Subject 14 : The First Epistle of JOHN
[Chapter 5-1] What Is the Truth That Frees Us from All Our Sins? (1 John 5:1-4)
(1 John 5:1-4)
“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.”
Let’s Reflect on Noah
The
words in Genesis 6:1-8 are as follows: “Now it came to pass, when men
began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to
them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were
beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he
is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’
There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when
the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children
to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then
the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was
grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have
created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing
and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah
found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
This
Scripture passage explains why God had to judge the people at the time
Noah was living. God had to judge the people of that time because the
sons of God had united with the daughters of men, after having seen
their beauty. God gives a plain and easy explanation for the judgment of
people, which even a 1st grade elementary student could understand
without any trouble.
Here
is a humorous story. These days, even lower elementary school students
are given essay assignments. Before, it wasn’t until one reached upper
elementary school that a student was asked to write an essay. Among our
Sunday school kids, Ha-min, a first grade student, was also asked to
write an essay. The assignment was to write an essay after reading Hans
Christian Anderson’s “The Little Match Girl.” The child finished this
assignment in a hurry, seemingly with relative ease, and ran outside to
play with the other children.
Curious,
the child’s father took a look at his son’s essay. The child had
written, “The little match girl died not having been able to sell a
single match stick.” Surely, that child wrote the correct synopsis of
the story quite concisely. After hearing this story, I thought of the
simplicity of a child’s mind. The child’s simple but concise essay
appeared humorous to the adults.
If
I mention the time of Noah, we easily recognize it to be the time when
God judged the world with water and allowed only Noah’s eight family
members to survive. The Bible says that the judgment of the world was
brought because the sons of God took the daughters of men as their wives
and lived with them.
At
that time, the waters were broken up from all the fountains of the
great deep, and the windows of heaven were opened with a pouring rain.
As a result, the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the
high hills under the whole heaven were covered (Genesis 7:11, 19).
People explain the physics of Noah’s flood with the law of conservation
as the following. The amounts of the water during the time of the flood
and now are exactly the same, but the water that is frozen both at the
South and the North Poles makes the dry land possible.
Unlike
this complicated explanation, God’s truth is plain and simple as the
child’s essay that read, “The little match girl died not having been
able to sell a single match stick.” God had no other option but to judge
this world because the sons of God had taken and lived with the
daughters of men, after seeing their beauty.
During
the time of Noah, the Lord God saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Their plans were wicked as well as
their deeds. Although people are inherently wicked and evil, their
wickedness was so prevalent at that time that there was no one seeking
for God, far less believing in God. Having seen all of this, God decided
wipe out all of humanity from the face of the earth. God had thus
planned judgment and executed it. Yet, the Bible reports that Noah found
grace in the eyes of God (Genesis 6:8).
The
people during the time of Noah were all wicked before God’s eyes. Even
the people of God were all wicked, for they did the things He hated.
Hence, God had no other choice but to judge the world. Only one person,
Noah who was a righteous person of his time, received the grace of God’s
salvation. God had granted Noah’s family His grace of salvation and
made Noah into the ancestor of humanity of the second world. God is
still the same as He was then.
The
passage on Noah and today’s Scripture passage are closely related.
People at the time of Noah were so wicked that they were intolerable in
God’s eyes. Their thoughts, their plans, their hearts, and their deeds
were all wicked without exception. As such was the case, God had no
other option but to judge all of humanity.
This
is not a story limited to the time of Noah. People living today have
wicked thoughts, plans, hearts, and deeds full of sins. This generation
is no less headed towards God’s judgment than the people of Noah’s time.
At
Noah’s time, the corruption of the sons of God brought about the
judgment on the world. How would the people of God care today? People
today commit the same sins that people of Noah’s time committed. No. Our
sins may even be worse but definitely not any less. Yet, today’s
passage says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this
is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). The
Apostle John speaks of a faith that overcomes the world. Today’s
Scripture passage teaches to us how we can receive our salvation through
the remission of sins and how we can overcome this world.
We
frequently hear that the world is becoming increasingly evil,
tolerating more and more wickedness in it. We encounter many bizarre
stories in the news that make us ponder, where the end of evil lies.
