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Love not the World (Victory over the World)
1 John 5:1-5
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Listen beloved, he who has been born again through Jesus Christ will manifest the effect of regeneration, which is a spiritual conquest of the world. Faith is the means, the instrument and spiritual armor and artillery by which the believer may overcome the world, Satan, and sin, and ask and receive of God all that is needful in this life. Let’s deal with the first part of this text: John says Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Listen Scripture describes unbelievers as dead in their sin and rebelling against God and his Word (Eph 2:1-6, Rom 8:7, 1 Cor 2:14). But when a person is regenerated, God raises the spiritually dead to life through the Spirit (John 3:5-8) and his or her hearing of the gospel (1 Pet 1:23, Jam 1:18).
In John 3:3 (ESV), Christ said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” First John 2:29 (NIV) says, “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.” Oh did you catch that?
The concept of regeneration is rooted in God’s Old Testament promise of a New Covenant with his people. In Ezekiel 36:25-27, God said:
I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols. I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations.
Because Israel had failed to obey God’s first covenant, he promised to make a New Covenant with them. In it, he committed to cleanse them, take away their heart of stone, give them a new heart, and put his Spirit in them. Through this work, God would enable them to obey his laws.
Listen, regeneration precedes faith, humans by nature cannot obey God or have faith in him. Romans 8:7-8 says, “the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Also, 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” This means God must regenerate unbelievers by his Spirit for them to respond to the gospel in faith. (2) They focus on images that appear to correspond with regeneration. When Scripture refers to “being born again” (John 3:3),
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