All right, let's turn in our
Bibles to 1 John, Chapter 5. 1 John, Chapter 5. Now, as I stated in the opening
reading, I'm going to preach to you on the subject this morning
of the victorious Christian life. Now, you may have heard that
term quite a bit in religious circles on television or people
mention it, living the life of victory, living the victorious
life, or having victory over sin, Satan, and the world. And there are many ideas of what
it is to live a victorious life, spiritually or in religion. To some, there are so many different
ideas. I'm not going to take up a lot
of time with this, but I'll just give you some of these ideas
that people come up with. To some, the victorious life
is what they refer to as the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You
may have heard that term. And what many mean by that, baptism,
now, when you think of the word baptism, you think about water
baptism. But the word baptism itself just
indicates a union. It literally means placed into. That's what the word baptism
means. That's why we say it's by immersion. You know, if you're talking about
water baptism, you're placed into water. You're not just sprinkled
or poured. It's not just poured on top of
your head. But biblical confession of baptism is immersion into
water. But the word itself means placed
into. The Bible speaks of, for example,
that the nation Israel was baptized into Moses. They were placed
into Moses. Now what that means is they were
placed into Moses' care because he was their leader. He was their
deliverer, physically speaking. He was their leader. His doctrine
was their doctrine because it was the law of God given to Israel.
So they were baptized into Moses. Believers are said to be baptized
into Christ in Romans chapter 6, and you'd be amazed at how
many commentators refer that to water baptism, but that's
not what that's talking about. We were placed into Christ, in
union with Christ. How? Well, before the foundation
of the world, when God chose us in Christ. We were placed
into Christ at the cross, when our sins were laid upon Him,
and He died for our sins. and establish righteousness based
upon which God would justify to make us accepted before him. And then we were placed into
Christ at the new birth, regeneration. We're going to talk about that
this morning. And that's what the baptism of
the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost scripturally is. It's the new
birth. But many think of it as a second work of grace. In other
words, You're born again, you're saved, and then at some later
time, if you're dedicated enough, if you're loyal enough, if you're
diligent enough, if you work hard enough, you will receive
a second work of grace, and that is oft times in different denominations
indicated or evidenced by speaking in tongues or performing miracles
or that you don't get sick or if you do get sick, you get healed
real quick or whatever. And that's what they call living
the victorious life. Well, obviously, that is not
scriptural. It's not a reality. Some say that living the victorious
Christian life is living the higher life. And you'll have
a lot in history, and even today, you'll have a lot of different
views of perfectionism coming down on that, higher life. We're
living above sin. And I'm going to tell you something,
the only way you can live above sin is if you live on the second
floor. Because you're not going to live
above sin in yourself. And that's just the long and
the short of it. But there are different views of perfectionism. Some say that you can reach a
state of perfectionism in this life and live the higher life.
Some say at the new birth you have a perfect nature now that
cannot sin. That's just another form of perfectionism.
live in the higher life you see and when you're born again you
do have new life you have spiritual life but but there's a warfare
there you're not yet sinlessly perfect in yourself so live in
the higher life and the victorious life is a perfection within then
uh none of y'all are living it neither am i so you know i'm
not pointing the finger i've got three back at me too because
i don't live it either we just can't we're we're uh Paul wrote
about it in Romans 7. He said, I'm a slave to sin. I can't do what I want to do.
Now, sin doesn't condemn us now. Christ took care of that. We
cannot be condemned. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who can condemn us? You see,
there is therefore now no condemnation in Christ. Sin's power to condemn
us is over. We don't owe a debt to God's
law and justice. Once for all, that's why we're
saying that hymn, you see. Free from the law, there's no
condemnation. Jesus hath bled, you see. He's
died. Now, others say that living the
victorious Christian life is health and wealth. And this is
very common today. You know, if you get sick, it's
because you don't have enough faith and you need to believe
enough to get healed. And if you're poor, it's because
you don't have enough faith and you need to believe enough to
get rich. And so it's health and wealth. That's the victorious
Christian life. Others might say it's the deeper
life, and they withdraw from society and throw away everything
that they say is sinful and go to a life of prayer and meditation,
the life of monasticism and things like that. So all kinds of different
ideas. Well, what does the Bible say?