Among people who enjoyed swapping their spouses, there were a lot of
professionals like doctors, lawyers, and even pastors. These people are
educated and of relatively high social status. They were elites with
considerably little financial worries. These people, who should have
held high moral accountability, were organizing clubs to enjoy swapping
their spouses.
The
Bible reports that people in Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Abraham
committed similar sins with anyone who passes by their cities,
regardless of whether they were men or women. Looking at the current
swapping incident or the prevalent transgression of homosexuality
written in Romans 1:26-27, we come to see that the sins of this world
has not changed much from the past,
These
days, middle school students are admiring homosexuals. As it became
known that a well-known movie star is a homosexual, many youngsters were
infected with the disease of homosexual admiration. As a matter of
fact, homosexuality has been present among throughout history. We just
hadn’t openly talked about it till now. Nowadays, homosexuality has
surfaced into our everyday conscience, capturing our attention, merely
because the world has become more tolerant of sins than before. I have
heard that some of the States in the U.S. have even come to allow legal
marriages between homosexuals. Once, I have read a news article about
such a unique wedding between two homosexuals. Yet, the greater problem
is that not a few selective people but the majority of people today are
being influenced by the sin prevailing society.
I
think there may even be a few of our own brothers and sisters around
the world, who have come to receive the remission of their sins through
our Christian literatures, that practices this very sinful living. Some
people are just gays or lesbians. Are they able to change their own
habits? Of course, if a person devotes himself to the works of God by
uniting with God’s Church after receiving the remission of sins through
the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then the Holy
Spirit controls his heart and as a result, he can overcome all such sins
as homosexuality. Essentially, the only way to overcome such sins is to
believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and to participate in
the ministry of God.
In
a word, because everyone is born with sin, no one can change one’s
sinful habits. Regardless of which sin it is, once a person falls into
the habit of a particular sin, it is difficult to escape that sin.
Furthermore, the mutation of one’s hormone at one’s birth is not
something one has control over. However, the Bible states that there is
only one way to overcome such sins.
What Kind of Faith Enables Us to Overcome Our Own Sins?
Today’s Scripture passage says, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).
Then,
what kind of faith did the Apostle John possess that he said he could
overcome the world? The Apostle John is saying that he can escape his
own weaknesses and Satan’s traps through his faith in the gospel Truth
of the water and the Spirit.
Today’s
Scripture passage tells us about the faith that overcomes the sins of
this world. Everyone habitually commits sins. There may be among us
homosexuals; gays or lesbians. In another word, there may be among us
those, who commit sins of homosexuality due to their abnormal hormone
secretions. Homosexuality is affected by hormonal changes. Through
hormonal changes, some of our brothers may sexually desire other men
rather than women, and likewise some of our sisters may desire other
women rather than men.
How
can one overcome even such sins, which one commits out of one’s organic
disorder? We can definitely overcome our sins by receiving the
remission of our sins through our faith in Jesus Christ, who came by the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. What we know is that the gospel of
the water and the Spirit is powerful enough to overcome the world.
The
initial question was, “How can we overcome the strong tides of the many
sins of the world?” I know that we die suffocating in sins, unable to
overcome all those sins, unless we have strong faith in the gospel Truth
of the water and the Spirit. Our human flesh cannot by mere will alone
overcome the tidal waves of sins. Unless one dies to one’s desires of
flesh, one cannot overcome the sins of the world.
Humans
are sinners that commit sins of lusts. To overcome all these sins, a
person has to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and free
oneself of one’s desires of the flesh. In our faith in the gospel Truth
of the water and the Spirit, we are able to free ourselves of our
desires of flesh. Once, we are free from our desires of the flesh, we
can finally begin living righteous lives.
Some
religions, like Buddhism, teach that the emancipation from the lusts of
the flesh lies in the death of one’s flesh. However, if one dies to
one’s flesh without having known the gospel of the water and the Spirit,
all has been in vain.
Even
if a person sincerely desires to escape one’s sinful heart or habits,
one is unable to do so without the knowledge of the gospel Truth of the
water and the Spirit. Some religious persons may say that they have
successfully escaped their desires of the flesh, but there is not a
single person who has accomplished that without either having died in
one’s flesh or having realized the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
I
have watched on the Buddhist TV network a female Buddhist monk who
lectured on Buddhism and shared her realizations about the religion.
Although she had read many books on Buddhism and met with various head
monks for personal teachings, she admitted that she could only live
according to her habits and not according to the teachings, as if she
had forgotten them.
