What is True of Every Believer

Transcript

GR 1102
3/13/1983

I John 5:1-5
Gil Rugh

I John chapter 5. I want to look at the opening verses of the fifth chapter and here John is going to pull together some ideas that he has been talking about. The inter-related and inseparable concepts that are true and must be true of every person who is a child of God. Everyone who has salvation in Christ, faith, love and obedience. And these three themes have pervaded the first epistle of John and at least twice leading up to this, he has covered in some detail each of these areas — faith, love and obedience — and they are inter-related, they are inseparable. All three will be characteristic in one degree or another of every person who is truly a child of God, who has truly placed his faith in Jesus Christ. Now, I ought to mention, you have all of these or you have none. They cannot stand alone. And that's John's point. Now that does not mean that all of them are manifested as clearly as they should because none of us are perfect yet in Christ, but all of us as believers in Christ, will manifest these characteristics to one degree or another. At times, one of them will be seen more clearly than another one will be seen, but all three are characteristic of one who is a believer in Jesus Christ. At the end of chapter 4, he is talking about the issue of love. In verse 19» he said "We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also." So this moves smoothly into chapter 5. And this concept of loving God and loving one another is going to be emphasized again, along with bringing in the matter of obedience and faith in Christ.

The chapter opens up, chapter 5, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him." "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God". Now it's true, you’re born into God's family initially by faith in Christ. We are all sons of God by faith in Christ, Galatians 3:26 says. We are the children of God by virtue of faith in Christ. That's what brings about new birth, that spiritual transaction which occurs when I hear the gospel concerning my sinfulness and the finished work of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, and I believe in Christ as my Savior, the One who died for me. I am born into God's family. The emphasis here is on the present continuing faith though. This begins at salvation, but it continues. And so, you have believe here in the present tense. "Whoever is believing" present tense, "has been born of God". And the "has been bora" is the perfect tense. So
the present manifestation of faith in Christ is an indication that you have been born. Perfect tense. Remember the perfect tense? Something that happened in the past, the results continue into the present. I was born into God's family in the past. The present result being I am one who was born into His family. I am presently part of His family. I manifest that I have been born into His family by the fact I am one who is believing in Jesus Christ. And so, salvation occurred instantaneously, the moment I accepted Christ as Savior. But I didn't quit believing then. One who has trusted Christ as Savior continues as a believer in Jesus Christ. That's why you can identify a person. A person who denies the finished work of Christ, denies His death as the payment for sin, denies that salvation is by faith in His finished work, you have an unbeliever. He says, 0 I believed it one time, but I don't believe it any longer. Not true. Those who have truly believed in Jesus Christ for salvation continue to believe. They manifest they have been born of God by their continuing faith in Christ. That's the stress and emphasis given here. So faith, in effect, is an evidence of my salvation. An evidence that I am a child of God. And this is one of the tests that has come up again and again.

It was mentioned in verse 15 of chapter 4. "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God". There the word confess is used. It means the same thing as faith. He has agreed with God about Jesus Christ. He has come to believe in Christ. "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ" another important note here. Remember we talked the Nostics? And Nosticism seems to be the background of I John. Nosticism didn't come into full development, full bloom, until the second century. But you see some of the seeds and preliminary development of it in I John where they wanted to make the distinction between the physical body of Christ and the deity of Christ because many of the Nostics believed that the physical body was sinful, so Christ's deity could not be physical. So they separated the deity and humanity of Christ, but you note, you must be believing that Jesus is the Christ. Then down a few verses we come to this as well that "Jesus is the Son of God" in verse 5. You cannot separate His humanity and His deity.

