Look: “...everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5)
In the previous chapter, John warned Christians not to believe every spirit, but to test whether they come from God. Any spirit opposed to Christ--whether it be “the spirit of the age,” by which I mean the prevailing ideas of our culture, or the spirit of our own sinful impulses or the spirit of the devil himself--will test Christians.
But every spirit that opposes Christ will also “tip its hand” eventually. It will show that it’s really opposed to the purpose of God to save us from sin and death through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus. It will do all it can to cast doubts about Christ or our connection to Him.
These opposing spirits operate subtly and viciously within the Church itself. Satan has always been subtle, embedding lies in the truth. So, the spirits that oppose Christ will try to tell Christians, that-saved-by-grace-through-faith stuff is great, but… I need to watch out for the BUT. That jerk Satan will taunt me by saying things like:
“You think you’re saved, but do you remember when you were saved?” (Of course, I don’t. I don't remember when I was physically born either, but I most assuredly was born!)
Or. “You think you’re saved, but do you really believe?”
Or, “You say you believe, but what about that terrible thing you've done that you don’t want anyone to know about and that you try to forget yourself?”
Or, “If you believed, you’d be a nicer person.”
This is all baloney, the spirits trying to get us to think about ourselves and our inadequacy, rather than on God, His super-adequacy, and the grace He gives to all who believe in (trust in) Christ.
The spirits that oppose Christ will do anything to drive a wedge between Christ and me, to rob me of the assurance that, through Christ, I belong to God forever! That’s because their boss is Satan and Satan, as I say, is a jerk.
This chapter of 1 John assures me that if I confess that Jesus is Lord, even, as Jesus puts it, with faith the size of a mustard seed, it’s proof that all those spirits, whose ultimate source, as I say, is the devil, the one Jesus describes as the “father of lies,” are full of garbage.
“Everyone,” John says at the beginning of chapter 5, “who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God…”
BOOM!
In the previous chapter, John warned Christians not to believe every spirit, but to test whether they come from God. Any spirit opposed to Christ--whether it be “the spirit of the age,” by which I mean the prevailing ideas of our culture, or the spirit of our own sinful impulses or the spirit of the devil himself--will test Christians.
But every spirit that opposes Christ will also “tip its hand” eventually. It will show that it’s really opposed to the purpose of God to save us from sin and death through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus. It will do all it can to cast doubts about Christ or our connection to Him.
These opposing spirits operate subtly and viciously within the Church itself. Satan has always been subtle, embedding lies in the truth. So, the spirits that oppose Christ will try to tell Christians, that-saved-by-grace-through-faith stuff is great, but… I need to watch out for the BUT. That jerk Satan will taunt me by saying things like:
“You think you’re saved, but do you remember when you were saved?” (Of course, I don’t. I don't remember when I was physically born either, but I most assuredly was born!)
Or. “You think you’re saved, but do you really believe?”
Or, “You say you believe, but what about that terrible thing you've done that you don’t want anyone to know about and that you try to forget yourself?”
Or, “If you believed, you’d be a nicer person.”
This is all baloney, the spirits trying to get us to think about ourselves and our inadequacy, rather than on God, His super-adequacy, and the grace He gives to all who believe in (trust in) Christ.
The spirits that oppose Christ will do anything to drive a wedge between Christ and me, to rob me of the assurance that, through Christ, I belong to God forever! That’s because their boss is Satan and Satan, as I say, is a jerk.
This chapter of 1 John assures me that if I confess that Jesus is Lord, even, as Jesus puts it, with faith the size of a mustard seed, it’s proof that all those spirits, whose ultimate source, as I say, is the devil, the one Jesus describes as the “father of lies,” are full of garbage.
“Everyone,” John says at the beginning of chapter 5, “who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God…”
BOOM!
Despite the doubts that the spirits of Satan try to plant within me--even those that come shrouded in self-conscious pious Christian language, I know that I belong to Jesus because I confess Him as the Christ, the Messiah, my saving KIng! The Holy Spirit has, through the power of the Word of God--the Word of new life through faith in Jesus, created faith within me.
In verse 4, John reminds me that all who have been born of God--in the waters of their Baptism--overcome the lies of the world, the lies of the spirits--because we have faith. We believe in Jesus. We trust in Jesus.
The strength and the power of our faith do not reside in the strength and power of our faith, but in the strength and the power of the One in Whom we believe, in Jesus Himself!
The doubts, the misapprehensions, and the fears planted by these lying spirits are overcome for the One Who believes in Jesus as the Christ, God the Son. “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (v.5)
Listen: John goes on in the chapter to tell me how I can trust that this is so.
In Biblical times, the testimony of three credible witnesses corroborated the facts in a dispute. According to John, there are three "witnesses" that corroborate Jesus’ identity as the Christ and Son of God: the Spirit, the water, and the blood.
These three refer first of all to Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, at which time the Holy Spirit descended on Him as He was baptized in the water and the Father affirmed that Jesus was and is the Son of God, anointed by John to show Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah. (Both the Hebrew word Messiah and the Greek word Christ mean “anointed one,” a designation of kingship.)
In one of the gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism, John the Baptizer initially refuses to baptize Jesus because he didn’t feel worthy. But Jesus insisted that all righteousness be fulfilled: Jesus was, despite His sinlessness, intent on connecting with our humanity and with our need for repentance. That was the righteous thing for Him to do. So, the Holy Spirit and the water witness to Jesus’ identity as Christ.
