A Daily Walk

John Randall: Pastor John Randall says one of the signs of spiritual life is obedience to God. Obedience is the visible sign of an inward change. A Christian doesn't obey to earn salvation, but obeys because our salvation has transformed us.

It should naturally follow. If I've been saved by Jesus, I want to live in obedience to what Jesus says within the Word of God.

Guest (Male): When paramedics arrive on scene or someone goes to the doctor's office or hospital, they routinely check for vitals. How's your blood pressure, your pulse, body temperature, breathing rate? But today on A Daily Walk, we'll discover there are also signs of spiritual life to look for, to help determine whether or not you're born again and on your way to heaven.

Are there signs of life in your life? Pastor John Randall opens 1 John Chapter 5 in this message called "Faith That Overcomes the World."

John Randall: 1 John chapter 5, beginning in verse 1 this morning as we read from God's Word: "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 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 burdensome.

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

In one of the oldest books of the Bible, the book of Job, in chapter 14 and verse 1, Job said, "A man is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble." The psalmist echoed a similar message in Psalm 90, verse 10, when he declared, "The days of our lives are 70 years, and if by reason of strength they are 80 years, yet their boast is only in the labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away."

The truth is that many aspects of life can feel like a struggle. We experience discouragement, temptation, and disappointment in a world that often pulls us away from God rather than drawing us closer to Him. It is a fallen world that we live in. And many believers in the midst of it quietly wonder, "Am I genuinely going forward in my walk with the Lord? Or am I just getting by? Am I barely surviving?"

The Apostle John writes here with confidence and clarity, reminding Christians that the life that we live should be characterized by victory, not by defeat. And not because we are strong on our own, but because we have been born of God. John helps us discover the DNA of the overcomer, which consists of believing in Jesus, loving God's children, and obeying His commands.

There are many words that are used in Scripture to describe believers in Jesus. But one of the words that John was most fond of was the word overcomer. In fact, 24 of its 28 occurrences in the New Testament are found in John's writings. The word to conquer, to gain victory, or to defeat is the word overcomer. It's the same word that Jesus used in John chapter 16 in verse 33 when He said, "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

The first step to living an overcoming life as a believer and experiencing victory in Christ, here's where it begins. Make a note of it: it starts with the birth of a believer. In 1 John 5:1, it says, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." Let me pause there and just say to you, first of all, that Jesus is His name, Christ is His title. It's not His last name. Christ is His title.

It's the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament Messiah. He is the Christ. And whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is the Messiah, is born of God. When it comes to being an overcomer, walking in victory, you must be born again.

When a child is born and enters the world, there are signs of life. The child cries for the first time. His or her eyes open eventually. The nurses that are assisting with the delivery are trained to check all the baby's vital signs, which indicates the child's health. These are the signs of life in a physical birth. Likewise, the Bible refers to a spiritual birth and calls it being born again.

Just as a physical birth has signs, there are also clear vital signs of a spiritual birth. It's in John's Gospel in chapter 1 and verse 12. John writes of this and he says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." It's a separate birth, distinct from the physical birth. It's a spiritual birth.

In John chapter 3, Jesus had a late-night conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a well-known teacher among the Jewish people, likely seen as one of the leading authorities on spiritual and religious matters. But when he approached Jesus, it seemed that Nicodemus, although he had his religious rituals, his Pharisaic status, and even his physical heritage as a descendant of Abraham, something was missing.

And Jesus immediately said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, in verse 3, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus was confused by Jesus's words. He even asked an honest question. He said, "How can I be born when I'm old? Do I enter into my mother's womb a second time? What are you even talking about?"

Jesus then answered his question in John chapter 3. He said in verse 5, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." That is a physical birth and a spiritual birth. Verse 6: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the spirit." Jesus here described to Nicodemus there are two separate types of birth. There is a physical birth, but there is also a spiritual birth where you are born again.

Therefore, a born-again Christian is someone who has trusted in the finished work of Christ by faith, repented of their sins, and then becomes part of God's family. And all of this happens through the work of God's Spirit in our lives. By nature, we are not members of God's family. We are not children of God. We don't have any right to inherit eternal life. And the reason is because of our sin.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, the Bible says, no, not one. And our sin separates us from the life of God. And that is why Jesus came, to save us, to make us part of His family, to die in our place. And as He took our sins upon the cross, He conquered death through His resurrection.

As a human being, you were born into a family, and nothing can change that. However, when we come to Christ, we are spiritually reborn into a new family, that is the family of God. If someone says, "I'm a Christian, I'm just not a born-again Christian," there aren't any other Christians except ones that are born again. You're either born again or you're not. You have to be born again in order to see the kingdom of God.