Now this is important, because a person is saved, is manifesting that he is born into God's family, he believes in the Christ of the Bible, that Jesus is the Christ. In other words, you must believe in the humanity and the deity of Jesus Christ if you are a child of God. Now that does not mean that you understand all of that. It does not mean that when a person comes to trust Christ as Savior he understands what we call the theeanthropic union — the God/Man union. And you never totally grasp that. But I believe that Jesus Christ was a man. I believe that Jesus Christ was God. That the human Jesus is indeed the Messiah sent by God — God's Son become a man. Now that's important, because when somebody says yes, I believe in Christ; I believe in Jesus, as modem theologians do, you must press the point. Do you believe that Jesus was man? Yes I do, and you usually get that agreement readily. Do you believe that Jesus the man was also deity? God in the flesh? And if the person doesn't, then they are confessing they have not been born of God. And we have noted that if Christ is not deity, there is no salvation in His death, because he's simply a good man, even a perfect man, dying on a cross. But he cannot pay the penalty for the sin of the world. Only the Son of God dying as a man on the cross could in His own body on the cross bear our sins and thus pay the penalty for all mankind. "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God". You ought to note that tense there. Has been born of God. "And whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him". There's a follow through here. You note at the end of chapter 4, it talked about loving God and loving the brother. And you can't hate your brother, a fellow Christian, and love God. That's an impossibility. So here he's come back into that. "Whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him." If you really love God, you will love God's children. There is a family relationship. The character of God is produced in His children when we are born, and that character is developed as we grow. So it is characteristic of those of us who love God, that we also love the children of God, talking about believers in Jesus Christ. Back in chapter 4, verse 21, "And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also." That's a commandment of God and to be carried out by those of us who are believers. So in verse 1, chapter 5, he states it as a fact.

Come back to John's gospel, chapter 8. Again, John is just reiterating what he heard personally and directly from Christ. John 8, verse 42, a section we've been to a number of times in our study of I John. John 8:42, "Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me". Note the connection there he made.
For the religious leaders of his day, they claim to love God but they didn't love Christ. Jesus said, "If God were your Father, you would love Me". Why? He is the manifestation of God in the flesh. "For I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies." Now, if you love God the Father, you will love God the Son, Jesus Christ. If you love the Father, you will love all the children of God. Now we are children of God, but I realize there is a uniqueness about Jesus Christ, and we looked at this. He is the only begotten Son, the unique Son of God. But there is a similarity in that when I was born into God’s family, I had the character of God placed in me, if you will. I was made a new creature, a new creation. Now as I grow, that character of God is being produced.
So there is a tie that those who love the Father will love the children of God and those who don't love the children of God are really manifesting they don't love God. I'm not saying everything about us as Christians is loveable. We know one another well enough to know that's not so. Some of you have things that make you unloveable and you know, it's a matter of growth. I have one or two things myself, but that's not the point. The point is that we have the character of Christ being produced within us and so, inspite of the imperfections, inspite of what we are not, praise God for what we are. And it's that character produced. So it's a supernatural love being developed here that God produces because the Spirit of God has taken up residence in my life. He produces this love as a fruit of His presence according to Galatians 5» And so it is a supernatural love produced for fellow believers.

So back in I John, "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. Now we're going to go in a circle here and you can break in any place and still come up to the same point. "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." I love God so I love the children of God. I love the children of God so I love God. You see how you are going in a circle. You say well, where do I start and where do I finish? Wherever you want. If you love God, you will love the children of God. If you love the children of God, you will love God. Now, bring it down into a little more concrete realm. When we love God and observe His commandments. You know, love is somewhat intangible. But what John is talking about here brings it into the tangible realm. Love is inseparable from obedience. Jesus told his disciples the night before His betrayal, the night of His betrayal before the crucifixion, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments". Now simply here, we love God and observe His commandments. So we have come into the realm of that which is tangible. Obedience. And what John deals with here is those who want to profess a love and don't feel there is any way that you can test it. We can test it several ways. A person professes to love God. Okay. Do they love the children of God? Others who are believers in Jesus Christ? Secondly, do they obey the commandments of God? We have noted in our study of I John, John uses a different word for commandments in his epistle than he does in his gospel when he is talking about the Ten Commandments. In his gospel when he wants to talk about the Ten Commandments, he uses a different word. So here I take it the word commandments that is being used is used of the instructions of Christ. Don't read into every time you see commandments, the Ten Commandments or the Law of the Old Testament.
But an important principal to note here, there are responsibilities, there are obligations, there are commands given that I must obey if I am a lover of God.

Grace does not mean I am free now to do whatever I want to do. Grace means now I am free to do what I should do. I am free to be what I was created to be. Man was created for a relationship with God to function in a relationship of obedience to Him. By the grace of God through salvation in Christ, I am now free to be what God wants me to be. To obey God and to submit to Him. Those who try to teach that grace means there are no commandments, there are no laws, are preaching license, liberty. And here the testimony and evidence of my love of God is my obedience to Him and His Word. Again, you see how tangible John makes it. God says a person claims to be in love with God. Do they obey the word of God? Is their life submissive to the teaching of the Spirit of God as revealed in the scripture? A simple test. Do I love God? Am I obedient to Him and His Word? Verse 3» "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." That's pretty direct. "That we keep His commandments". You see here, the love that we're talking about is not an emotion, it's an action. We talked about that with Agape and Agapollo love. It is a love that does something. The feeling follows. We have a hard time with feelings. We want to promote feelings and feelings are good and they ought to be there, but they follow they don't lead. You do the right thing. As you submit as you should to the Word of God as a child of God, the feelings grow and develop.