Therefore,
she desired to be free of herself, and she felt living itself was hell
to her, because she could not escape the Buddhist doctrine of
transmigration. By the way, she concluded somehow that the only way out
from her carnal desire is to pass by this world. Even this female monk
has realized that there is no escape from one’s sinful habits except
through one’s death.
However,
we, the believers in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, are
God’s own people who can overcome the world by believing that Jesus
received the baptism by John the Baptist and shed His precious blood on
the Cross.
This
doesn’t mean that we do not commit sins any more. Rather, we continue
committing sins. If one continues to sin everyday, how can one overcome
the sins of the world? If we do not know well the depth of the gospel
Truth of the water and the Spirit, we can overcome neither the world nor
Satan.
Can
we escape from the sins of our habits and the flesh on our own? No
matter what kind of training we receive, that is an impossible task. One
frees oneself of one’s sins only through the faith in the gospel Truth
of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, we have to know the sin
cleansing Truth, which is the gospel of the water and the Spirit, more
deeply. We have to reexamine that gospel once again. And again, we have
to ruminate and believe in this powerful gospel deeply with our hearts.
In
order to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy
2:1), we first have to apply the Law onto ourselves so that we may
realize what grave sinners we are. Only after we realize that we are
such grave sinners in front of God through the application of the Law on
ourselves, do we see the urgent need for the faith in the gospel Truth
of the water and the Spirit.
If
we look at the Bible, it tells us of the Law. There is nothing wrong
with the Law. We might think that it would be good to live according to
the Law. We might even feel that we would be able to live according to
the Law if we only try hard enough. Yet, the reality is that no one can
live according to the Law, while we follow our habits of sins.
Just
a moment ago, we have heard a testimony by one of our fellow sisters.
That sister said, “I used to think that I was a nice person. But after I
have heard the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I came to recognize
that I was the worst sinner. And therefore, it is most precious for me
that I have met my Lord, who has abolished all my sins.” That’s right.
Without the gospel Truth the water and the Spirit, people cannot
overcome their habitual sins.
Let’s
turn to 1 John 5:1. “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.” This one verse implies two meanings.
First,
it says everyone, who believes that Jesus is Christ, is born of God.
Jesus is fundamentally God, but He came in this world to perform three
particular roles. The name Jesus means the Savior. Jesus Christ has
become our Savior by completing the gospel of the water and the Spirit
through performing His three roles: Roles of the High Priest, the
Prophet, and the King.
Jesus
is the King of kings. He is the Almighty God and also the heavenly High
Priest. Jesus temporarily took the human body and came to this world to
receive the baptism from John the Baptist, which transferred the sins
of the world onto His body. Then, He died on the Cross and resurrected
from the dead through His just righteousness and authority, and He
granted us the believers the remission of sins once for all. This is the
Truth of being born again through the faith in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. People, who know this Truth, have overcome all sins.
You Too Must Know and Believe in the Gospel Truth of the Water and the Spirit
1
John 5:20 tells us that Jesus is the Son of God and the true God, who
grants us the eternal life. Therefore, those, who are unable to believe
in Jesus as God, cannot know the gospel Truth of the water and the
Spirit either. But, unfortunately, there are many Christians who know
Jesus as only the Son of God without acknowledging Him as God Himself.
They
don’t regard Jesus as the true God who is equal in status to God the
Father. Thus, when they hear that Jesus Christ has received the baptism
and died on the Cross, people emotionally respond with mild gratitude
and fail to appreciate the magnitude of these events. If we know the
truth that Jesus is God Himself, we can truly believe in all the
righteous acts (Romans 5:18) that He has fulfilled for the remission of
our sins.
Because
Jesus the true God was the Lamb of God that carried the sins of the
world, we can believe in His baptism by John the Baptist and His blood,
which was shed on the Cross. The fact that Jesus resurrected from His
death is also possible because Jesus the true God took our sins onto
Himself.