Being born again is crucial to experiencing victory and living as an overcomer. The new birth signifies the beginning of a spiritual life. Without it, you don't have true power to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Without the new birth, we're actually spiritually dead. The Bible tells us that in Ephesians chapter 2.

You can't win a spiritual battle if you're spiritually dead. You're not an overcomer because of willpower and trying hard or being religious. You overcome because you've been born of God. Being born again gives you a new position, a new power, and a purpose. You're given a new nature. The Bible actually calls you a new creation. Old things are passed away and all things are becoming new.

Our old nature from birth is prone to sin and to be defeated. However, the new nature, being born again, longs to follow God, wants to walk in victory. When you are born again, you are united with Christ. No longer you who live, but Christ who lives through you. His victory now becomes your victory. Being born again isn't optional to overcome, it's essential. It is the foundation of everything else. Have you been born again?

It was wonderful this morning in between services. A friend brought another friend to church. And he said, "Yes, my friend from work and I brought him to church." And I could tell, okay, nice to meet you, friend from work. But then we just continued to converse. I said, "Do you have any spiritual beliefs? Do you have anything that you believe in?" "Well, not really. I don't really." We just conversed.

And so I just shared the gospel very simply and said, "What would stop you from receiving Christ today?" He said, "Nothing." "Would you like to pray right now to receive Christ?" "Yes." And just right out here, right in the courtyard today, just prayed to receive Christ. Born again, right here. It's powerful. It's amazing.

You might be asking this morning, "How can I be born again? Is there some work that I need to do? Is there some donation that I could make in order to be born again?" The answer to that is no. In fact, Jesus was asked by the multitudes in John chapter 6, verse 28, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"

And this is what Jesus said in reply. He said in John 6:29, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." Believe. In Romans chapter 10 and verse 9, Paul said, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

In John chapter 20, as John concludes his Gospel, he tells us why he wrote it, the reason for it, when he says in verse 31, "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." You believe. Not work for, not earn, not try to be worthy of. You simply believe in what He's done and you receive that, and you are born again.

Living an overcoming Christian life begins with a new birth in Christ by faith. And what will follow this new birth is a new behavior that is demonstrated in both love and obedience. That brings us to the second point this morning: the behavior of the believer. Yes, the birth of the believer. You've got to be born again. But when you are born again, that leads to a development of a new behavior, a new way of living that manifests itself in love.

In 1 John 5:1, again, please: "Everyone who loves Him who is begot also loves him who is begotten of Him." As a result of the new spiritual birth, the Holy Spirit begins to grow and mature and develop our character. And one of the main differences that will begin to develop is a love for the Lord and a love for other people. Jesus said, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Experiencing God's love genuinely transforms your life. When you receive this unmerited, supernatural, agape love, the response to that love should be to love God in return. It should be reciprocated back to Him. You may remember in Mark's Gospel, the 12th chapter, when Jesus was asked by a scribe what was the greatest commandment of all.

Jesus replied and He said in Mark chapter 12, verse 30, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."

A love for God and a love for others should go hand in hand. Loving the Father whom we have not seen also includes loving His children who we can see. It's inconsistent and even hypocritical to try to separate the two. "I love God, I just don't like people." That's really where it's at. But when you're experiencing the love of God, who loves people, you end up loving people, even difficult people.

It was in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 that the Apostle Paul wrote of how important love is and really gives us definitions of what love looks like and how essential it is to the life of the believer. 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1, it says this: Paul said, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." Just noisy, irritating, really.

On the other hand, he said, "Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."

It just doesn't matter. But when you're born again, one of the byproducts of this, "By this they will know that you are my disciples, by the love that you have for one another." That is something that begins to grow and develop. There is a new behavior that manifests itself in love. Remember that when it comes to loving others, when it comes to loving the family of faith, the community of believers, your brothers and sisters in Christ—did you know you have brothers and sisters in the family of faith that also don't attend this church, but they go to other churches that believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?

That is also part of our family. It's much larger than even what we see here before us today. Our family includes everyone who has trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation. Overcoming, this overcoming life begins with a new birth through faith in Christ, and what results is a new behavior of a loving relationship with God and love for others.

And it also will manifest itself in obedience to God's Word. For it says in verse 2, "By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and we keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." In addition to loving others, we now aim to live in obedience to the Lord's commands.

Obedience is the visible sign of an inward change. A Christian doesn't obey to earn salvation, but obeys because our salvation has transformed us. It should naturally follow. If I've been saved by Jesus, I want to live in obedience to what Jesus says within the Word of God. You might remember John mentioned this earlier in this letter. It was back in chapter 2, 1 John 2:3. Let's recall what he said.

