Victory through Faith, by way of the Holy Spirit

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:4-5 - NLT)

The 5th chapter of 1st John teaches about living in fellowship and about having faith in the Son of God. The 1st verse states very boldly, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God.” This belief comes from the Holy Spirit, by accepting (or receiving) this as truth we become empowered by that same Holy Spirit to love Jesus and other Christians as Christ loves. Also, by our faith we are enabled to obey God and overcome the evil temptations of this world. Through faith we can love God and live in obedience to Him (verse 4).

We all face adversity in our lives, believing in Christ, having faith that our Creator is in control does not shield us from the woes of this world. We must at times face disappointments, tragedies, and senseless death, we sometimes endure/witness the harshness of how men treat other men. I find comfort in God’s words here in verses 4 and 5, when we have accepted God’s grace we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to overcome the passing hardships, (I stress passing here because this world is passing and we have a promise, from God, that these things will pass), by relying on Gods strength, Gods love, and Gods promise of eternal life with Him.

It strikes me as strange that as humans we are ready to accept the testimony of other humans, but struggle with the testimony of God. Verse 9, John states that “God has testified about His Son.” And verse 10, “All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about His Son.” I do not want to take that path, calling God a liar seems to be a very dangerous statement.

We know God has promised all believers eternal life, verse 11, “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” If we have Christ in our lives we have life! On the other hand if we do not have Christ we do not have life. We talk about what God has promised from the point of life I rarely here about the promise of death if we do not have Christ.

Reading further in verse 14 and 15 we learn that if we talk to God He will hears us when we ask for “anything” that pleases Him. Knowing that He hears us gives us knowledge that He will give us what we ask for.

Now comes a subject most Christians prefer not to talk about, verses 16 through 21 talk about “keeping from sin.” Whew, touchy topic, but John writes that if we see a fellow Christian sinning in a way that does not lead to death, we should pray for that person and God will give them life. But if there is a sin that leads to death, “I (John) am not saying you should pray for those who commit it,” (Verse 16). “All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.”

Exactly what is John saying here? Lets see what Jesus had to say in Matthew 12:31-32: “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven – except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.” Wow, strong statement here from Jesus! What does He mean, “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”? The Pharisees’ had just accused Jesus of using the power of Satan to cast out demons, knowing that the Holy Spirit was the true power of Christ. We may stumble of Jesus revelation about Himself being the Son of Man and be forgiven, but we cannot be forgiven for attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. We cannot outright reject the convictions of the Holy Spirit concerning Christ; we cannot ultimately reject the Good News! Jesus Christ Himself states that we will NOT be forgiven if we reject Him period!

We know that God people do not make a habit of sinning, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, hold us securely, Satan cannot touch us. We know that we are God’s children and the world around us in under the control of Satan. We know that God’s Son has come and has given us understanding through the Holy Spirit, giving us the true knowledge of God. We can now live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son. He is the only true God and He is eternal life.

The One True God, I humbly come before you know to give you thanks and praise for making provisions for us to have eternal life. Jehovah Jireh (the Lord Provides – Genesis 22:14), I ask that when we are troubled you heal us. I ask that when we are afraid you protect us. When we are discouraged to lift us up. Lord when we are in the midst of adversity please allow us to trust in you and your plan for us. Father make us humble and patient await your will for our lives. Abba Father, whatever we find ourselves in give us heart to always give thanks and praises and glorify you. In the name of You Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen