Searching for some victory?

We can rest fully in the sacrifice of Christ. His atonement has abolished the penalty of sin forever in the life of the believer. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55–57). If victory is ours in Christ, why do we still commit sins?

If God has given us a new heart and mind and equipped us with the power to live the Christian life, why do we still sin? That’s a legitimate and disturbing concern for each of us who desire to follow Christ. It’s simply because our corruptible and mortal flesh continues to fight against the Spirit. There is a very real and present experience of spiritual warfare in our lives. I do not need to convince you of this stark reality—if you are honest, you know that you live with it each day.

There is certainly nothing we can do in the flesh that will ever please God. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18). So what hope is there for mortal man?

The flesh could refer to the flesh covering our sinew and bones, but here it denotes mere human nature. Paul is certainly not suggesting the ear that hears the preaching of God’s word, or the mouth that utters His truth, or the eyes that read His inerrant word are all bad and no good thing dwells in them. In Biblical context the flesh is the earthly nature of man that is opposed to God’s divine influence and therefore prone to sin. As a matter of fact, the flesh nature is opposed to God in every way. The only real good in man is his new spiritual nature, the new man, which is firmly rooted in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Understand: our new heart and new mind is positionally perfect. As a believer, you cannot be washed in the blood more than you already are. The blood of Jesus Christ is continually cleansing you and presenting you acceptable to God. You are justified based solely on the completed work of Jesus Christ. Jesus came “in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight ” (Colossians 1:22).

If you are like I am, you’re probably more interested in the “operational” or “experiential” aspect of living the daily Christian life. If I am presented “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight,” why do I still commit sins? Why don’t I live a holy, unblameable, and unreproveable lifestyle? We must understand that we have not yet received our ultimate and final condition of sanctification—the final and literal transformation into a glorified condition when the very presence of sin will be gone forever. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality

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” (1 Corinthians 15:52–53).

So what should we be doing as true born-again Christians? We are admonished in scripture to actively lay aside, mortify, put off, abstain, yield, flee, walk, trust, believe, reckon, awake out of sleep, cast off the works of darkness, put on the armor of light, and be holy in our present mortal state. We appropriate these Biblical exhortations through the instrument of faith. We cease from our own labor when we enter into the Lord’s rest by faith in the completed and finished work of Jesus Christ. I pray that you will fully know “…the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you

, the hope of glory:” (Colossians 1:27). Is Christ in you? Are you in Christ? Then abide in the victory that is yours through Christ.

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2 Responses to “Searching for some victory?”

  1. Don Says:

    Forrest,

    Thank you for this reading. As you have said before we are complete in Christ. (Col 2:10.) We must also remember that we have an advocate with the Father. Psalm 51 lets us know that The Father is always listening for our Confession. We look forward to His coming to fulfill that great promise.

    In Christ,

    Don deSimone
    Gal 6;10



  2. Forrest Says:

    Yes, that’s right brother Don. I really like this verse:

    “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye SIN NOT. And IF any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:1).