We
have to know and believe that Jesus is fundamentally our Savior God,
who wore the human flesh temporarily. Therefore, if we are to believe,
we should not lower Jesus Christ in His essence. We have to know
accurately about Jesus Christ, who is the true God. Then, we will be
able to believe in everything He has done for us. People can believe
only as much as they know. Thus, the Apostle John said in 1 John 5:1,
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”
In
this verse, the name Christ means “Messiah the Prince” who is anointed
with oil (Daniel 9:24-26). Jesus is the King of kings. He is also the
Creator God of the entire universe. Yet, Jesus Christ is also the
heavenly High Priest, who delivered the entire humanity from the sins of
the world.
Jesus
Christ is the Son of God and the Lord of this world, which He created.
But, in order to deliver us from our sins, Jesus temporarily left the
glory of Heaven and came to this world in the flesh of man. He took our
sins onto Himself once for all through the baptism by John the Baptist
and died on the Cross, shedding His precious blood for us. Jesus has
become the absolute Savior to His believers by resurrecting from the
dead. As such, Jesus is the Savior to all those who believe in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Jesus
is also the heavenly High Priest. A High Priest performed offerings
according to the sacrificial system to blot out all the sins of his
people. However, the sacrifices of the High Priests could never make
those who approached perfect (Hebrews 10:1). But, we have been
sanctified once for all by believing in the everlasting sacrifice that
Jesus Christ, the heavenly High Priest, offered with His own body
(Hebrews 10:10).
Hence,
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life to all of us. Jesus
Christ has taught us what the real Truth is that leads us to the eternal
life. Moreover, Jesus was the real Son of God, the heavenly High
Priest, and Savior, who taught us the way to the remission of our sins.
Jesus
has descended on this world as God, the Son of God, our savior, the
High Priest, the Prophet, and the King of kings. Jesus Christ is the
true God, who has delivered us from our sins through the water, the
blood, and the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:8). Our Lord has delivered us from
the sins of the world once for all through the gospel Truth of the water
and the Spirit.
My
fellow Christians, isn’t it sure that the gospel Truth of the water and
the Spirit can make you born again? We are sure that Jesus’ baptism,
His blood on the Cross, and His resurrection from the dead were all done
for the purpose of the remission of our sins. Anyone who believes in
this Truth receives the experience of being born again along with the
remission of one’s sins. We receive the remission of our sins through
our faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. We also
receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, when God acknowledges our faith. Now,
we have become the born-again through our faith in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit.
Those
among us who are born of God believe that Jesus is God and
simultaneously the Son of God. God the Father has sent His Son to this
world. If we say that we love God the Father, we must also love Jesus
Christ who is from God.
There
are many verses in 1 John that proclaim Jesus as God. Do you know and
believe that Jesus is God? We believe that God is our Savior. I hope you
have this kind of faith. This faith believes in Jesus as fundamentally
God. Jesus is God the Creator, who created the universe and all things
in it. Jesus Christ along with our God the Father and the Holy Spirit
has created all of creations. God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy
Spirit are all equally God to us. The Triune God has created us,
delivered us from all our sins, and granted us the eternal life.
Do
you know and believe that Jesus is our God and your Lord? To follow
Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we must believe in the unchanging gospel
Truth of the water and the Spirit and also in the fact that Jesus is
God. Everything else besides this Truth is nothing but a mere conceptual
religious dogma.
“Jesus
is God. He is simultaneously both the Son of God and God Himself.
Because He is the Creator of the universe, it was Jesus Christ who
uttered the words “let there be” in Genesis. Jesus created the entire
universe alongside of God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our
God. And Jesus is our Savior God.” Knowing this truth correctly is a
prerequisite to having the correct faith. You cannot help but believe in
all the words of truth recorded in the Bible, if you believe in the
gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. Those who believe Jesus is
fundamentally God also believe in every word He has said to us.
Dear
fellow Christians, do you now believe that Jesus is God? Those of you
who still do not believe in this truth should turn your hearts around
and start believing that Jesus is indeed God.
These
days, Christians all over the world acknowledge that Jesus is the Son
of God but lack the knowledge that Jesus is the true God. Because of
their lack of this knowledge, they have not yet reached the true gospel
of the water and the Spirit. He who fails to believe Jesus Christ is
fundamentally God is committing a great sin in front of God.
The
Apostle John has said in 1 John 5:20, “This [Jesus Christ] is the true
God and eternal life.” God is light without any darkness. That light is
referring to Jesus Christ (John 1:9-10).
