It is apparent that the rest of 1 John was overlooked by the author. John plainly tells us what the commandments are and what overcoming is, neither have nothing to do with "works". His commandments are to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and also love Him and one another:
1 John 3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.... 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.... 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
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. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
I encourage all to read 1 John in its entirety, otherwise it is easy to take things out of context. My pastor, who is very careful with context, has a good commentary on 1 John that you can read in the following link:
http://www.bibletrack.org/cgi-bin/bible.pl?incr=0&mo=12&dy=3
Even the other passages that include the same Greek word translated as "overcomer" or "victory", which were pointed out by the author, are all about the victory of Christ, not of anything in our own power:
Matthew 12:18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
I Corinthians 15:54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The conclusion that the author makes is most troubling:
"To be saved and to be an overcomer are two different things entirely. Salvation-eternal life-is a gift of God. It is not, it cannot be earned. But rewards are on the basis of works-to the one who overcomes-and must be earned by the individual Christian as he meets and conquers the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil."
None of us are good enough to meet and conquer temptations at all on our own. The author also suggests that our faith is something that we produce on our own. This appears to be based on a poor translation of the Greek. Here is what my Pastor says about our faith from his commentary on Galatians 2:
As Paul continues the account of his reply to Peter, here are some great verses regarding grace over law. Paul was adamant about this. I can't refrain from making a little prepositional distinction here...an important distinction. Notice verse 16 which says, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ..." Also notice verse 20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." In both verses the Greek genitive case of the noun is used rendering properly "of" instead of "in" as the proper preposition to precede it.
We're not justified because we muster up enough faith "in" Jesus as our Savior. Rather, when we choose to receive Christ as Savior, the "faith OF Christ" comes as part of that salvation package. Therefore, it's not the quality of OUR faith that makes us righteous before God, but rather the quality of Jesus' faith. Some translations have disregarded the genitive case and the concept taught here by translating these occurrences as "faith in Jesus Christ" in verse 16 and "faith in the Son of God" in verse 20. The usage of the preposition "in" makes the Greek preposition appear to be in the locative case. However, it is indisputably genitive and should be translated "of." To incorrectly translate these verses here with the word "in" would seem to indicate that the quality of one's faith in Jesus plays a part in salvation. Absolutely not! When we provide the willingness to trust Christ as Savior, Jesus provides the saving faith sufficient to do the job!
Now, you might be wondering why I am making such a big issue out of the difference between "faith of" and "faith in" in these two verses. It boils down to this question, "Is salvation a supernatural experience facilitated by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, or is it a process of educating an individual to the point that they can muster up enough faith to trust Christ as Savior. Jesus said in John 6:44 (see notes), "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." Jesus describes the process of salvation to Nicodemus in John 3:1-8 (see notes) as a "born again" experience. That clearly makes salvation the supernatural act of God, the process of which is identified in I Corinthians 12:13 (see notes) where Paul writes, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." Salvation is a faith issue, and God provides the faith to trust Christ as Savior through the salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit. That is in contrast to the misguided teaching that there are certain tenets of the Christian faith which must be understood before a person can authentically receive Christ as Savior.
Here's what we know for certain regarding the relationship between the Word of God and salvation. Romans 10:17 (see notes) says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." That part is supernatural as well. When folks without Christ are exposed to the Word of God, the convicting power of the Holy Spirit miraculously facilitates their entry into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit's baptism as seen in I Corinthians 12:13 (see notes). I really can't tell you how much the convert needed to have understood about the tenets of the faith before salvation; I just depend upon God to sort it all out.
Here's the biggest danger of making salvation about education rather than the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit - the child's salvation experience. Adults everywhere are being told that their childhood experience of trusting Christ as Savior was insufficient because they didn't fully understand what they were doing at the time. I even heard one well-known speaker and Bible commentator declare that "salvation is not a child's proposition." That was in response to a question asked him regarding how much a child needs to understand in order to be saved. Here's the bottom line: Salvation is the supernatural act of God where the Word of God is presented, and the Holy Spirit provides the faith that causes one to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. That's why it is important to understand verse 16 as "the faith OF Jesus Christ" and verse 20 as "the faith OF the Son of God."
http://www.bibletrack.org/cgi-bin/bible.pl?incr=0&mo=9&dy=26
I encourage you and the rest of the doves to read my study on Revelation 2 & 3 and compare to the study you posted yesterday:
http://www.trackingbibleprophecy.org/revelation2A.php
I believe that every Christian is an overcomer and receives all the promises of the Kingdom. These promises have nothing to do with the crowns we will receive for our works in this age. (Note the crowns mentioned in Revelation 2 & 3 are for the works done by the individuals in the church, but are separate promises than to those who overcome).
To suggest that any Christian may be blotted out of the book of life is most troubling. The author minimized the lake of fire, by saying that the "second death" is the same "fire which is to try every man's works" and the Judgment Seat of Christ. In other words, losing out on rewards is being hurt by the "second death". The author also said that "some erroneously believe that to blot the name out of the book of life is equivalent to the loss of salvation". Scripture says otherwise.
Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Maranatha!
Amy Van Gerpen
Steve Shackleton (10 July 2012)
"RE: Steve Coerper, Amy V - The Overcomers"
Is every believer an overcomer? Does every believer win the race?
Who is an overcomer? and who isn't?
Read below for some sobering insights on this subject.
http://www.raptureready.com/resource/wilson/w6.htm
Please clean up you life while you still have the opportunity to repent
and change it. Confess those deep dark secrets. Jesus will forgive you. Just ask him!
Steve Shackleton