1 John 5.4, Pious twaddle?
Jesus said he overcame the world (John 16:33). What did he mean? 1 John 5:4 says that those who believe in Jesus Christ have overcome the world. What did he mean? What does it mean to "overcome the world"?
Does it mean we overcome bits of the world? Is it the same as victory over some specific sin, like drunkenness? Hmmm.
If overcoming booze, say, was what Jesus and John meant by overcoming the world, what are we to think while we still wrestle with other sins that cling to us? Do these prove that the world has overcome us even while we have overcome the world?
Is overcoming the world an on and off again reality? Like a turning signal on a car?
If you found a Christian (yourself or someone else) in the act of committing a grievous sin, could you look at that one and say, "That is one that has overcome the world"? Or would you say, "That is one who at one time overcame the world"?
Are questions like these not worth pursuing? When John says that those who have placed their faith in Jesus as the Son of God have conquered the world—is that just pious twaddle? If not, what does it mean?
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.
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