Is
there anyone among you who has seen God with your naked eyes? There is
not a single person. Despite of that, we can say that we know who God is
and that we have seen Him, because we have seen God through Jesus
Christ, who has descended by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Jesus is God. Jesus Christ our true God is God unable of lying. If we
believe that Jesus Christ is God, we come to believe in the baptism and
the blood on the Cross of Jesus, who has come to this world by the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, as our own salvation.
Jesus
is God. He is the true God and the eternal life. I hope that there is
not a single person among us who fails to believe in the gospel Truth of
the water and the Spirit because of one’s lack of faith in the divine
Jesus. Whether I have spoken to you eloquently or not, I reiterate this
truth with the intention of planting accurate faith in you that
confesses Jesus as fundamentally our God and Savior.
When
we call Jesus, we call Him our Lord and Savior. We call Him by those
titles because He is the true God and Savior, who has delivered us from
all our sins. I hope and pray in the name of God that you would have
this faith clearly in your hearts.
I
am certain that there are many of our brothers and sisters around the
world who despair in their hearts because they sin daily out of their
weaknesses. But, I hope you remember that we have the faith in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit that overcomes this world
sufficiently. Our faith is the faith in the gospel Truth of the water
and the Spirit. If we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
and are, thus, born of God, we can surely overcome this world.
That
we will overcome this world means we are freed from sin. Being
emancipated from sin does not mean a free pass to sin as we wish.
Regardless of our opponents, if we wish to win battles against darkness,
we have to become believers in the gospel Truth of the water and the
Spirit. The truthful faith we must possess is the faith in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit as our true salvation.
We Have to Realize How Many Sins We Commit
How
many sins do we commit over a 24-hour span? We commit sins every
moment, that is, every minute and every second. No one can claim that he
has not sinned in front of God. That’s right. Isn’t it?
If
we are committing so many sins in front of God, what will happen to us
in the future? If we are sinners in front of God, we should receive
judgment according to our sins. Whoever that has sins in one’s heart
must be cursed and receive eternal condemnation. God’s rule stated in
Romans 6:23 is, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God has said that the wage of
sin is death. But, God has granted us the remission of our sins and
eternal life through Jesus Christ.
However,
we need to acknowledge that we were hell bound because of the sins we
were committing before we have known the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. We have to admit not only of our sinful deeds, but the 12 kinds
of sins we inherited from our parents (Mark 7:20-23), we have to die for
our sins. We were destined for curses and eternal damnation in the
eternal hell fires owing to these sins and iniquities. My fellow
Christians, do you acknowledge that this was your destiny?
If
you and I have even the slightest hint of sin, we would have perished
for that sin. We were people who were destined for hell and judgments
because of our sins. However, it is an amazing feat that our Lord has
granted us the remission of our sins. It is an amazing Truth that Jesus
came to this world and received the baptism from John the Baptist to
take onto Himself all of our sins.
How
and when did Jesus take the sins of humanity onto Himself? If I asked
you to write in detail the answer to the question, very few of today’s
Christians would be able to write the correct answer. Some of them might
write, “Our sins were blotted out at the Cross.” However, Jesus took
the sins of this world at the moment He received the baptism by John the
Baptist. Jesus our Savior is the heavenly High Priest who transferred
the sins of this world onto His own body.
My
fellow Christians, many people living in this world commit numerous
sins in front of God. Can we then be cleansed from all of these sins of
the world as white as snow? Our coworkers and the people of God, who are
spread throughout the world, habitually commit sins despite their best
effort to live righteously. How can we then overcome our daily sins,
that is, our personal sins?
1
John 5:4-8 tells us about the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit.
Our Lord has called the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
as the true faith—the faith we have confesses that Jesus Christ the
true God came to this world, took onto Himself the sins of this world
once for all by receiving the baptism, died crucified on the Cross, and
resurrected from the dead.
Our
hearts are cleansed of all our sins, and are lightened lighter than a
feather through the faith in the Truth that came by the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. We are freed from all burdens of our sins because
Jesus took our sins onto Himself with the baptism He received. Since we
are freed, we can now follow God’s will, trying to live for God. Now, we
can overcome the world, not falling victims of the accusations of Satan
the Devil.
I
said that all of God’s servants and our brothers and sisters in Christ
throughout the world might fall into their habits of sinning from time
to time. It is natural for us to hate ourselves in those moments.
However, blaming ourselves won’t resolve the problem.
