VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIFE
2 Corinthians 2:14 (Contemporary English Version)
14 I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.
1 John 5:4 (New International Version)
4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
THE POSSSIBILITY OF THE VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIFE
We often hear sermons on the so called victorious Christian life, and we keep wondering if the message is real in our life experiences or applies to us ordinary Christians. We feel we haven’t reached anything as to be described as a victorious Christian. There is no question that there are plenty of real life testimonies about victorious Christian living and success, but we feel we are simply in the periphery of what could be described as victorious. Other believers have never even heard of the victorious life, only to be contented to remain in the slough of despond. We will find out what the Word of God says about this subject.
The Bible says Christians are overcomers so they are victorious. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians declares he “is grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory.” The question is victory over what? Victory over sin; victory that overcomes the world. To overcome means to defeat. The word “overcomes” means to prevail, to conquer, to win a victory, to overpower. Every child of God has the capacity to conquer the world system. The “world” refers to the world system where the kingdom of darkness influenced by the devil operates. It is a system opposed to God and His word. The world system is based on the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life. The fallen world system is governed by Satan. Everything from the way relationships are concluded, to finances, and all manner of worldly activities, is based on principles designed by the devil which is corrupt. Notice what the great Apostle exclaimed: “I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory.” And this is victory that overcomes the world. Meaning the world system controlled by Satan. That is the victorious Christian life being spoken of here. Dr. Alban Douglas comments that “the devil does not fear a religious person or a powerless Christian but he surely fears the power of a triumphant life.”
So let us make one thing clear. A Victorious Christian life does not mean worldly success in all its worldly pursuits.
PRINCIPLES OF THE VICTORIOUS LIFE
The victorious life is a gift received from God by faith. “This is the victory that has overcome the world even our faith, even our faith” says the Apostle John. A victorious life is a gift. We cannot attain it in our own strength. The believer begins a new life in the Spirit. Victory is the work of the Savior in us. Our strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Cor. 12:9. As we confess our inability to gain victory and yield to the mighty power of Christ, our Lord gains the victory. Zacchaeus the corrupt tax official gained victory after his encounter with the Lord. He became a completely different man. An entirely new man. This is evidence of the victorious life. Even respectable people need victory over their pride, and their pet sins. One qualification to have a victorious life is to be broken is spirit.
PROMISES OF THE VICTORIOUS LIFE
John 7:37-38. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Here we have the promise of living water flowing from within. The human soul has thirst. The Lord is not talking about physical thirst. The soul has something like physical thirst. When we go without water our body gets thirsty. The soul when it goes without God gets thirsty. The soul was made to live on God. If you do not have Christ your soul will die of spiritual thirst.
The promise of victory here is victory over the dryness and barrenness of the soul.
John 10:10 New International Version “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Here we have the promise of abundant life. The word “abundant” in the Greek is perisson which means “exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure. In short Jesus promises us a life far better than we could ever imagine. Before we begin to imagine having luxurious homes, expensive cars and more money we could not count, as the abundant life promised here this is not what it means. The abundant life spoken of here does not consist of an abundance of material things.
Abundant life is eternal life. A life that begins the moment we come to Christ and receive Him as Savior and goes on throughout eternity.
The promise of victory here is the promise of eternal life.
Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you.”
The promise of victory over sin.
Romans 8:37 “Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him.
The promise of becoming more than conquerors. It means we not only achieve victory but we are overwhelmingly victorious. To be more than conquerors mean we face the trials of life with the certainty that we are not alone. We have a mighty Father who fights for us and always wins victorious.
DISTINGUISHING A VICTORIOUS LIFE
A victorious Christian may be recognized by his or her identity with Christ. Romans 6:4-22 outlines the identity we have with Christ to live victoriously over sin and the world:
1 Identification with Christ’s death. Our old man is crucified with Him. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 is a typical Pauline verse in which Paul expresses the absolute new identity of a Christian.
Death with Christ frees us from the power and dominion of sin. (Roman 6:7)
2 Identification with Christ’s burial. Romans 6:4 says, “By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.”
3 Identification with Christ’s resurrection. Romans 6:5-7 “ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”
These are the signs which can be found in the victorious life of a true Christian.
Dr. Alban Douglas said that a victorious life can be ours when we obey all the instructions (directions} of the Holy Spirit to us personally.
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