The Bible says:
“For whatsoever is born of God (born-again) overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
— 1 John 5: 4
A person joins the winning side and gets victory over death, Hell, and the grave when they put their faith in Jesus Christ who won the victory for us and gives that victory to us. (1 Corinthians 15: 57) A Christian is a victor only through Jesus Christ..
The Christian will be constantly tempted by the pleasure of the flesh, the things of the world and the lies of Satan to depart from the path of obedience and victory.
But as the Christian chooses to walk in obedience to Christ they will experience victory over them all..
Victory is a choice. We experience victory every time we choose to obey God.
We lose and experience defeat every time we choose to disobey God and yield to the temptation to sin.
Jesus Christ is our Captain and we get the victory over our enemy every time we obey His commands.
Many Christians live defeated lives and cannot understand why. After they became a Christian they assumed they would always automatically get the victory.
But they have to learn that it is only through their choice to obey Christ that they actually experience victory. When they disobey Christ they experience defeat and the enemy gets a victory.
They can repent of their disobedience and overcome the enemy and their defeat and be restored through their obedience to Christ.
The Christian always wins when they obey God and they always lose when they disobey Him.
To walk in victory and to be one that overcomes the enemy the Christian must walk in obedience to Christ.
When we obey Christ it may not seem to us or others that we are victorious because we lose so many other things. But we must count our losses as the price for our victory.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross He was considered by many to be a loser and a failure. But we know that He was victorious over death, Hell, and the grave, and because He lives and reigns we that have trusted Him as Savior will live and reign with Him one day.
The average Christian lives in defeat because to some degree they have succumbed to the wiles of the Devil and the ways of the world.
They can choose to remain defeated or they can choose to claim the victory which God promised to all who obey Him.
Choosing to turn from our sin and obey God and live in victory will bring revival to the church.
A holy Christian is a victorious Christian. A worldly Christian is a defeated Christian.
James H. Cagle is a Ray City resident who pastored several churches for a total of 11 years. Email him at pastorjameshcagle@ yahoo.c
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