Just like again if I can use the illustration we always use, the marriage relationship. You do what you ought to do as a husband. You function as a biblical husband in relationship to your wife, and you'll find your feelings grow stronger and stronger. The same for a wife. You sit and say we're not in love anymore. You dummy! Of course you're not! You haven't done the right thing for three years! And you say we don't have any feelings for one another. Good grief, I'm surprised you haven't murdered one another! You know, it's a matter of doing the right thing. And the more biblically I treat my wife, the stronger my feelings of love in the emotional realm are. And the break down comes when we don't do the right thing and we begin to drift apart and our feelings grow cold and we're not in love anymore. Well, praise God the love that God produces doesn’t depend on how I feel this morning because some mornings I feel more in love with Marilyn than others. Of course, I feel in love with her every morning. But some mornings I feel more in love. But you can’t go by feelings.

So here, "the love of God, that we keep His commandments". Praise God that it doesn't depend on my feelings. You know, your feelings depend on what time you went to bed, how much sleep you got, what you watched on the tube the night before, how your day at work went, how your kids behaved, but praise God my relationship with my wife, my relationship with fellow believers, my relationship with my God, does not depend upon my feelings. Perhaps one of the biggest hurdles for me to get over in my Christian life, to realize that I was just as much a child of God, walking just as much with Him, on the days that I didn’t feel like it as the days that I did feel like it. So I could go ahead with confidence. I didn't have to spend all my time on introspection wondering why don't I feel this way or that way. That's what he is saying here. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments."

Look back in John 14. John chapter 14, the verse I just alluded to, the night before the crucifixion, John 13 to 17, that last night around the Last Supper and following that Christ spent with His disciples. And in John 14, verse 15, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments". You note that. "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments". The manifestation of love is obedience in our relationship with God. Look down in verse 21 of this chapter. "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me." No, it's not the kind of testimony I give. It's not what I say. But the obedience of my life is a demonstration of the depth of my love. Note how that verse goes on. "And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him." We are in the context here of a relationship with God. Those who love God obey God. Those who obey God are loved by God. God reveals Himself to them because the Spirit of God resides within them. You see all these concepts are wedded together, blended together. And obedience is key. Is my life characterized by submissiveness and conformity to the Word of God? That is an evidence of my love for God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Come back to I John. Now, interesting distinction here. We noted that John uses a different word for the Old Testament commandments and the commandments when he is talking about the commandments of Christ in the New Testament. There is a difference in kind, for he goes on in verse 3> "and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world". So the last statement of verse 3 goes with verse 4. The statement "His commands are not burdensome". Not grievous. It's not a load to carry. It's not 0 now I thought I came into grace and the burdens of the law were lifted, and now you're putting me back under these commandments. No, the commandments that we're given in grace are not burdensome. Remember Jesus' statement? Turn back in Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11 verse 28, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light". So these commandments are not burdensome. They're not grievous. That's not a load being placed on me to carry. The explanation. Come back to I John "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world". The reason? I've overcome the world. I've overcome the world. Whatever — not even whoever here — whatever, and the whatever, it's a neuter word to emphasize the all-inclusiveness of the statement here. It includes everyone. "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world". So that's why His commandments are not burdensome. Why? I have the victory. I am empowered to live it. You know the problem with the Mosaic system was not the law, not the commandments, but there was no power provided.

The Spirit of God did not indwell those people to enable them. So they couldn't keep the law. So the law demonstrated to them their own sinfulness and insufficiency. The law could command, but the law could not empower. But under grace now, I am given commands but I am empowered by the Spirit and have been given the victory in Christ. So now I am simply told to live out the victory that you already have in Christ. That's a totally different way to go about it. "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world". Now, he's talking about believers here. All believers overcome. We are going to develop this in the next verse. All believers overcome. Some pick up from I John and then into Revelation where we are going to look, that there are two kinds of Christians. There are Christians who are the overcomers and there are the Christians who are not the overcomers. That's not what he is talking about. All Christians overcome. How do we know? Go on. "This is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith". Now you note that, where the victory comes from. That's important. It's not from my striving to keep the commandments. It's not from my being anything. It's by believing. The moment I believed in Jesus Christ as my Savior, I became the victor in Christ. I was identified with Him in His victory over sin and over satan. So it is our faith that has overcome the world. This world's system and all that it stands for.

