Becoming An Overcomer Series

Here’s a question. Have you been born again? If not, why not? If you can’t remember when, why not now?

3. Behavior. Belief leads to birth which manifests itself in behavior. We’ve seen this many times in 1 John.

• We will love other believers. Check out the last part of verse 1 and the first part of verse 2: “…and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God…” It stands to reason that if we claim to love the Father we should love His children as well. In the previous chapters we’ve learned that we can know we love God by how much we love others. Here we discover that the way we know we love God’s children is by loving God. It’s the very nature of a child of God to love other children of God. And let’s remember that this love is more about action, than emotion. John is so locked into love because he heard Jesus speak about it three different times in the Upper Room and to him it’s a non-negotiable sign of one’s salvation.

• We will live out the Bible. We will love like He loves and we will live like He lives by doing what He says we should do. We see this in verses 2-3: “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” The word “commands” is used three times here. Again we see John echoing the very words of Jesus as found in John 14:15: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Let’s not say that we love God unless we’re serious about living out what God says.

It’s interesting that John refers to God’s commands as “not burdensome.” This word means “heavy, severe, strict, stern, cruel and oppressive.” Let’s face it. Sometimes God’s commands do feel constrictive but here’s the deal. Because they are given in the context of love, they are for our benefit.

The Pharisees were all about forcing man-made rules and regulations on people according to Matthew 23:4: “They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” Jesus came to lift our load and through the new birth, His law is now written on our hearts, so that out of relationship, we will want to do what He wants us to do. Listen. If you labor under God’s commands it might be because you don’t love Him as you ought.

• We will leave the bad behind. We see this in verses 4-5: “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” Notice that “overcomes” is used twice and is in the present tense, meaning that it is ongoing. And the word “overcome” is in the past tense, meaning that the victory has already been won as Jesus stated in John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”