We are winners - The Great News of 1 John 5:4-5!

Posted 03 Dec 2019

1 John 5:4-5 NLT: “4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”

1 John 5:4 NLT – “John returns again in this verse to the theme of believers as overcomers. Jesus cannot be overpowered by darkness (John 1:5), and has defeated the powers of this world (John 16:33). Believers are not to be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Believers have overcome both the evil one (1 John 2:13–14) and evil spirits (1 John 4:4). Christians are not left weak and defenseless in spiritual battles. On the contrary, those battles are already won, by Christ.

How do believers overcome the world? Verse 5 gives a more direct explanation: by believing in Jesus as the Son of God. Here in verse 4, John simply refers to “faith” as our victory. The faith of the believer is the victory that overcomes. Every believer is an overcomer and is victorious because they have eternal life in Christ (John 3:16) and abundant life now (John 10:10). God’s Spirit lives within the believer to provide power over the battles of this world.”

1 John 5:5 NLT – “This verse clearly defines an overcomer as one who has put their faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. John refers to Jesus as the Son of God four other times in this chapter (1 John 5:10, 12, 13, 20), in addition to 1 John 3:8 and 1 John 4:15. The only New Testament book using this phrase more often is John’s gospel. John similarly used a question, in 1 John 2:22, to note that a liar is someone who denies Jesus is the Christ. John also uses questions to communicate his teachings in this letter in 1 John 3:12 and 17.

The one who believes in Jesus as the Son of God overcomes the world. This includes overcoming the evil one (1 John 2:13–14), evil spirits, and even death. Just as Jesus defeated death and the grave, believers will also experience eternal life (John 3:16). Believers have been born again and will not experience the second death, a theme John develops in Revelation (Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).”
[Source:www.bibleref.com]

All of this is not only good news, but Great News… Christians are overcomers, becasue Jesus has already won the war on evil throughout creation! In fact according to verse 4, ONLY those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, can overcome the evil world we live in.

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