Back in chapter 2 verse 16, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world." And I overcome all of that. I want you to look at a couple of passages on the world. Back in Romans chapter 6. I wasn't going to take time to do this, but just to make us appreciate what is entailed here. The process of this victory is brought out in Romans 6 verse 3 and following. "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?" Remember, we have reiterated this again and again. This is Spirit Baptism. Have been baptized by the Spirit, identified by the Spirit of God, into "the death of Christ. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin." We had the victory. When? When I believed in Jesus Christ I was spiritually identified with Him. I became the victor. I died. The power of sin was broken in my life. The hold of sin. So I had the victory from that point on. You say wait a minute, I've been a Christian for a number of years and there are still sins that get ahold of me. We’ll talk about that in a moment. That does happen. But it need not happen. From the perspective of the Word, it ought not happen. There is no necessity that I ever be defeated, so to speak, by sin. Succumb to sin. Because I have been given the victory over all sin. I realize that’s not fully realized in the way we are living yet.

Come back to I John. We won't take the time to run through some of these other verses. "This is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith". Now I mention, if we don't overcome, what is wrong? Well, if I'm not overcoming in an area, it's because I choose to submit to the flesh. In Galatians 5» one of the passages we could have turned to develops this clearly. We studied Galatians a little while ago. The flesh and the Spirit battle against one another. The flesh lusts against the Spirit and so on. There's a battle going on, but I have the victory in Christ. But you know what, sometimes the enticement of the flesh is strong enough that I look like I would enjoy that sin. So I think I’ll indulge a little bit. I didn’t have to. The power of God is adequate and sufficient that I should never, never have to succumb to any sin. But, I don’t always draw upon that power and live accordingly, but I have the victory. The victory is mine. So any time I've fallen into sin since I've become a believer, it is by my willful choice. I was not overpowered. I chose to succumb. I realize that temptations can be powerful, but God is faithful. He will not allow us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear. So I've never been tempted more greatly than I was able to withstand. Now don't get me wrong. I didn't say I've never succumbed. But when I succumbed, it wasn't because of the power of the temptation, it was because of the choice I made. I could have chosen to submit to the Spirit and drawn upon His power and resisted. I realize there are other things we do. You don't tempt the devil. I am to avoid certain things. So I don't go out and say 0 I'm strong enough to do anything. That's foolishness. So there are certain things I avoid. I don't want to be around. I don't want to expose myself to those opportunities because my flesh might gravitate towards it. So I use wisdom in the way that I live, but I also realize that I have the power and as I am confronted by temptation, it is a great encouragement to know that I can draw upon that power and have the victory in that situation because I have overcome. It is an accomplished thing. This world, it's system and all that it entails.

Verse 5» of I John 5: "And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" Who are the overcomers? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Every believer is an overcomer. Isn't that nice to know? We are the overcomers who have believed in Jesus Christ. Why?
We have overcome sin and the world by our identification with Jesus Christ as we read about in Romans chapter 6. "Believes that Jesus is the Son of God". You see here the stress. Jesus—the name given to Him at His birth, announced to Mary by the angel, "You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins" — is the Son of God. Again, you must believe that this human Jesus is the divine Son of God. Those are the ones who are the overcomers. If you believe in a Jesus of your own imagination and making, I believe that he was a great man but he wasn't God — you're not in the group we're talking about here. You don't have salvation if you don't believe in the Jesus of the Bible. There were other men named Jesus in scripture. The name Joshua is the Old Testament form of the New Testament Jesus. So just to use a name doesn't mean anything. You must believe in the person representative, the divine Son of God, who paid the penalty for sin on a cross. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God

Turn over to the Book of Revelation. The overcomers are mentioned, I believe, seven times in chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation. Important section that you understand that John, who wrote the first epistle of John, is also the human author of the Book of Revelation. I take it that when he uses the word overcomer, he uses it in the same way. He identifies the overcomer as one who believes in Jesus Christ in his first epistle. Jesus speaks to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 and He gives a promise to each church to the overcomers. In Revelation chapter 2, let’s just read each of these promises quickly. In verse 7» "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God". That's a promise to every believer. Down in verse 11, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death". The believer in Jesus Christ does not have to confront hell. Verse 17, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it." It begins to get interesting, doesn't it? A little more involved there. Now something you're going to get. The manna. The hidden manna. The white stone. The new name.

