1 John 5:5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
All Truth is exclusionary. The simple fundamentals of logic teach us this. If A=B, and B≠C, then A≠C. When there are true things, then there are also things that aren’t true. Despite what our culture says, there are things that are false, actually false, not just things against the prevailing political narrative.
There really are two different narratives running in this country. This was evident with the acquittal verdict this week. A white man was accused of killing two white men and wounding a third white man, and yet this was portrayed as racist by the media. What!?! A jury of his peers found that the evidence did not support a guilty verdict.
Neither side has a monopoly on stupidity. Neither side has the key to the truth vault. Both sides pedal at times in false. And it can be difficult to discern the truth in the middle of a garbage dump.
Our text focuses on one of the most important, if not the most important Truth in the world. This Truth has to do with eternity. And eternity isn’t something simply in the future after we die. It has begun already!
The author speaks about overcoming the world. But what is this world that we overcome? The term “the world” is used to denote all systems that are opposed to the rule and reign of God in the universe. The world includes the spiritual forces of God’s enemies, as well as human forces that stand against God.
And in order to spend eternity in His presence, we must overcome the influences of this system, this world. WE must be more in tune with God’s Spirit than with the spirit of this age. It is only then that we overcome this world.
The author says that there is one group that will overcome this world. It is an exclusive group, a group that has an identifying mark to their lives. And that mark is that they all believe that Jesus is the messiah, God’s messenger to humanity, God in the flesh. If you don’t believe in the Jesus who is portrayed in the Bible, then you are not part of that exclusive group that overcomes the world.
This does not mean that the membership is closed to any group. On the contrary, the group is open to all who will believe in Jesus. In that way, no one is excluded. It is open to all.
But for those who refuse to believe the Truth, they are excluding themselves from this group that overcomes the world. Instead, they have joined the world and its belief system. They have chosen to “go with the flow.”
We have decisions to make in life, decisions that determine our eternal standing with God. We make those decisions now, and their affect lasts through eternity. So we had better make our choices count.
The Arnold Journey 