Now, that's what we're concerned with, isn't it? What does God's
Word say? We heard all the ideas of men.
and all the platitudes and theologies and philosophies, what does God's
Word say? What is the victorious Christian
life? Well, look at 1 John chapter
5. I'm going to deal with the first five verses here, but look
at verses 4 and 5 to start off with. Now, he says, "...for whatsoever
is born of God," now, that's the new birth, "...overcometh
the world. And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, our faith, or even our faith. Now, somebody
says, well, does that mean it's our believing enough? No. Now,
listen, he says in verse 5, who is he that overcometh the world?
But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. Now, the Bible
speaks quite a bit about overcoming the world, overcoming the overcomers,
he who overcometh. For example, in John chapter
16 and verse 33, when the Lord was getting ready, and He was
teaching His disciples, He was getting ready to go to Jerusalem,
be arrested, to be tried and to be beaten, to be tortured,
and then eventually to go to the cross. He was obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. And He made this statement
to His disciples in John 16 and verse 33. He says, These things
have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace."
Now, one of the other things that he told them before he said
this is that you're going to have trouble in the world. That's
why I had Brother Aaron read that Matthew chapter 10, confessing
Christ. If you confess Christ in the
world, you're going to have trouble in the world. Now, trouble comes
at different times in various ways to various degrees, but
the Lord used the example of trouble in your own family. Obviously,
when you come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
first ones you're going to want to tell is your immediately earthly
family. You just know they're going to
want to hear this message. They're going to love this message
and embrace this message that the Lord says that this message
sets families apart, sets a man at variance against his son,
a daughter against her mother. A man's enemies will be they
of his own household, and that's something. that believing the
truth and confessing Christ, the only way of salvation, would
put you at variance with your family. Now, that doesn't mean
they're all going to be out to kill you or anything like that,
but they don't have the same Lord you have. They don't have
the same salvation you have. And it sets them at variance.
And that's why he said that if you love father or mother more
than me, you cannot be my disciple. Well, see, that's part of the
worldliness that we have to stand against as believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ as we confess Him. And Christ told His disciples,
He said that they're going to come after you. He said they're
going to seek to kill you. He said they won't even tolerate
you in their church services. He said they'll kick you out
of their synagogues. And there'll come a time when
they kill you, they'll say they're doing God's work when they kill
you. Isn't that amazing? And then
he says in John 6, 33, now, I've told you these things that in
me you might have peace. Not in the world, but in me,
he says, in Christ. He says, in the world you shall
have tribulation. But listen to this now. He says,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Christ has
overcome the world. You didn't overcome the world.
You were in the world until he brought you out of the world.
What is the world there? That doesn't mean you're walking
on a cloud somewhere. It doesn't mean that you're in
the clouds or the clouds are in your head. What it means is
that the world there is anything that stands in opposition to
Christ and his truth. You've been brought out of that
because Christ has overcome the world. Book of Revelation, chapter
17 and verse 14, he spoke of the kings of the earth as the
powers and authorities that oppose the church. And he says, these
shall make war with the Lamb. Now, he's the Lamb, the Lamb
of God, which beareth away the sins of the world. And what he's
saying is that when the powers of the world, when they go after
the church or stand against the church, they're not just standing
against the church, they're standing against Christ. He's the head
of the church. You can't stomp my foot without making it hurt
in my head. That's what I'm saying. And Christ
is the head of his church. You can't kick his child except
that he feels it. You can't go after his children
and not go after him. So he says, these shall make
war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. Now, if
the Lamb overcomes them, the church overcomes them too. In
other words, if the Lamb has victory, the Church has a victory.
If the Lamb doesn't have victory, the Church won't have victory.
He says, "...for he is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and
they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful." So
what is the victorious Christian life? Let me just give it to
you in a nutshell right here, and then we'll go into just a
few details. The victorious Christian life is salvation by God's grace
in Christ. That's what it is. You say, well,
that's just too simple. Well, thank God it is. For me,
that's the simplicity of Christ. The victorious Christian life
is living in the life, the glory, and the blessedness of the victory
that Christ by himself gained for his people and keeps for
his people. That's living the victorious
Christian life. Now, he gives us two things here
I want you to notice in 1 John chapter 5. First of all, there's
the new birth. Now, I want you to see this.
Those who live the victorious Christian life have been born
again by the Spirit. And you haven't lived the victorious
Christian life until you've been baptized by the Holy Spirit.