Something for you to study. Verse 26, "And he who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS." This is developed in Revelation chapter 20 where we as believers in Jesus Christ are destined to rule and reign with Christ in His earthly kingdom. Down to chapter 3, verse 5» "He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels." A promise here that is twofold. The overcomer, the believer in Christ, his name will not be blotted out of the book of life. I take that as an assurance of salvation. I am an overcomer. My name is in the book of life and Christ has promised to me that He will never blot my name out. My name is permanently inscribed in the book of life. How do I know? He has promised to me as an overcomer. Have I believed in Jesus Christ? Yes. He says, I'll never erase your name from the book of life.

Good word of assurance. "And I will confess his name before My Father." I will acknowledge him. In other words, Jesus Christ is going to own me as His own in the presence of His Father. He is going to acknowledge me as one of His purchased possessions in the presence of His Father. This has to do with the glorious destiny we have as believers. Down to verse 12, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name." We are brought into the most intimate of relationships with Christ, and we are destined to live eternity in the very presence of God within the new Jerusalem.

That's for the overcomers. For those who have believed in Jesus Christ. One more time — down to verse 21, "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." Now some of these things boggle my mind quite frankly. What He’s got in store for me as a believer — it's overwhelming! The song that we sang earlier this evening, Jesus is beyond imagination, well expresses it. It is! It goes beyond anything that we can imagine. That we shall be privileged to share His throne as He shares the Father's throne. Can't even imagine such a thing! I can't conceive of it.
That's why with our finite minds, we are able to grasp so little. How can God fully describe the glory that awaits us? I can't relate to it. But I'm told here, and I don't know what all this will entail but I know it will go beyond anything that I could imagine or even think. Those are some of the promises to the overcomers, those who have come to believe in Jesus Christ as personal Savior.

Come back to I John just to tie this up. "Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" Now there is a process here and I want to stress that as we close. That the moment you trust Jesus Christ as Savior, you become an overcomer. You have the complete and full victory in Christ. But now that process of conforming us in our thoughts and in our actions is taking place, as we’ve been studying in Phillipians about becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. The full realization of that will come at our glorification in God's presence, but don't lose sight of the fact that it is an accomplished fact. You are an overcomer. You have the victory. So as you confront the world, as you confront the temptations of the world, you confront the oppositions of satan, you are the victor. That's why I don't believe in all this hocus-pocus about casting out demons and the special formula and all of that. I'm the overcomer. What more do I need? I mean, you think I need a particular formula to deal with demons? I'm an overcomer. You don't realize who I am. I’ve overcome the world and with that, the god of this world as we’ll get to at the end of chapter 5, So I don't have to be afraid of satan. Now I respect him. I respect his power. I respect his cunning deceitfulness. But be careful here. I don't want you to think that that means we can be careless or indifferent about satan. He is a brilliant foe. A powerful foe. I don't have a chance against him in my own strength. But God hasn't called me to live in my own strength. He's called me to live in the strength that He provides by His indwelling presence. But I have the victory. I have overcome this world. Now it's a matter, am I living that out consistently as I should? Am I striving and progressing in the living of this Christian life as I should?
These characteristics, faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God, love towards God and towards His children, obedience the manifestation of love. Are they characteristic of you? That'll tell you if you’re really a believer. It gives you the measure of how you discern who are the children of God and who they are not. It's not a matter of judging because I don't determine a person's destiny — only God does that. But He has given me a standard. He has given me a guideline. He has given me tests, if you will, that I can discern who are the children of God and who are not the children of God. God is their Judge, but He has set down the standard by which we are measured.

And for us as the children of God, how important it is that we be living as God intends for us to live. And what excuse is there for not living that way? You say, 0 you don’t know the temptations in my life. No, I don't and I'm glad. You don’t know the temptations in my life — you don't need to. Why? We both have the same power of God at work in our lives. We have overcome and that takes care of whatever is in the world. We have overcome the world. Aren't you glad God didn't say "we have overcome adultery", "we have overcome lying", or "we have overcome murdering" or "we have overcome stealing". It would be too limited. We have overcome the world. This world system and all that is characteristic of it, and all these things I've mentioned are included, but everything else as well. There is no limit. We are the victors.

Let's pray together.