"Now by this we know that we know Him." How? "If," he said, "we keep His commandments." That is the visible sign. "He who says with his mouth 'I know him' and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him." That's pretty clear what John is saying. We know that we know Him, how? We keep His commandments, we're walking in obedience.

But the person that says "I know him" and lives completely disobediently to what God has said in His Word, just know this: they're not born again. They don't understand what it means to follow the Lord. Actually, John says they're a liar. They're pretending. The truth isn't in them because if the truth is in you, the truth sets you free and you want to walk in the truth.

It would be inconsistent, again, dishonest, to claim to love God but live disobediently to His Word. Obedience isn't about legalism. Be clear on this: it's not about legalism, it's about love. A heart that God's grace has transformed responds in faithful obedience to what God has said. Changed my life. Jesus said it this way: John chapter 14, verse 21. Listen.

"He who has my commandments and keeps them, it's he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." Jesus said this is how you know if somebody really loves me. They walk with me, they follow me, they seek to obey my commands. Doesn't mean you're perfect; obviously no one is. But you seek to live in obedience to His Word.

Jesus asked a very sobering question in Luke chapter 6 and verse 46. He said, "But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say?" Again, you understand what's implied in that question. Why are you saying that I'm the Lord but you don't do what I say? Because to not do what I say would imply that I'm not your Lord.

But to call Him Lord is to follow Him, is to walk obediently with Him. In Matthew chapter 12, verse 50, Jesus said this: "Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother." Those that are part of my family are those that do the will of my Father. That is, they seek to walk in obedience to the Word of God.

And finally, Paul said this in 2 Timothy chapter 2 in verse 19, in his final epistle: "Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: the Lord knows those who are His, and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." To take the name Jesus as my own, to say I'm a child of God, I believe—Jesus made it clear, it's not just saying it, it's living it.

And Paul makes it clear: the one who says it departs from iniquity because that would be disobedient to God's Word. So I run from that and run after Him. It's also important to make note of the fact that these commands that we are given, they're not to be a burden. They're not burdensome. Someone might say, "Well, I want to walk with the Lord and I want to obey His Word, but it's just too much. It's a burden. I can't do it."

John emphasizes here that the motivation for keeping the Lord's command, are you ready for this, what's the motivation? Love. Love. And when the motivation for keeping the command is love, it's not a burden. It's a blessing. A parent tasked with the great responsibility of raising, providing, clothing, feeding, caring for their child makes sacrifices. Why? Because of love for that child.

Some of you, you had babies that maybe still do at this moment that stay up all night. And one of ours did that. My wife told me about it. Not funny. I'm weak, man, I'm weak. But they just stay up all night. And I wake up, so tired. Really. That never happened. But you understand the sacrifices of a mom willing to make and dads willing to make for the sake of the children because of love. That's the motivation.

So too in the same way, believers, when it says they keep the command, it means to carry out and practice. The motive for that is love for the Lord. When you recognize the blessing, the benefit, and the joy of following the Lord's commands as opposed to the heartbreak, the regret, the consequences, and the pain that comes with disobedience to His commands, you realize, "Hey, you know something? It's not a burden. It's actually a blessing."

Guest (Male): So true. Obedience to God is not a burden but a blessing. Today on A Daily Walk, we're talking about living the overcoming Christian life. It begins with the new birth, then comes a new behavior. Pastor John Randall will finish up this message next time.

What you heard today is part of our Through the Bible series. To hear this message again, you can do so by podcast at adailywalk.org or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Download the Calvary South OC app to listen to Pastor John on your mobile devices, too.

Well, this month, we've picked out a book for you moms. It's A Mom After God's Own Heart: 10 Ways to Love Your Children. Bestselling author Elizabeth George shares practical tips and encouraging advice to help you raise your children in the knowledge of the Lord. You'll discover how to help them experience His love, His blessings, and provision when you become a mom after God's own heart.

It's available now to our A Daily Walk listeners for the cost of $12 at adailywalk.org or call us at 877-242-0828. Please remember that your gifts help us to bring these shows to the radio and the internet every day. We can't do it alone, so please consider standing with us in this endeavor to get the good news of Jesus Christ out to a world in need.

Again, visit us at adailywalk.org or call 877-242-0828. It brightens our day when we hear of the good things God is doing in our listeners' lives through the teaching of the Word. And yes, Pastor John reads your emails. Share your story today by email at adailywalk@gmail.com. That's adailywalk@gmail.com. Then come back next time when we'll continue through the Bible with Pastor John here on A Daily Walk.