The Faith That Overcomes

Edward F. Lundwall, Jr.

The key verse for this study comes from 1 John 4:9 - "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."

This verse provides a clue as to how faith overcomes the world cultural system. John writes a good deal about the world, by which he means fallen humanity, bondage to the flesh and to this world under Satan's rule. While God made humans with an innate need to worship, the world remains ignorant of saving faith in the Son of God.

Indeed, the world promotes all sorts of idols and idolatrous worship. Ideologies, false religions, and materialism are tools in the hands of rulers to manipulate their people. Karl Marx was correct in describing these non-biblical religions as an “opiate” to give people false hope and a feeling of security. 

Many have an “unknown god” often described as “the man up stairs!” Sadly, they confuse their “man upstairs” with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. They want him to come to their aid in times of trouble, as if He were an lucky charm to ward off evil. They do not have a real relationship with Him and so He can be blamed when things go wrong. 

This describes millions of people. They are in a condition of spiritual deafness. They cannot be classified with the immature Believers to whom John directs his epistle. May they hear the Good News of God's love and forgiveness at least once in their lives, though the preaching of the Gospel seems to have grown cold in our time.

John is writing to believers who lack a strong foundational faith. He wants them to know, adore, and serve a Living Lord, and to have full assurance of salvation (1 John 5:10-13). In a detailed way, he is repeating wthe witness of John the Baptist: "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

John points to Jesus Christ as your anchor. By Him and by His blood you are able to overcome. Biblical faith is centered in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. As He overcame the world, so those who are in Him will overcome.

Related reading: Freedom in Mature Discipleship; His Power Within You

Stand Firm in Heavenly Adoption

A Study in First John

Hope Ellen Rapson

“Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist---he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this what he promised us---even eternal life.” (1 John 2: 22-24)

The Apostle John lived long enough to see “antichrists” coming into the church. By this time the other ten faithful disciples of Christ had been martyred for sharing the true nature and Gospel of Jesus. 

Today, these pastors, teachers, and leaders, discredit or totally deny the truth that Jesus was God in flesh providing through His death a sacrifice for the forgiveness of mankind, and through His resurrection opening up the gates of eternal life; they are called “apostates.” 

Apostates deceive their followers with lies that take the heart of Christianity - that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ - out of churches. As did the antichrists of John’s day, they use the trappings of religion to perpetuate their own ideas and ambitions. At the heart of their teachings and lifestyles is a denial that Jesus is “God in Flesh” and "Risen Lord".

A Doctor of Divinity once said, “It does not matter whether or not you believe in the resurrection of Jesus; Christianity is about kindness, nothing else.” 

That is an eviscerated Gospel. Jesus clearly stated, “I am the Resurrection and the Life, He that believes in me shall live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26). 

Jesus also said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6).

He is the beloved Son of God who was given “that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”(John 2:16) 

The disciples died and suffered for their eyewitness proclamation: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1: 14)

Confessing Christians sometimes have doubts. They sometimes fail in obedience to Jesus Christ. We are frail beings. We falter in our Christian walk and witness. However, that does not mean we are apostates; an apostate never recognizes Jesus as God in the flesh and the Risen Lord.

The faltering Christian still knows in the depths of their being that they are “born again.” How? Because when a person is “born again,” the Holy Spirit takes up residence within that person and anoints them as an adopted son or daughter of God. (John 1:12-13) 

The Holy Spirit prompts them to repent, and convicts them of their need to walk with the living Lord. Regardless of their struggles, they can and be restored and trust Jesus Christ again as their Savior and Lord.

John admonishes believers: “As for you, this anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you, but as his anointing teaches you about all things, and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit---just as it has taught you, remain in Him. And now, dear children, continue in Him, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at his coming.” (1 John 2: 27-28).

The second proof that one is born again is a firm belief that Jesus Christ is exactly who He said He is.

