The Believer's Victory

Title: The Believer’s Victory Script: I John 5:1-12

Type: Expos./Series Where: GNBC 8-11-24

Intro: Vital signs are “critical indicators of a person’s health and current medical status. Traditionally, clinicians are interested in measuring body temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate of breathing, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation of the blood (SpO2). Vital signs are measurements of the body’s basic functions. Vital signs are useful in detecting or monitoring health issues and alerting medical professionals to potential concerns. Measuring vital signs is usually the first step in almost every medical evaluation. Doctors use these measurements to better understand how a person’s body is functioning and to detect possible health concerns. By monitoring a person’s vital signs consistently, such as at every health checkup, a doctor can establish a baseline for that person. Vital signs can then act as early warning flags. For example, a change in a person’s baseline measurements might point to an underlying illness or heart issue that has not yet been diagnosed. Spiritually speaking, in I Jn. 5:1-12 see several spiritual vital signs to help the individual better evaluate their relationship to Christ.

Prop: I Jn. 5:1-12 show us 2 section of proof that give Xstians assurance of spirit. life.

BG: 1. We have come to the final chapter of I John in our series. Challenging/encouraging letter.

2. Chapter 5 emphasizes the believer’s ability to overcome the influence and pull of the world.

Prop: Exam. I Jn 5:1-12, we see 2 sections of proof giving the Xstian assurance of spiritual life.

I. Three Tests that Demonstrate Faith’s Victory for the Believer. Vv. 1-5

A. Test 1: You Must Love the Father and His Children in order to Truly Love Jesus. Vv1-2

1. In other words, we cannot believe in Jesus without loving the Father and His children.

a. V.1 – believes – present perfect tense – The Greek verb indicates an action that took place in the past with continuing results in the present and future, clearly demonstrates that all believing is the consequence and not the cause of the new birth. Our present, continuing activity of believing is the result and the evidence of our new birth by which we have become God’s children. Faith in faith itself or faith in some vague, “I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows,” is not saving faith. Saving faith believes in the person of Jesus. Specifically it believes that He is the Christ (5:1), the Son of God (5:5).

b. In looking at this passage, the venerable John Stott, dean of the evangelical Anglicans from the last century, stated: ““What he [John] is at pains to show is the essential unity of his threefold thesis…. The real link between the three tests is seen to be the new birth. Faith, love and obedience are the natural growth which follows a birth from above, …” (Stott, p. 172) And so it is, faith, love, and obedience are the three legs of the stool upon which the Christian firmly rests upon. Each is an evidence of the truthfulness of his/her conversion.

2. The New Birth Requires us being in a loving relationship with the Father and His children.

a. “John mentions being “born of God” in verses 1 & 4. The new birth must be the starting point of any relationship with God. You can go to church all your life, you can be religious and moral, and you can tithe your money to the church. But none of that will get you into heaven. Jesus told Nicodemus, who was a very religious and moral man (John 3:3), “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He underscored again (John 3:7), “You must be born again.” You can dress up a corpse in the finest of clothes, but it is still a corpse. What it needs is life.” (Stven Cole, lesson 22)

b. Illust: Carol and I were blessed to have 5 living children. I believe they all love their mother (and most of the time me!). I also believe, to the best of my knowledge that they all love each other. Now, distance and family priorities change possibly how close they are to each other, yet I am confident that they all love each other. I think this is to be the norm for all families. John is using this universal principle of familial relationships in the human relationship to also demonstrate a truth in the spiritual realm for the Christian family: “If you love your Father, you had better love your brother or sister.”

B. Test 2: You Must Obey the Father’s Commands and Overcome the World in Order to Truly Love the Father.

1. In other words, we cannot love the Father w/o obeying His Commands and Overcoming the World. Vv2b-4a