How to Be an Overcomer

“Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”  I John 5:5

How to be an overcomer?  The above verse answers that question directly.  No matter what happens in the world, in your family, or in your life, you can be an “overcomer”, that is, one who gains the victory over conflicts, strife, adversity, problems, persecution, fears, and worry.  Wow!  That’s a lot of stuff to overcome, but it is possible.  The requirement is to believe in Jesus Christ and in His identity as the Son of God, because it is Christ who gives us the power and ability to conquer everything that can hinder our walk with Him.

God would not require us to believe in His Son and then leave us to fend for ourselves.  Believing in Christ opens a door to a treasure trove of spiritual gifts and abilities that the world cannot attain because these abilities are made possible by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  He is given to the believer as a guide, a helper, a comforter, and enables believers to have direct access to God, the Father.  The main cause of failure to grow in faith in the Christian’s life is sin.  The Holy Spirit lets us know when we have veered off the straight and narrow and prods us to repent.  He helps us when we pray.  We don’t always know what to pray for or even how to pray, but the Holy Spirit takes our sometimes-feeble attempts to speak with the Lord and interprets the desires of our heart when we can’t find the right words to pray (Romans 8:26).  There have been times when I have heard someone pray out loud, and their prayer was so eloquent and nearly perfect by human standards, it made my prayers seem inadequate and rather childish.  However, it’s not the eloquence of our words, but the sincere desire to seek the ears of God to lay before Him our worries and needs.  Since the Holy Spirit resides within the believer, He knows what we are trying to say because He brings to our minds those things for which we need to pray.

In John 16:33, Jesus said to His disciples, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  The disciples had been having a difficult time believing what Jesus said concerning His soon departure from them and the fact that He was indeed from God.  He kept on talking to them and performing miracles, and they were finally convinced that He was God’s Son.  He also warned them that soon they would all be scattered away from Him which happened when He was arrested.  His warning of persecution also came to pass as they spread the gospel and carried on His work after He ascended back to His Father in heaven.  Paraphrasing a statement from Matthew Henry’s Commentary concerning tribulation:  “Christians will have tribulation in this world.  Men persecute them because they are good.  God corrects them because they are not so good.  Men want to destroy them.  God sends affliction to them to make them fit for heaven, so between God and men, believers will have tribulation.”  No matter what happens, the Christian can still have peace in his heart because everything is under Jesus’ control.  Nothing escapes Him.  He has overcome the world, and if we abide in Him, we, too, can be overcomers.

There are several promises in the book of Revelation to those who overcome:  the right to eat of the tree of life (2:7); no hurt will come to them in the second death, which is the resurrection in which all those who rejected Christ will be judged and banished to Satan’s hell (2:11); the right to eat of the hidden manna and be given a new name (2:17); be given power over the nations (2:26); be clothed in white raiment and have his or her name proclaimed to the Father as one of His children (3:5); be given a prominent place in God’s heavenly temple (3:12); be given permission to sit with Jesus in His throne (3:21); and shall inherit all things.  Jesus will be the believer’s God, and the believer will be His child (21:7).  I have heard of perks that come with certain positions or jobs, but nothing like these.

There is a lot to overcome in this sin-cursed world, and the position of overcomer is not for the faint of heart.  It requires commitment, perseverance, and obedience, and only those who are sold out completely to Christ will be able to overcome.  Unbelievers haven’t the slightest notion of what God requires if He is to be honored, worshiped, and served.  The difference between believers and unbelievers is monumental.  It’s like falling overboard with a life preserver and falling overboard without one.  Only those who cling to Christ will be able to overcome the waters of adversity, persecution, and sin.