Now, that's not a second work of grace that you will achieve
after having done great service for God or being in much prayer. This is the new birth. This is
how it all begins in us experientially. He says in verse 1, whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. He's talking
about the new birth, being born of God, not being born of the
flesh, born of God. Now, we know all life is from
God, even physical life. But our physical birth is a birth
in sin. The Bible teaches that when we're
born physically, we're born spiritually dead. And everything that dead
means, that's what that means. It means we cannot hear spiritual
things, we cannot see spiritual things, we cannot believe, know,
and love spiritual things. On our own, by our own wills,
all we can do is love the flesh and the things of the world and
the things that are of the world. And without the Spirit of Christ,
the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, bringing us to a new birth, which
is what the Bible calls regeneration, And it involves conversion also,
because it has evidences. You can't be alive and not show
it. But anyway, some people might. But you cannot be alive and not
show it. There's going to be some signs.
Now, people may not see it readily, but it's there. But we're born
physically, spiritually dead. I'll show you that in just a
moment. But here's the thing about it. The new birth, what
is the new birth? The new birth is the result and
the fruit of Christ's victory over death. That's what the new
birth is. Now, first of all, turn to John
chapter 3. Let me show you this. This is
where the Lord taught on the subject of the new birth. This
shows us why we must be born again, John chapter 3. He's talking
to a religious man here named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a man
who outwardly appeared righteous, a man who had a reputation in
that day of being a spiritual leader. But he wasn't. He was an ignorant man of the
things of the Spirit. You know, the Bible says in 1
Corinthians chapter 2, the natural man, that's how we're born in
the state of nature, cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God.
He cannot know them. They're spiritually discerned.
And until we're born again, until we're given a spiritual mind
and a heart to know and understand and receive the things of the
Spirit of God, we cannot know them." Well, he says, this Nicodemus
came to Christ by night, and he acknowledged that Christ must
be a prophet, that Jesus of Nazareth must be a prophet from God, because
you can't do the things that he did and not be a prophet of
God. I mean, listen, he healed the sick. He raised the dead. And Jesus answered, verse 3,
and said unto him, Verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again, or born from above." That's literally
what John says over here in 1 John 5, 1, born of God. He cannot
see the kingdom of God. Now, that word see has the connotation
of understanding it. I mean, you might see some things,
but you don't really understand them savingly to the point of
being submitted to them and loving them. This is my life. You see, Christ is my life. He
is my hope. He's my salvation. He's not just
a sideline article, you see. He's not just a friend that walks
alongside me. He's the one who carries me.
He's my foundation. He's my wisdom, my righteousness,
my holiness, my redemption. He's everything to me, you see. And you may hear the gospel,
but it just doesn't mean that much to you. That's what he's
talking about. You can't see the kingdom of
God. The kingdom of God is the kingdom of grace, the kingdom
of salvation. And then verse 4, now it says,
Nicodemus saith to him, How can a man be born when he's old?
Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be
born? Well, Nicodemus obviously didn't know anything about this
spiritual birth, this being born from above. When he heard being
born, automatically his mind went where? To physical birth.
And he knew that an old man can't re-enter the womb and be born
again, so he may seem like a joke that he's asking, but he's not.
He just doesn't understand these things. Verse 5, Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. He cannot enter it by way of
understanding, by way of faith. Now, a lot of people differ on
what the word water means there. Some say that Christ is showing
Nicodemus that you have to be born first physically, the water
birth, the mother's womb, and then be born spiritually. Others
say that water here is emblematic of the Word of God, and that's
what I have a tendency to believe this means, because the sovereign
agent in the new birth is the Holy Spirit, sent from Christ
to apply spiritual life to each and every person, the sheep,
for whom Christ died and brought life about." The Holy Spirit
comes out from Christ. And the means is the Word of
God. It's the Word of life. James
said it this way in James 1, 18. He says, "...were begotten
again by the word of truth." And so what the Holy Spirit does
in the new birth is he brings a center under the preaching
of the gospel, and he gives that center life, ears, eyes, spiritual
eyes, spiritual ears, and a heart to understand and know and receive
the things of God. Now I see what I didn't see before.
