The First Epistle of John Sept 18, 2011 Bob Eckel 1 Our Relationship to God, Part 2 - I John 5:4-5 I John 5:4 – “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.” –Whatever – huh? rocks, ferns, sequoias, donkeys and geese? –ILG – ‘Because all that has been born of God … Greek Word for all: π ᾶ ς Transliteration: pas –Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary - English Words used in the KJV: »all-748, all things-170, every-117, all men-41, whosoever-31, everyone-28, whole-12, all manner of-11, every man-11. no + …-9, everything-7, any-7, whatsoever-6, whosoever + …-3, always + -3, daily + …-2, anything-2, no + …-2, not tr-7, misc-26 = 1243 in total.

The First Epistle of John Sept 18, 2011 Bob Eckel 2 Our Relationship to God, Part 2 - I John 5:4-5 –Of interest, when used in the neuter gender and the singular tense as in I John 5:4, it does mean all or everything and pertains not so much to the person but the power. –And here relates to the entire body of Christ – John 6:37-39 And the same Greek word is used in I John 3:9: ‘Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.’ –In context, can rocks, ferns, sequoias, donkeys and geese believe? Do rocks, plants and animals overcome the world? –Of course world here is the not the physical planet but kosmos, the world system. –What does it mean to overcome the world system? overcome is used 28 times in the NT, and 14x in Revelation. –24/28x overcome, 2x conquer. 1x prevail, 1x get the victory »And the latter interpretation relates to the 2 nd part of this verse

The First Epistle of John Sept 18, 2011 Bob Eckel 3 Our Relationship to God, Part 2 - I John 5:4-5 Present active indicative – our ongoing responsibility Is this positional and/or conditional? –Never forget, we are not of this world but our citizenship is in heaven. »Phil 3:20 ‘For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,’ And on a day-to-day basis, how does this overcoming manifest itself in our lives? –And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith Is this His victory based on our faith or our victory by faith? This victory which has overcome is aorist active –1 John 4:4 ‘You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.’ –1 Corinthians 15:57 ‘But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ And it’s all about identification

The First Epistle of John Sept 18, 2011 Bob Eckel 4 Our Relationship to God, Part 2 - I John 5:4-5 –John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." –Yet, this overcoming the world, as stated, is entirely based on our faith –In fact everything about us, and who we are in Christ Jesus, is based on our faith placed on and in Him and His great and infinite platform of grace. And again what is faith? –Scofield – ‘believing what God ahs revealed’! I John 5:5 – “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” –So who is he that overcomes the kosmos? Notice the way that this is described – ‘he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?’ –1 John 4:15 ‘Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.’

The First Epistle of John Sept 18, 2011 Bob Eckel 5 Our Relationship to God, Part 2 - I John 5:4-5 –Isn't this the essence of Christianity? –And what all does this encompass? »It’s everything that is said about Him, and about us who have been securely placed in Him. »Rom 6:4 ‘Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.’ –Why do you think that there’s a ‘?’ after this verse? »Had they forgotten, did they not know, were they in disbelief? –And how do we overcome the kosmos? By faith – back to verse 4. To conclude, these verses are both positional and conditional: the victory has been declared, but our overcoming on a day-to-day basis depends on whether or not our faith is active and ongoing.