And then, the blood also affirms Jesus’ identity. This is the blood He shed at the crucifixion, the blood of the perfect Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. When I receive the gift of faith in Christ, Jesus’ blood also covers my sin.
In verse 4, John reminds me that all who have been born of God--in the waters of their Baptism--overcome the lies of the world, the lies of the spirits--because we have faith. We believe in Jesus. We trust in Jesus.
The strength and the power of our faith do not reside in the strength and power of our faith, but in the strength and the power of the One in Whom we believe, in Jesus Himself!
The doubts, the misapprehensions, and the fears planted by these lying spirits are overcome for the One Who believes in Jesus as the Christ, God the Son. “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (v.5)
Listen: John goes on in the chapter to tell me how I can trust that this is so.
In Biblical times, the testimony of three credible witnesses corroborated the facts in a dispute. According to John, there are three "witnesses" that corroborate Jesus’ identity as the Christ and Son of God: the Spirit, the water, and the blood.
These three refer first of all to Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, at which time the Holy Spirit descended on Him as He was baptized in the water and the Father affirmed that Jesus was and is the Son of God, anointed by John to show Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah. (Both the Hebrew word Messiah and the Greek word Christ mean “anointed one,” a designation of kingship.)
In one of the gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism, John the Baptizer initially refuses to baptize Jesus because he didn’t feel worthy. But Jesus insisted that all righteousness be fulfilled: Jesus was, despite His sinlessness, intent on connecting with our humanity and with our need for repentance. That was the righteous thing for Him to do. So, the Holy Spirit and the water witness to Jesus’ identity as Christ.
And then, the blood also affirms Jesus’ identity. This is the blood He shed at the crucifixion, the blood of the perfect Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. When I receive the gift of faith in Christ, Jesus’ blood also covers my sin.
These three witnesses then affirm that, as I trust in Christ, I am a child of God. I am saved from sin, death, futility, and myself.
The other night we were talking in the Tuesday class about the assurance the gift of faith in Christ gives to us. My sins have been overcome by Jesus. It’s God Who makes us conscious of our sin, not to send us on guilt trips, but to cause us to repent, so that we can have our relationship with God renewed.
The spirits opposed to Christ will never make us conscious of our sin, although they may try to drive us to feelings of shame that insist that God would never have anything to do with us.
The spirits of religion that oppose Christ will give us license to rationalize our sins, to say that because we’re such wonderful people that if we do something contrary to the will of God, there must be good reason for it.
The spirits of the world that oppose Christ will either keep us oblivious to sin or rail against the absurdity of the whole idea of sin or keep us locked in the cellar of shame to keep us oblivious to the good news of new and everlasting life for all who repent and believe in Jesus.
But the Holy Spirit of Christ will first convict us of our guilt and then convince us that we have a Christ, a Savior, to whom we can turn, receive forgiveness and be empowered to live differently today than I did yesterday. Through faith in Christ, I can live in the grace of God! This is always good news to me...and it is again this morning!
This is exactly what John talks about early in his letter: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Respond: I have been dealing with feelings of my own inadequacy lately and with sinful thought patterns, obsessing on these thoughts and feelings more than I have on bringing them to You, Lord, through Jesus, the Righteous One Who bled and died for me. Help me to trust in Christ alone. Not in my performance. Not in my good works. Not in my “adequacy,” which does not exist, but in the surpassing adequacy of Jesus Christ alone. Help me to remember this: The fact that I can be conscious of my sin is proof that I have the saving gift of faith in Christ. I belong to You and You have overcome the world and everything that opposes Christ, including my sin. Help me to remember that it's faith in Christ alone that overcomes the world. Thank You, Lord. Now, let me live in Your freedom! In Jesus’ name, I pray. AMEN
The other night we were talking in the Tuesday class about the assurance the gift of faith in Christ gives to us. My sins have been overcome by Jesus. It’s God Who makes us conscious of our sin, not to send us on guilt trips, but to cause us to repent, so that we can have our relationship with God renewed.
The spirits opposed to Christ will never make us conscious of our sin, although they may try to drive us to feelings of shame that insist that God would never have anything to do with us.
The spirits of religion that oppose Christ will give us license to rationalize our sins, to say that because we’re such wonderful people that if we do something contrary to the will of God, there must be good reason for it.
The spirits of the world that oppose Christ will either keep us oblivious to sin or rail against the absurdity of the whole idea of sin or keep us locked in the cellar of shame to keep us oblivious to the good news of new and everlasting life for all who repent and believe in Jesus.
But the Holy Spirit of Christ will first convict us of our guilt and then convince us that we have a Christ, a Savior, to whom we can turn, receive forgiveness and be empowered to live differently today than I did yesterday. Through faith in Christ, I can live in the grace of God! This is always good news to me...and it is again this morning!
This is exactly what John talks about early in his letter: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Respond: I have been dealing with feelings of my own inadequacy lately and with sinful thought patterns, obsessing on these thoughts and feelings more than I have on bringing them to You, Lord, through Jesus, the Righteous One Who bled and died for me. Help me to trust in Christ alone. Not in my performance. Not in my good works. Not in my “adequacy,” which does not exist, but in the surpassing adequacy of Jesus Christ alone. Help me to remember this: The fact that I can be conscious of my sin is proof that I have the saving gift of faith in Christ. I belong to You and You have overcome the world and everything that opposes Christ, including my sin. Help me to remember that it's faith in Christ alone that overcomes the world. Thank You, Lord. Now, let me live in Your freedom! In Jesus’ name, I pray. AMEN
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio. And I put my pants on one leg at a time.]
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