Just like a blind man who gains his physical sight, and the light's
turned on, and he sees things he didn't see before. I heard
your voice, but I really didn't know what you looked like. I
really didn't see who you were until that sight was given, you
see. And so he says that in verse
5, it says, or verse 6, he says, that which is born of the flesh
is flesh. The fleshly birth, the physical birth, has nothing
to do with the salvation of a sinner. Now, that's important because
the Jews thought that their physical connection with Abraham was their
claim as children of God. Remember, they would say, we'd
be Abraham's children, we're Abraham's seed. John the Baptist
said, think not to say that. Just because you're a physical
Jew does not make you a spiritual child of God. Your physical birth
was a birth in sin. It was born dead. That's what
you were. spiritually dead in trespasses
and sin. You must be born again. Nicodemus
was a physical descendant of Abraham. The Apostle Paul was
a physical descendant of Abraham. Peter was a physical descendant
of Abraham. And when they came to a saving
knowledge of Christ, they realized that that had nothing to do with
their salvation. Paul, in fact, in Philippians
chapter 3, he said, I used to think that recommended me unto
God, but now I count it but loss, and even dung, that I may win
Christ. So that which is born of flesh
is flesh. Remember back in Genesis, God
taught the principle, kind after kind. Your sinful flesh cannot
produce spiritual birth. Sinful flesh, let me tell you
what it can produce, sinful flesh. The new birth has to be of the
Spirit from above. It's a miraculous birth. It's
a spiritual birth. No, you don't enter into the
mother's womb again. It's not physically sick. This is a different birth. And
that's what he says, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
So he says in verse 7 of John 3, marvel not that I said unto
thee, you must be born again. Don't be amazed at that. If you
understand what we are by nature, you won't be amazed that it takes
a spiritual birth to be saved. You understand that we're born
in sin, that we're totally depraved. We don't have eyes to see, ears
to hear, and a will to receive Christ by nature. If you understand
that, then you will not be amazed that you must be born again.
So nymphodemus, don't marvel at that. Don't be amazed at that.
Now, a lot of people spend a lot of time in what I call a lot
of hot air. trying to analyze, theologize,
and doctrinalize the nature of the new birth. And I do not believe
you can do that. I believe that that is an exercise
in futility, and the reason I believe that is because the Scriptures
do not reveal it. What is it that actually goes
on inside of a person? Some say, well, he gets a whole
new heart. Others say, well, the old heart
is cleansed. Well, the Bible speaks in terms
of both. Look back at Ezekiel chapter 36, he says he gives
us a new heart. If you'll look over in Romans
chapter 2, it says the heart is circumcised, cutting away
the filth of the flesh. The heart is purified, the heart
is cleansed, all of that, the conscience, everything. The Bible
has different ways of speaking of it, so that we cannot take
a theological, doctrinal position on this and say, now, you've
got to say it like I say it and believe it like I believe it
and state it like I state it, or we can't have fellowship.
That's wicked. You see what I'm saying? Now, let me tell you
what Christ did say about the new birth. Look at verse 8. He
says, "...the wind bloweth where it listeth." That is, the wind
blows where it wills. And now, here's the sound thereof.
"...but hence not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth,
so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Now, what is
he teaching here? Here's what he's saying. He's
saying, you know the new birth by its evidences. That's how
you know it. You can't cut me open and I can't
cut you open and do a Grey's Anatomy type thing to find out
what the new birth is if you're born again, you know. You can't do that. But you know
it by its evidences. Like the wind that's blowing,
you feel the wind on your skin, you see the leaves. My goodness,
in the fall, do we see leaves. I never want to see another leaf
again. But you see that, you see, I know the wind's been blowing
when I go out there and see my yard covered up. You see it by
its evidences. Now look over at John 16. So I, and you know, we can talk
about regeneration. What is that? That's the giving
or the imparting or the infusing of spiritual life and knowledge
into the mind, into the conscience, so that it becomes a part of
us. We know some things we didn't know before. We know them by
experience. Not only do we know that truth,
but we love it. That's what he says, we love
the truth. But now look at John chapter 16 and look at verse
7. Christ is speaking of his death
on the cross here. He's getting ready to go to the
cross. And he tells his disciples in John 16 and verse 7, he says,
nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient. Now,
that word means necessary. It's necessary for you that I
go away. Now, what's he talking about
going away? He's talking about going to the cross. He's got
to go and die for my sins, or else I'm not going to be saved
from my sins. The soul that sinneth must surely
die without blood, the shedding of blood. There's no remission
of sin. Either I've got to die in sin and spend eternity in
hell, or someone who is willing and able and suitable and appointed
by God must die in my place and take the punishment of all my
sins." And there's only one who was able and willing and suitable
and appointed by God to do that, and that's the God-man, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's why the Scripture says
he bore away our sins, he was bruised for our iniquity. You
please the Lord to bruise him in the place. He's the substitute.
