NOTES for Jo1 5:5-13
A Christian’s relationship with the world cannot be simple. The world has its familiar patterns and norms, and we, raised in ordinary families—even believing ones, but not holy ones—live within those norms. The desire for comfort, for psychological comfort, is simply embedded in us: to be like everyone else while feeling special, to be liked by those around us...
But for that we must be part of this world. Then we become slaves, because the world rejects those who do not obey its norms and prescriptions. Who cares why you do not fit the common pattern? No one. And if you merely say, “But I am not like you,” you easily fall under the power of the prince of this world, who catches you in the nets of pride...
Only one thing conquers the world and tears apart the nets that bind us: faith in Jesus Christ. When we act not for ourselves but in His name, He grants us freedom—freedom from the power of sin and of this world.