Believers are called into a victorious life and are overcomers by faith in Christ. You cannot have faith in Christ and lose the battle. No matter how fierce the battle or challenge that you are going through may be, you will have victory at the end. The basis of faith is believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The root of the word ‘overcomes’ in Greek is Nike – to be victorious. In other words, it is not just surviving or barely making it to the end, it carries the idea of finishing strong victoriously. Paul even wrote that believers could be overwhelming conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37-39).

Every child of God is in a battle between the world’s influence and his faith in God. We are in spiritual warfare; there is much against us. The world is appealing to the flesh, but when we let the flesh have its way, it only results in pains, destruction and shame, and our spirit becomes weaker. The theme throughout the Apostle John’s writings is that believers are overcomers. He mentions believers overcoming the devil or the “the evil one” in 1 John 2:13–14. In the book of Revelation, John refers to believers as victorious conquerors multiple times (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). Paul is not implying that only certain “super-Christians” are overcomers; rather, every true believer is an overcomer because he has been born of God. For the true believer, it is a world of victory and not defeat. The believer has been empowered to live a victorious life over sin, temptation and trouble that may come his way.

John states that “our faith” is the victory that overcomes the world. The original Greek terms translated as “our faith” in 1 John 5:4 refers to putting our trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ or believing in the gospel’s message. Anyone who believes in Jesus and trust in Christ’s atoning work on the cross — His death and resurrection — shares in His victory over sin (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15), death (Acts 2:24), and the forces of evil at work in the world (1 John 3:8; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14). Through faith, we believe in Jesus Christ and are born of God (Galatians 2:16). Our faith is the key to victory. The only way to overcome the world is through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We continue to overcome this world in our daily life experiences by walking in faith in Jesus Christ.

When you get born again, it does not mean you are free from sin, temptation and challenges of life, but there is assurance of victory for everyone who is on Jesus’ side. The world is full of trouble, but the Bible says that every child of God is an overcomer (John 16:33). As Christians, we still battle with sin and darkness that has filled our fallen world. It is challenging here on earth because all that is in the world are sinful desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes and pride of life. To overcome all these things, you must be on guard as a soldier of the cross. You must not allow worldly pleasures to overwhelm and overtake you. You must constantly and consistently bring your flesh under control of the Holy Spirit and that is how you can overcome the world. We triumph in any and every situation through Christ, who gives us strength (Philippians 4:12).
• Today’s nugget: We overcome the world by walking in faith. Prayer: Lord help me to be an overcomer. Prayer lines: 08033299824. E-mail: [email protected], Rev. (Dr.) Abel Ukachi Amadi, General Superintendent, Assemblies of God Nigeria.