John, who is one of Jesus’ original 12, writes that to be “born of God” one must believe that “Jesus is the Christ.” If we claim to love God, then we must believe in and love the one who is begotten of Him, that is, Jesus. By claiming we love God, we admit (declare) that we love Jesus.
John also tells us we must “carry out His commands” immediately informing us that “His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5: 2, 3, NIV).” (By the way, burdensome is defined as “undesirably restrictive” and “taxing” by the Oxford Dictionary.)
Essentially, God’s commands are not taxing or undesirably restrictive because God has overcome the world through His Son, Jesus. And by virtue of our belonging to Jesus, we also have overcome the world (the world being anything in opposition to God).
Believe it. We have overcome the world even as we live within this world. So, as John says, “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him (1 John 5:14, 15, NIV).”
Grace Partakers 