He's the Redeemer. He's the ransom. He's the kinsman
Redeemer. He's the sacrifice. He's the
lamb. He's the charity. He's all of
that. Our sins were laid to his charge, and we get in return
his righteousness laid to our charge, whereby God can be just
and justify the ungodly." Now, he tells his disciples, it's
necessary that I do that for you. And then he says, 4, verse
7, 4, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. Now,
who's the Comforter there? That's the Holy Spirit, the new
birth, who not only gives us life, but resides in us continually
and keeps us looking to Christ. In other words, Christ says,
if I don't go and do my work on the cross, the Spirit will
not come, the Comforter will not come. Why? Because if Christ
didn't go to the cross and die for the sins of his people and
be buried and raised again the third day, there would be no
life to give. We'd have to remain spiritually
dead. Christ is the author and the
finisher of our faith. He's the author of life. He is
life. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, I am the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me." Now, the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual life to each
and every one of God's children. If Christ had not died on the
cross, there would be no life to give. His death brings forth
life, and the Spirit applies that life. So the work of the
Holy Spirit in us in the new birth is the fruit and result
of Christ's work for us. Christ's work, Christ in him
crucified, is the foundation and the cause of life within. And when the Holy Spirit gives
life, you know what he does? He convicts us of our sins and
our depravity and our impotence, and he drives us to Christ. by
faith, giving us faith to believe. He causes us to have confidence
in Christ, glory in Christ, and have no confidence in ourselves
in the flesh. So he says, but if I depart,
I will send him unto you. Now, go back to 1 John 5. Now, I'm going to give you these briefly,
and then I'm going to come back. capitalize on them a little bit
more, but listen to this. Now, there's the new birth, all
right? That's the victorious Christian
life, to have life from Christ. Christ on the cross gained victory
over death. And when the Holy Spirit gives
you life from Christ, you have victory over death. And even
though this flesh, this body is dying because of sin and will
die, We will have ultimate victory when we're resurrected under
glory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory? The sting of death's removed.
Why? Because of Christ. The grave
cannot hold us. Why? Because it couldn't hold
him. He is our victory. You see, that's the victorious
Christian life, realizing that Christ is our victory. It's not in our prayers. And
when it says it's in our faith, what does our faith do? Our faith
looks to Christ. Now, this brings me to the second
thing. I want to talk to you just a little bit here about
vital signs of spiritual birth and life. You know, whenever
the doctor or the coroner is trying to find out if somebody
is alive or dead, he looks for vital signs. That is, physically. And when it comes to being spiritually
alive, spiritually born again, there are vital signs of spiritual
life. Just like in physical life, there
are signs. First of all, the doctor may
want to see, is he breathing? The breath, going in and out
of his body, the lungs expanding and contracting, that's a sign
of physical life. He might ask, is his heart beating?
Can I find a pulse? I think that's probably the first
thing they look for, is the heart beating. Thirdly, he might ask,
does he respond or does she respond to stimuli? Certain things, you
know, if I poke it with a needle, it's going to jerk, you know,
it's going to draw back, things like that. Well, it's the same
thing with spiritual life. So let's ask it that way. First
of all, are you spiritually breathing? Now, what is our spiritual breath?
It's God-given faith. Now, look at verse 1. He says,
"...whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God." What he's saying here is that one of the first evidence
of the spiritual birth, being born of God, of spiritual life,
is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's number one. Are you breathing? Are you looking to Christ? Is
He your life? Look over at Romans chapter 1.
Now he says faith, that's what he's talking about. Listen, this
is the victorious Christian life is faith in Christ, not faith
in me, not faith in you. Listen to me now, not faith in
your faith. You know, a lot of people will
ask this question and say, well, am I believing enough? Well,
what is enough? If you really want to know the
answer to that question, you have to go somewhere out other
than this book, because there's no gauge. There's no thermometer
that I can stick in your mouth and say, well, you've got enough
faith. It's not a question of enough faith. It's a question
of this. In whom is your faith? Who are
you trusting? Huh? Who are you looking to?
