“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5: 4 KJV).
Victory for the Christian is not as complicated as we make it. There is the theology behind the Christian’s victory over Death, Hell, and the Grave that teaches us that we would have no victory apart from Jesus having victory over all and Him giving that victory to all who put their faith in Him — “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15: 57).
But the victory every Christian struggles for is that daily victory over the temptations to sin, which come from the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Many Christians think victory is impossible. They think they have to understand fully all the verses that speak of spiritual victory before they can own it.
Very few Christians can explain how the Christian has power over sin, over the practice of sin, and eventually at the Rapture leaves the presence of sin.
Sin has been defeated but not destroyed. The Christian is to die daily to sin (Rom. 6: 6), but sin will not be completely destroyed in us until we receive our glorified body. The Christian can have victory over sin whenever they choose to yield to God’s will, but because of their sinful nature, the Christian may be defeated by sin when they choose to yield to the will of their old sinful nature. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Rom. 6: 16). We are only as holy as we choose to be.
Christians have heard that through grace and the help of the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ and therefore the Spirit of obedience, they can overcome. When the Christian chooses to walk in obedience to God, they are then walking in the Spirit (Rom. 8). But living in victory seems too complicated for some. They can’t seem to wrap their mind around the formula for victory. But living in victory is not all that complicated.
Victory does not depend altogether on God. The Christian, because they still have a will or the power of choice, has an important part to play in their personal victory.
Victory, simply put, comes by choosing to obey the known will of God. Disobedience to God is sin and brings defeat. In other words, we realize victory when we choose to walk in the Spirit and obey and live according to God’s Word (KJV). And we sin and realize defeat when we don’t.
Even though we may not understand the biblical formula for victory over sin, if we simply obey the light that God has given us, we’ll have victory, and being able to dissect the formula and understand it will come in time. Until then, choose daily to simply have faith in God and obey His Word and live for Jesus in the most difficult and trying circumstances, and victory will be yours. Victory comes through simple obedience to God.