When
we fall into sinning, we must not look to ourselves but to Jesus
Christ, “the Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Our Lord
Jesus Christ came to this world and took our sins onto Himself through
the gospel of the water and the Spirit. He cleansed our sins away
completely. Remembering this fact will help us overcome our own
weaknesses. When we fall back into sinning because of our weaknesses
after we have been delivered from our sins, we must confess our sins
before our Lord, and then believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit to overcome such sins.
We
must confess our faith along with our fundamental sinning nature, “God,
although I have received the remission of all my sins through the faith
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I have sinned again today. I
have sinned again before Your righteous Word. I am such a being who
cannot but sin everyday. But, I believe in You, my Lord. I believe that
You have granted me the remission of sins through the gospel of the
water and the Spirit.”
We
must confess our sins and confirm God’s Word of Truth that our Lord has
blotted out all of our sins through the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. If we do so, the weight of sin in our hearts is lifted away and
we gain new hope. If we confirm that all of the sins in our hearts have
been already transferred onto Jesus, our hearts are affirmed as in the
state of the remission of our sins and we can gladly follow the will of
God.
I
tell you the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the only power to
overcome the world. Unless we believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, there is no way for us to overcome the world. Without believing
in this true gospel, we can overcome neither Satan the Devil nor
ourselves. Our Lord has delivered us through the gospel of the water and
the Spirit, who were unable to overcome the customs of this world and
the desires of our flesh. Our Lord does not commend us to overcome the
world for ourselves. Rather, He tells us that He Himself has battled the
world and won, saying, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We
must realize that God has spoken words of victory to us.
Our
Lord tells us to look at the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit
because through that Truth He has taken our sins onto Himself, abolished
all of them, and granted us the remission of our sins. He admonishes us
that we stand fast in front of God and be grateful to God in our faith
in the Truth.
We
are not supposed to say “veni, vidi, vici”—“I came, I saw, and I
conquered”—as Julius Caesar did. We do not win our battles with our own
might. Our Lord has not commended us to do anything. He only tells us to
believe in His love that is revealed through the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. The Lord tells us only to believe that He has delivered
us from all our sins, adopted us His own people, and made us His
workers. He has known that we are insufficient, and made us perfect
through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We
are to confirm the blessings of grace and the gift of salvation God has
granted us. And through our faith, we must overcome the world. We are
to come in front of God by our faith in His love. Also, He admonishes us
to live our lives of faith in the brightest of lights, giving glory to
God. I believe that God has told us to do the righteous works in this
world.
We Love Our Brothers and Sisters Living throughout the World
I
am curious as to how well our brothers and sisters around the world
have been spiritually nourished by our Christian literatures. To be
nourished spiritually, they first have to understand the literary
meanings of the Words of the Bible. Only then can they comprehend the
spiritual meanings. If you speak spiritually about God’s grace before
you exactly know what the Scripture passage says, it amounts to nothing
more than a theory. If we listen to the Words of God without having
faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the results cannot be
good.
Our
faith must be one where there is a harmony between our intellects,
emotions, and will. Then, we know correctly, feel correctly, and act
correctly. We have to know correctly in order to discern the right and
wrong of our emotions. That will determine whether I stand appropriately
in front of God. We need faith that is built on right intellect,
emotion, and will. You, the believers in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit around the world should not only try to spread the gospel but
reexamine yourselves first whether you are believing in this beautiful
gospel correctly.
We
have to honestly confess in front of God that we are beings who cannot
but commit sins everyday because of our weakness. And then, we have to
transfer all our sins onto Jesus by reconfirming the gospel Word of the
water and the Spirit. By doing so, we can stand firm again and run our
races of faith ceaselessly.
I
hope that true faith will take place in you as well. Today’s Scripture
passage says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this
is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).
I
earnestly hope you would have the faith that overcomes this world. In
order to do so, we have to first listen and learn about the gospel
Truth. Then, we will have true faith in us. True faith is not from mere
emotions but from Truth itself. Our Lord has said, “You shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). You have to know
the real Truth in order to believe in that Truth. How could we believe
in the Truth of the water and the Spirit, if we do not know it? How
could emotion just arise from nowhere?
I
would like to conclude today’s message once again with the thanksgiving
about the fact that the faith to overcome the world is in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit.
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