Faith in Christ

1 John 5:4 - 5
“Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that overcomes the world – our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

“The monastic view, withdrawing from the world, the exercise of willpower, and the observance of a number of rules and regulations, is thoroughly unscriptural. There is no such teaching to be found in the New Testament, especially when you look at the life of our Lord Himself. He was in the world. He mixed with common people. He was misunderstood because of it. The Pharisees looked at him and said ‘He cannot be a prophet. He is the friend of publicans and sinners. He does not segregate Himself.’ Here we see in the Lord’s example the way to overcome the world is not mechanical. It is not a question of withdrawal.

How do Christians arrive at the position in which they overcome the world? They overcome the world because they are born, or begotten, of God. ‘Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world.’ Because of this, Christians are able to exercise faith and live by faith. It is not just carrying out a number of rules. Nor is it willpower. The thing that makes Christians overcome the world, and enables them to do so, and do so increasingly, is their relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, to His work and what He has accomplished and already finished.”