This is the victory that has overcome the world
1 John 5:3-4 — Showing love for God is simple: You live your life by His rules, His commandments.
The trail represents God’s commands, the climb represents the Christian life, the sunrise represents Christ’s victory, and the traveler walks with confidence rather than strain, showing that obedience born from love is not a burden. Image generated by ChatGPT (OpenAI) using the DALL·E model.
“In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
1 John 5:3-4 NIV
On Monday we looked at the first epistle of Peter, written to the church in Asia Minor; today’s verses are from the first epistle of John. This epistle was not written to a specific church; it was instead written as a general (or catholic) letter to all Christians. It is a short epistle — only five chapters — and each of the chapters is less than 30 verses long.
Bible Hub offers this short description of the overarching theme of this epistle:
1 John is an essential work for understanding core teachings on love, truth, and obedience within the body of believers. The letter identifies the transformative power of genuine faith and emphasizes the necessity of living consistently with divine truth.
Looking at today’s verses, they are focused on the message of obedience: “to keep His commands”. That is what love for God entails. It is not claiming to be a follower of Christ, yet continuing in the same bad behaviors you exhibited before “finding Jesus”. It is not a first love experience that sets your heart pounding. It’s not telling all of your social media followers that you love God.
20th-century American theologian James Montgomery Boice, cited on Enduring Word, elaborated on this: “Christians frequently attempt to turn love for God into a mushy emotional experience, but John does not allow this in his epistle.”1
Showing love for God is simple: You live your life by His rules, His commandments.
John knew this first-hand from his time as an apostle of Jesus. He had heard Jesus speak this truth at the Last Supper, and wrote it down in his Gospel in John 14:15:
““If you love me, keep my commands.”
and in John 14:21:
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.””
For most of us sinners, keeping God’s commands is difficult and to live as Jesus would want us to live seems impossible. Yet in this verse, John tells us “And his commands are not burdensome” David Guzik of Enduring Word provided this commentary on 1 John 5:3, which explains why God’s commandments should not be considered a burden to Christians:
d. His commandments are not burdensome: Some Christians feel very burdened by the commandments of God, yet John insists that they are not burdensome.
i. His commandments are not burdensome when we see how wise and good the commandments of God are. They are gifts from Him to show us the best and most fulfilling life possible. God’s commands are like the “manufacturer’s handbook” for life; He tells us what to do because He knows how we work best. God’s commands are not given to bind or to pain us, or because God is like an irritated old man.
ii. His commandments are not burdensome because when we are born again, we are given new hearts – hearts which by instinct wish to please God. As part of the New Covenant, the law of God has been written on the heart of every believer (Jeremiah 31:33).
iii. His commandments are not burdensome when we compare them to the religious rules men make up. John is not trying to say obedience is an easy thing. If that were so, then it would be easy for us to not sin, and John has already acknowledged that we all do sin (1 John 1:8). John is thinking of the contrast Jesus made between the religious requirements of the religious leaders of His day, and the simplicity of loving God and following Him. Jesus said all the rules and regulations of the Scribes and Pharisees were as heavy burdens (Matthew 23:4). In contrast, Jesus said of Himself, My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:30). Instead of the burdensome requirement to keep hundreds of little rules and regulations, Jesus simply says to us, “Love Me and love my people, and you will walk in obedience.”
iv. His commandments are not burdensome when we really love God. When we love God, we will want to obey Him and please Him. When you love someone, it seems little trouble to go to a lot of difficulty to help or please that person. You enjoy doing it, though if you had to do it for an enemy, you would be complaining all the time. Just as the seven years of Jacob’s service for Laban seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for Rachel (Genesis 29:18), so obeying God’s commands does not seem a burden when we really love Him. An old proverb says, “Love feels no loads.”
John goes on in the next verse to elaborate on why God’s commandments are not burdensome, saying “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
I’ve noted before that one key word to describe Christianity is transformation, and in verse 4, John tells us that all who have been born again in Christ will overcome the world. Once again from David Guzik:
a. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world: John begins with a principle that is so simple, yet so powerful – if we are born of God, we will overcome the world. The idea that anything born of God could be defeated by this world was strange to John and it should be strange to us.
b. This is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith: Since believing on Him is the key to being born of God (1 John 5:1), the key to victory is faith, not only an initial, “come-to-the-altar-and-get-saved” faith, but a consistently abiding faith, an ongoing reliance and trust upon Jesus Christ.
Through faith and obedience, we can overcome the world.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I thank You that through my belief in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus I am born of You and have become Your beloved child. Thank You for setting out Your commands and wisdom in the Bible, so I may understand that Your instructions are not a burden, but rather the way for me to live a full and fruitful life. I thank You for Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross that allows me to overcome the world through my faith. AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
Commentary quotations from Enduring Word are used with the written permission of the author and reproduced here in their original format. © 1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com
BibleHub was accessed on July 13, 2026 for commentary on 1 John 5:3-4
Boice, James Montgomery “The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary” (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1979)