Related reading: The First Proof That One is Born Again

Proof I've been born again

A Study in First John

Hope Ellen Rapson


Proof #1: “We know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know Him, but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made completes in Him. This how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 1:3-5)

John is writing to Christians who have been bombarded by false teachers. Some of those false teachers claimed to have special knowledge independent of Jesus' teachings. Some taught a separation of their outer physical lifestyle from their inner spirituality. As a result, they easily could profess to be a Christ-follower without actually being one. For example, Jesus made it clear that sexual activity outside of a marriage relationship was a sin. However, the false teachers basically said, “It happens. It’s reasonably normal, because what you do physically is totally separated from what you believe spiritually.” 

Sound familiar? Statistics indicate that the percentage of people professing to be Christians who live together before marriage or who are randomly sexually active, is essentially equal to those who profess unbelief. Many, so-called and often deceived Christian believers, divide the secular and the sacred. They profess, not confess faith in Jesus Christ. This propagates confusion in and outside the church. 

John lived, walked, and talked with Jesus before and after his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. He remembers Jesus’ repeated statement, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15, 21, 23) Because John loves the community of believers he calls them “My dear children” (1 John 2: 1) and urges them to resist false teachings and societal pressures and to live according to the teachings of Jesus (I John 2:6). He makes obedience a proof of being “in Him” which means “being born again” or having been given “a new life” by trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (John 3:16).

However, John is realistic, and knows that even true believers fall into temptation and sin. He graciously states in 1 John 1:9, that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us out sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 

The key to knowing you are “born again” is your earnest desire to follow Christ’s commands and consistently seek his grace and empowerment to do so. You make mistakes, but you confess them before God, and seek not to make them again. This gradually develops a lifestyle that conforms to “what Jesus would do.” The proof of discipleship is in the progress of loving Him and becoming more like Him, in spite of the ups and downs of your obedience. Your overarching desire, in spite of weakness, is the earnest, heartfelt desire and commitment to please God because of the wonderful salvation He has provided through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (I John 5-7) Proof #1: Love for Jesus Christ and obedience to his teachings.

So, keep asking yourself, am I becoming more obedient to the teachings of Christ? Am I loving Him enough to make my inner relationship with Him obvious in my outer lifestyle and activities? Am I resisting the teachings and pressures of those who says it does not matter, because I know that “God is light; in Him is no darkness at all?” (I John 1:5). If this describes you, along with Proofs # 2 and 3, you can be confident that you have received “new life in Christ.”


Related reading: You Must Be Born Again; First John on Marks of a Christian; Are You His Disciple Indeed?

First John on Marks of a Christian

Proofs of Being “Born Again”- A Study in First John

Hope Ellen Rapson

Many people profess (claim) to be Christians. The question is, “Do they confess to be born again Christians?” The difference between a professing faith and a confessing faith in Christ is significant. A profession is a verbalized intellectual assent to the teachings of Christianity. A confession is a full surrender of oneself and one’s life to a personal relationship with God through Christ.  Knowing the difference is vital for the following reasons:

It determines a person’s eternal destiny.
It confirms person’s sense of assurance of that eternal destiny.

In his gospel, the Apostle John reiterates the teaching of Jesus to Nicodemus in John 3:16 that “You must be born again” when he writes, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not or blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”(John 1:12-13) Those who confess are given a new life and relationship with God that continues into eternity because the Holy Spirit has come to dwell with them.

In his first epistle, John unpacks this truth by explaining three indicators of being “born again.”  First, a developing lifestyle that embraces and demonstrates trust and obedience to God’s Word; second, a special growing love for others, especially other Christians; and third, standing solidly on the incarnation, that Jesus was and is indeed “God in the flesh” (John 1: 14).

In this time of political, physical, and cultural relativism and unrest, it is important to stay awake intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually to the pressures that surround us. The Bible calls this “discernment.”  Follow us as we examine these proofs in the epistle of First John learning what it means to confidently confess our faith in Christ.

Related reading: You Must Be Born Again; Are You His Disciple Indeed?