Those who are born again are assured that they will overcome the world. This victory is secured by faith. This daily devotional will look at how disciples of Christ can overcome the world through faith.
Nuggets
- The concept of being born again has tripped up a lot of people over the centuries.
- Step one of being assured victory in overcoming the world is mind over matter.
- Step two of being assured victory in overcoming the world can be a deal breaker for some, but we have to submit to God.
- Overcoming the world is necessitated by the fact that Satan is currently ruling this world in opposition to God.
- We are assured victory in Christ.
Devotions in the The Unseen Spirit World series
Vincent stressed that disciples of Christ are to apply what we discern of the spirit world to our everyday lives. He wrote, “It is one thing to assent to the truth that ‘the things which are not seen are eternal’; it is another thing to apprehend that truth, and to take it into life as a working principle; to realise that the things on which heaven stamps a value — love and faith and purity and truth and good conscience — are the paramount things, and to make everything give way to these. That kind of spiritual seeing has a teaching power.” Let’s see how to do that.
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Let's Put It into Context
The Holman Bible Dictionary didn’t have spiritual world and couldn’t give us a definition of spirit. The best they did was to say was “the kinship of spirit, breath, and wind is a helpful clue in beginning to understand spirit.”
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Hmmm. Three invisible things.
How Are Disciples to Overcome This World?
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith” (I Jn. 5: 4 ESV)
The concept of being born again has tripped up a lot of people over the centuries. Let’s see if we can figure it out.
Nicodemus has trouble with the concept. “Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’” (Jn. 3: 4 ESV).
Braithwaite explained it for us. He wrote, “To be born of God is to have a supernatural principle of spiritual life implanted by God in the soul.”
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We are born again when we ABCD and become disciples of Christ. We change our character to imitate His.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
But I am sitting here, wondering how being born again is different than regeneration. Braithwaite described being born again as the following:
- A principle of grace.
- Something that is infused instead of acquired.
- Due to the power of God.
- An inward change.
- The birth of all of our graces.
Is maybe being born again the what and regeneration the how? Or is it like sanctification: navigating the Sanctification Road, working out our salvation, and growing from milk babies to steak adults? They are all three basically describing the same thing.
At times, it seems like we are never going to be able to have God’s character. Our sinful nature can be so opposite to what God calls us to be. Even if we don’t feel that far away, there are always those certain aspects which we struggle with doing it God’s way.
How Are We Assured a Victory in Overcoming the World?
First John 5: 4 tells us that we are assured victory in overcoming the world. I see you shaking your heads and asking how that could be.
A lot of this has to do with our minds. We’ve said before that faith is all in our minds. Getting our minds in line is a two-step process.
First, we have to get our minds under control. Second, we have to turn it all over to God.
Mind over Matter
Step one of being assured victory in overcoming the world is hard. It is mind over matter, but it seems like our minds have minds of their own.
We have to corral our minds enough so that we can change our character to remember God’s — loving, pure, and just. We occupy our minds with Jesus — what He did for us, and what He calls us to do for Him.
Mind to God
Step two of being assured victory in overcoming the world can be a deal breaker for some, but it is extremely important. We have to submit to God. He is the One in control, calling the shots — not us.
That means we have to have, as the Homilist wrote, “the devotion of the intellect to the study of God; of the heart to the love of God; of the conscience to the will of God.
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How Do We Overcome the World?
Overcoming the world seems like a straightforward statement. The overcoming is necessitated by the fact that Satan is currently ruling this world in opposition to God.
How are disciples called to overcome this world? The Homilist told us that it means disciples “… conquers errors, lusts; he overcomes bad habits and reforms corrupt institutions.” We diligently work to persevere through trials and temptations in order to become more like God.
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Oh, yeah. That is not easy at all.
It is a good thing that God has equipped us for this spiritual warfare. Not only that, He does the fighting for us.
To read a devotion in the Armor of God series, click on the appropriate button below.
Liddon told us what exactly what world was being discussed. He wrote, “… the world means human life and society, so far as it is alienated from God, through being centred (sic) on material objects and aims, and thus opposed to God’s Spirit and His kingdom.” It is the opposite of God’s world.
- Spirit of the world as opposed to the Spirit of God.
- Things of this world as opposed to things of God.
- Sorrow of the world as opposed to godly sorrow that leads to repentance.
- Creature as opposed to the Creator.