Who are you resting in for all of salvation? Who is who is your
hope? How are your sins forgiven? You
say, well, I'm trying hard. Well, you've already lost. You
say, well, I'm going to turn over a new leaf and start living
a new life. Listen, you're already way too
far behind there. You'll never get caught up. You
don't have enough time. How are your sins forgiven? Here's
the breath of spiritual life, by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's it. For by one offering,
he hath perfected forever me. For by one offering, he laid
down his life. What Christ did on that cross
in shedding his blood as the payment for my sins, that took
care of all my sins, past sins, present sins, future sins. All
my sins were dealt with on Calvary." That's spiritual breath. Look
at Romans 1, verse 16. He says, For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth. There's the power of God unto
salvation. Do you believe in him? to the Jew first and also
to the Greek or the Gentile, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed." What is the righteousness of God? It's the
merit of Christ's obedience unto death. It's what he did on Calvary
to establish my forgiveness by his blood and my justification
by his righteousness. It has nothing to do with my
work for him. It has everything to do with
his work for me. That's what it is to believe
that Jesus is the Christ. Who is Jesus? That's God my Savior. That's what the name Jesus means.
Jehovah saved. And I believe he's the Christ.
I believe he's the anointed one. Sent of God to do for me what
I cannot do for myself. To save me from my sins. To justify
me before God and produce the righteousness based upon which
God justifies me. To keep me. and bring me to glory."
He did it all. He's doing it all, you see? And
he says here, the righteousness of God revealed from faith. The
prompt faith there is the preaching of the gospel, the truth. To
faith is spiritual life. That's the faith that God gives
you to lay hold of it, grab onto it, and lay hold of him. As it is written, the just shall
live by faith. So faith in Christ is the victorious
Christian life. Now, there's only one faith.
And that's faith in Christ. All other faith is false faith.
There's only one God and one mediator between God and man.
Look at Romans chapter 10 now. Let me show you this one, then
I'll move on. There's only one way, and it's
the way of Christ and Him crucified. That's the only way of forgiveness.
That's the only way of righteousness. That's the only way of victory.
That's the only way of life. And there's no other way. Our
sins charge to him, his righteousness charge to us. That's the only
way. Look here at Romans chapter 10. And he's talking here about
the Jews who are trying to save themselves by the works. But
he says in verse 4 of Romans 10, he says, for Christ is the
end. That word end there means the
finishing or the fulfillment of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes it. Now, go back to 1 John 5. Now,
here's what he's saying. If you're born again, the first
evidence of that spiritual breath is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're resting in Him for all
of salvation. And you weren't born again because
you believed. You believed because you were
born again. No more than the little baby that comes forth
from the womb is born because he's breathing or she's breathing.
She's breathing because she was born physically. Life comes before
faith. You see what I'm saying? Life
comes before sight. Life comes before breath. Life
comes before hearing. Who gives life? God, and He gives
it all. So the first evidence And that's
the victorious Christian life. Now, here's the second one. Look
at verse 1 again. He says in verse 5, chapter 5, Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and every one
that loveth him, that loveth Christ, that begat... Christ, the new birth comes by
the Spirit from Christ, born of God. Everyone that loves God,
who begat us, loves him also that is begotten of him." In
other words, if you love the parent, you love the child. If
you love God, you love his children. And that's the second evidence.
You might look at it this way. I told you, in physical life,
they ask, well, is he breathing? Next thing they might ask you
is, does he have a heartbeat? Does he have a pulse? Well, here's
the heartbeat right here. Love of the brethren. You say,
well, I just love Christ. I've heard people say, I have
the love of Jesus in my heart. And they don't, they're lying.
They don't even know what the love of Jesus is. If you love
God, you love his people. Now, we've studied a lot about
that love in 1 John. I don't have to go back over
all that, hopefully. I mean, I'll do it in other messages.
But this is a divine love, isn't it? Look at verse 2. He says,
By this we know that we love the children of God. when we
love God. And then he says, keep his commandments.
