How can we overcome the world, in its deceptions and seductions? (1 John 5:4)

Summary of 1 John, by chapter.  Full graphic here

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. 
(1 John 5:4)




Lord Jesus, you taught us to ask in order to receive. Please explain to me this verse.

Response received:
By your own strength, you cannot overcome the world, these pressures and forces that whirl around you. You need our power in you, our love in you.
By faith you can receive our deliverance. Faith is not an abstract idea that you believe, it is a relationship with us, a relationship of trust and obedience. Paul tried to convey this when he spoke of the obedience of faith. Faith is not something you achieve, it is about receiving and following my guidance. Faith is not passive, it is following me indeed. When I was on earth, I said to my disciples Peter and James, “follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. In this time it was very practical, they followed me physically. Today, following me is about letting my voice guide you, letting the Holy Spirit dwell in you and direct you. In this way, you follow me like I followed the Father during my days on earth. It is the walk of faith, it is the life of the Spirit.
As we guide you and as you learn with us, the pressures of the world cannot destroy you or bend you anymore, you overcome the world. This living faith, this intimacy with us, this obedient and loving following brings you the real victory that you need, a victory over sin and death, over self-centeredness and all that the world tries to do to lure people away from truth and love.
To be born of God is not about a single event, but about new life and adoption in the family of God. When you are born of God, it means that you have welcomed the Holy Spirit that speaks in your heart ‘Abba, daddy, Father.’ It is what will allow you to grow in us. As you receive our love, poured in your heart through the Holy Spirit, you are invited to respond to this love, to learn to walk with us, to hear us speak in your heart and to respond to us. Being born of God is a gift of God, received through faith, and you are then invited to also walk by faith. Some people confuse walking by faith and walking in the dark, they then try to guess what we want and try to do it, yet what we want is much more than to let people guess in the dark, we want them to learn to listen and follow our love. Walking by faith requires for you to let the Holy Spirit guide you, you need to recognize and to listen to our voice. As the Spirit and I are one, the Father and I are one. I have been listening to the voice of the Father during my whole life on earth, and you have to learn to listen to my voice. The texts of the Bible, in particular the Gospels, are very important to help you recognize who I am and to prepare you to recognize my voice and to follow me. Yet, life is not in the pages of the Bible but in the communion with me, in welcoming the Holy Spirit so that you become part of our family and learn to walk as a member of the family of God. This identity of child of God is what will allow you to overcome the world in its seductions and deceptions. It is an identity that you first receive by grace, an identity that allows you to walk by faith. We will then guide you in the victories of love that we have prepared for you to manifest in this world, to the glory of the Father.