- The temporary as opposed to the eternal.
- The dead as opposed to the living.
- What is sinful as opposed to what is holy.
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Robertson expanded that definition to add that the world is childish and sensual in nature. Society within the world is prone to violence, idolatry, and the love of money.
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Morgan gives us a two-step process to overcome the world.
- Regeneration
a. Enlightened
b. Quickened
c. Purified - Faith
- Regeneration
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Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Remember, regeneration is a process that happens instantaneously at conversion. But it is the reason why we are navigating the Sanctification Road — so that we are changed to be like God. That process won’t be finalized until we reach Heaven.
The only way this transformation works is if the Holy Spirit shows us what needs to be changed, gives us the desire for the change, and helps us accomplish the achievement of purity. Purity means we are without the stain of sin.
This is all contingent on faith. Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives.
What we get out of it is grace. Grace is a free and unmerited gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers by the work of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration allows grace to have a place in our lives.
Blencowe told us how we overcome the world.
- We believe Jesus has the power to redeem us from the evil world.
- In coming to live and die for us to pay the price for our sins, Jesus conquered the world for us.
- We are to imitate Christ, including renouncing the world.
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Overcoming the world will put us in direct opposition to it. That is because we do not follow its customs.
The victory is secured by our faith. A strong faith helps us overcome the temptations and persecution this world throws at us.
Celebrating Faith’s Victory
We are assured victory in Christ. In Him, we will overcome the world.
When we are genuinely born again, we are assured victory over sin. I know. As we still sin after conversion, we are probably scratching our heads on that one.
But think about it. What happens at conversion.
- We are no longer separated from God.
- Our sins are forgiven.
- We are given eternal life.
Sin no longer has a claim on us. Isn’t that victory over sin?
I know. We think of victory in this lifetime. Yes, God gives us that. He helps us release the grip of sin on us.
But this world isn’t God’s priority. His priority is preparing us for Heaven. His priority is our spiritual condition.
We claim victory because this world’s influence has decreased. We no longer love it or fear it’s ruler.
Our faith is strong because it is rooted and grounded in the Savior. Though it is rooted on the unseen, we see the Savior with the eyes of our hearts.
Glossary
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Let’s bring this full circle. Who has faith’s victory? Those born of God. Those who have ABCDed and submitted their lives to Him.
ABCD = victory. No ABCD = no victory.
Making the Connections
Overcome in victory — that sounds military, doesn’t it? When we overcome the physical world, no one dies. Our sin, habits, and opinions do.
Eventually, Jesus will return as the victorious King. At that time, judgment will be meted out, and those who have not put their faith and trust in Him will continue and spiritual death.
A couple of the sermons noted that faith, in and of itself, was a victory. We have won the battle against our sinful nature. We have succeeded in changing our character to be more like God’s.
Several of the sermons reminded us about the first time Jesus told his disciples that he would overcome the world. It was during the Last Supper (Jn. 16: 33).
Oh, yeah. If we picked up the narrative in verse 33 and read to chapter 19, we would be laughing at Jesus’ use of the word overcome. The events described in these chapters do not show Jesus winning. They show Jesus losing big-time.
But, we know the rest of the story. We know how Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven to sit on the right hand side of His Father. We know that all authority has been given to Him (Mt. 8: 18).
So, yes. Jesus was about to overcome this physical world. He was about to come our Savior and Redeemer.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Controlling our minds and submitting our lives to God are difficult things to do. Both will more than likely stretch our self-discipline to the limits.
How Do We Apply This?
- We have to acknowledge and broadcast to all who will listen how God has brought us through trials and temptations. This is our testimony for Him. We can’t pretend we were someone other than who we were. That doesn’t give God credit for how He has changed us.
- We need to break the hold of this world and focus on God’s spirit world.
- We have to obey God’s laws and commandments.
- We let God fill us with His peace and joy.
The Homilist wrote that “The grand difference between a man Divinely born and others is this, that he conquers the world whilst others are conquered by it.”
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When we submit to God, we will find victory. If we do not, we won’t. It is as simple as that.
Father God. We submit our lives to You. We no longer want to be separated from You, even when that separation is caused by us turning away from You. Lead us back to where You want us to be. Help us to always follow Your laws and commandments and confess when we break them. May we always acknowledge how You have changed us for the better as You work to cut the sin out of our lives. Amen.
What do you think?
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