It's divine love that binds us together in fellowship as a spiritual
family under Christ and his truth. Does that mean we're always going
to get along? No. Does that mean that we're
not going to have falling out over other things? No, we'll
have that. Does that mean we're going to
have personality clashes? Problems of communication? Oh,
we're going to have all that. Does that mean that we're going
to disagree on other things, non-vital things? Not the gospel
now. God's children do not disagree
on how God saves a sinner. Did you hear me? God's children
do not disagree on how God saves a sinner and on the ground of
that. But now we may disagree on other
matters. You might see a verse of scripture over in the Old
Testament, and it might use one of those $20 names, and you might
say, well, I interpret that to mean this, and I say, well, I
don't see that at all. Well, we better go out and start
another church. No. No, that's not going to happen.
Not if we love the brethren now. Now, if we love ourselves, or
we love men, that'll happen. This is the heart beating. Is
your heart beating? Spiritual heart beating? Do you have a
spiritual pulse? You love the brethren. That's
what he said. Back over here in 1 John 3, you're
going to side with Abel against Cain. He says, verse 10, in this,
1 John 3, in this, the children of God are manifest, and the
children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. To do
righteousness is to follow Christ. Rest in him. And he says, for
this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that
we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked
one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him. Why did
he slay him? Because his own works were evil,
and his brother's righteous. His brother was looking to Christ,
and Cain wasn't. Now, I'm going to stand with
every sinner who's looking to Christ for salvation. I'm going
to fellowship and unite with every sinner who's truly looking
to Christ and Him alone. for all of salvation." And that's
what he's talking about, that spiritual heartbeat. And thirdly,
look at verses 2 and 3 again. He says, "...by this we know
that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep
his commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not
grievous." Here's the third evidence of spiritual life. You might
look at this one at this way. Does he respond to stimuli? It's
obedience, keeping his commandments. Don't let that scare you. If
that does scare you, it's because you've been taught wrong. Somebody
says, well, I don't keep his commandments. Now, listen to
me now. Well, if you don't keep his commandments, you're not
his child. Now, if that's your conclusion, you have to conclude
it's what the Scripture says. Well, what did he command? Well,
our minds normally go back to the Ten Commandments on that,
doesn't it? Because, I mean, you know, they're trying to put
them up at every courthouse and put them on every wall and all
that. And let me tell you something now about those Ten Commandments.
They were for the children of Israel under that old covenant,
and you can't take the precept without taking the penalty. I've
heard preachers say, well, Christ took care of the penalty, but
you've got to take care of the precept. Now, hold on, that's
worse. That's a half salvation, which is no salvation. That won't
work. Christ obeyed the law in precept
and penalty for his people. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. What did Christ command? Look
at Matthew chapter 11. There are a lot of commandments in
the New Testament. But let me tell you this first
of all. The Lord Jesus Christ never commanded any of his people
to seek salvation based on their law-keeping. He never made that
commandment. In fact, he forbid it. In fact,
he said that's evil. If you're seeking salvation from
God, from a holy God, based upon your law-keeping, your obedience,
that's wicked and evil in the sight of the Lord. He never commanded
that. So you can just put that out
of your mind right away. He never commanded me to be saved
by my works. He's always told me that it's
impossible. He's always said, for by grace
are you saved, through faith, and that faith not of yourself,
it's the gift of God. It's not of works! Yes, any man
should boast. He said if it's of works, it's
not of grace. If it's grace, it's not of works.
One cancels out the other. But here's what he commands.
Look at verse 28 of Matthew 11. Come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Rest in him. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light." That's what John means over here when
he says in 1 John 5 and verse 3, his commandments are not grievous.
In other words, when Christ commands us to follow him, he does not
put a burden upon us that breaks us down like the law does, like
the Pharisee will, or the legalist. His yoke is easy. His burden
is light. And you know why? Because it's
obedience not constrained by law, It's obedience not constrained
by legal fears of punishment in hell, but it's obedience constrained
by love and grace and gratitude. That's what he's talking about.
That's the obedience. That's the keeping of his commandments.
Love Christ. Love the brethren. Follow him.
Obey him. Not to be saved. Not to earn
your reward. But because you already are saved
by His grace, and He is your reward. Now, 1 John 5, 4-5, there's
the victory. These things make up the victorious
Christian life. For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. What does that mean? Looking
to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, resting in Him,
following Him, Who is he that overcometh the world, but he
that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? He's my Savior. He's my everything. He's my all
in all. Okay.