Living Victoriously

KEY VERSE: “Whatsoever is born [begotten] of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.” —I John 5:4,5

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: I John 5:1-12

A VERY SPECIAL calling has been going out during the past two thousand years, inviting Christians to put their total trust and confidence in the Heavenly Father. It is a heavenly calling requiring total consecration to follow our Lord Jesus during the present Gospel Age. Those who respond are persons of great determination and faith, and they are asked to walk by faith and not by sight.

The Apostle Paul says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) Faith involves the mind of the child of God. He reasons on the facts he has found in the Bible, and by doing so has hope and trust in the great promises of God, which have been set forth for the people he is calling.

Christians who are victorious are promised a share with our Lord in the heavenly kingdom, and the future work of blessing all the families of the earth. They will have been found faithful in overcoming the spirit of this present evil world, tested and proven worthy of such a great and exalted position. “Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”—Heb. 11:6

To work as an overcomer suggests conflict, and the consecrated child of God endeavors to put away the things of this old world. Much diligence and faith is required to develop new higher aims, hope, and ambitions. The overcomers are a special class who are no longer in sympathy or affiliation with the general spirit of the present evil world with its selfishness, pride, and ambition. The victory that overcometh the world is our faith, and the Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are to walk by faith, and not by sight.

Faith is a necessity in all of God’s children, and its possession is essential for developing a Christlike character. Those having hearts that are motivated by faith must of necessity display works which will correspond to that faith, for the Apostle James tells us that “faith without works is dead.”—James 2:26

Works of faith include complete trust in God, putting one’s life in his hands while fulfilling a total commitment to do his will, striving to become more Christlike. This requires time and effort for development and our whole being must be energized and permeated with the desire to bring our every thought and motive into subjection to the will of God.

Faith is essential for the child of God to learn an appreciation of the graces of the Holy Spirit. Each should be encouraged to examine themselves to note in themselves greater zeal and activity while setting aside the things of this world, and to focus on the things of the new world to come.

Faith is the victory that overcomes the spirit of the world. (I John 5:4) By exercising that faith, the victorious will have proven themselves worthy to be in the spiritual phase of God’s kingdom. It is God’s good pleasure to give them eternal kingdom blessings, because they demonstrated their love and devotion to him.—Luke 12:32

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