.
The problem with these victories is that they are often short-lived. There is always another battle, another election, another series. Cricket fans will remember the next series, won 2 to 1 by England.
History shows it: empires rose and ruled for decades, even centuries, before falling.

2. The Context of John's Letter

John, one of the twelve and the author of the Gospel that bears his name, wrote three short letters in addition to Revelation.
John himself tells us that the purpose of his letter is to test the authenticity of our faith.
Just before our passage comes the great text on love: "God is love." Verses 1 to 5 of chapter 5 are an extension of it.

3. The True Believer Is Born of God

Verse 1: "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Whoever loves the Father also loves the child who is born of him."
The preacher brings up mistaken views of Jesus. He quotes Richard Rohr, for whom the spirit of Christ is everywhere, universal: in Jesus of Nazareth, but also in you and me, in the family dog, in the birds, in the trees. "This is false and dangerous teaching," which seeks to strip Jesus of his authority and his place in order to reduce him to one of the false gods of Buddhism or Hinduism.
"No, Jesus is the one and only Christ. There is no other like him." This is the distinction that separates true Christianity from all other beliefs.
The word "Christ" is the Greek form of the Hebrew "Messiah," which means the anointed one. To call Jesus the Christ is to say that he is the one whom the promises of Scripture had long announced.
Being "born of God" refers to the work of God, who produces the new birth. Believing in Jesus refers to the human response: we hear the Gospel and we believe it.
The new birth brings about a transformation in the heart. God gives a new heart, he gives his Spirit and brings the person into his family, among his children.

4. He Loves God and He Loves the Children of God

The first mark of the born-again believer: he loves God and he loves the children of God.
Regeneration brings us into a relationship. First with God: we love him because he is the one who accomplished the whole work of salvation to bring us to Christ.
But the new birth does not bring us into a relationship with God alone: it also unites us with his children.
The preacher is direct: if you do not enjoy spending time with the people of God, you are preparing a miserable eternity for yourself. "May God help us to love his children."

5. He Walks in Obedience, and It Is Not Burdensome

End of verse 2 and verse 3: we love God and we keep his commandments, "and his commandments are not grievous." For Hayden Smith, the end of verse 2 is a hinge verse.
John has just shown that truly loving God means loving the people of God. He now shows that this love also expresses itself in obedience. Obedience is not an empty attachment to commandments, but obedience out of love for God himself. Our love for the Lord should give us the desire to obey him.
Which commandments do true believers keep? The preacher goes through the ten commandments. "You shall have no other gods before me," "You shall not make for yourselves an idol": none of us bowed down before a golden statue before coming to church this morning, but that does not mean we have no other idols in our lives. "Honor your father and your mother": where do we stand in obeying this commandment?
"You shall not murder" seems easy to keep, but in Matthew 5, Jesus says that we break this commandment when we hate someone in our heart. As for adultery, Jesus says that looking at a woman to lust after her is already committing adultery in one's heart. "You shall not steal" seems simple, but have we ever plagiarized or cheated on an exam?
God gives his commandments for our spiritual good. The heavenly Father has commanded only what is good for his children, and disobeying him turns against us.
Some see Christianity as a religion of rules, and for them keeping them is a weight. It is true that trying to please God by keeping his law imposes an impossible burden, because God's standard is perfection. Religion without a relationship with God is sterile: Jesus called the rules and traditions of the scribes and Pharisees heavy burdens.
By contrast, Jesus says of himself: "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Instead of demanding rules and regulations, he simply says to us: "Come to me." "Love me, love my people, and you will walk in obedience."

6. He Shares in Christ's Victory

Verse 4: "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world." Paul describes it magnificently in Romans 8: "No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." The same word is used there in an intensive form, which denotes an absolute and complete victory.
In Jesus, believers are conquerors, triumphant, invincible. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The world represents the invisible spiritual system of evil and corruption, hostile to God and ruled by Satan. Its citizens are dominated by fleshly ambitions, pride, greed, selfishness and pleasure. Among the forces to overcome: the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.
Believers have also overcome the world in the sense that death and corruption no longer have the last word. The believer can say with Paul: "Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"
God gives victory over death through his Son, and we now share in the power of his resurrection.

7. Faith in Jesus, the Son of God, Overcomes the World

How do believers win this victory? The end of verse 4 tells us: "This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith." Faith in Christ makes effective the victory he won over Satan, sin and death.
Hayden Smith quotes Charles Spurgeon on the power of faith: not the power of faith in itself, but the power of the one in whom we believe. For, when you think about it, what is there in our faith that could overcome the world?
Verse 5: "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" John asks a question whose answer we already know: no one else. Only those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the only Son of God.
John has told us that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. He now tells us that he is the Son of God: God made man, truly God and truly man. He walked on the earth, he faced the difficulties and temptations we face, he lived within this system of the world.
And, unlike us, he never sinned. He obeyed the Father perfectly, he loved the Father perfectly, and he loved perfectly those who belonged to God. Those who receive the spotless Lamb by faith share in his victory.

8. Living as a Conqueror Today

The preacher asks the question: when you think of the faithful Christians around you, do they show the attitude of a conqueror? Are they walking in a triumphal and faithful procession toward heaven, or are they always weighed down by the worries of this world?
Are you afraid? Are you anxious? Are you running after the things of this world, accumulating possessions? Through Christ, you can overcome the world and walk in his victory.
We do not have to be discouraged by the state of things, always struggling, always downcast, always murmuring, complaining and losing hope as soon as we turn on the news.
"You must understand that, through Christ, you are a conqueror, because Christ has overcome the world." This should change the way we live.
We serve a sovereign God, who has a plan and who patiently bears with evil in the world until all his saints have come to faith.
In his closing prayer, Hayden Smith asks that others would see that we follow the Lord faithfully, that we love him and that we love one another, so that they would glorify him, and that we would be true sons and daughters, born again, "to the praise of the glory of his grace."

Key Takeaways

Human victories pass away; Christ's victory over Satan, sin and death is complete and final.
The true believer believes that Jesus is the one and only Christ, and he is born of God: it is God's work that gives a new heart.
Whoever is born of God loves God and loves his children. He obeys out of love, and God's commandments are not burdensome.
It is not the strength of your faith that overcomes the world, but the strength of the one in whom you believe.
Through Christ, you are a conqueror: this should change the way you look at the news, your fears and your possessions.

Personal Application

What does your faith rest on: on Jesus, the one and only Christ, or on a vague idea of a "Christ" present everywhere?
Do you enjoy spending time with the people of God, or is it a constraint for you?
Which idols occupy God's place in your life, even if you do not bow down before any statue?
Do you live obedience as a burden of rules or as a response of love to the one who loved you first?
When you turn on the news, do you react as a conqueror in Christ or as a discouraged person who murmurs?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "being an overcomer in Christ" mean according to 1 John 5?

For Hayden Smith, Christ's victory is not a short-lived victory like those of sport or history. Christ has overcome Satan, sin and death. Those who are born of God and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, share in this victory: they are more than conquerors through him who loved them.

Why are God's commandments not burdensome?

The preacher reminds us that trying to please God by keeping the law imposes an impossible burden, because God's standard is perfection. But the born-again believer obeys out of love, and God commands his children only what is good for them. Jesus says: "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

How does faith overcome the world?

It is not the strength of faith in itself that overcomes, but the strength of the one in whom we believe. Hayden Smith draws on Charles Spurgeon to stress this: faith in Christ makes effective in the believer's life the victory that Jesus has already won over Satan, sin and death.