Spiritual

Do You Have The Overcoming Life?

Are you living the victorious life? Are you an overcomer? These questions are directed at Christians. If you are a believer in Christ Jesus, this question is for you to answer. Many people may think that living a life of victory is to have a good job, a powerful car, a fat bank account, live in your own mansion, be married to a successful person and have wonderful children.

No, far from it, these things are good and your Father in heaven wants you to have them. But they are not the things that make you an overcomer nor do they make you victorious. As a matter of fact, if you have these things and you do not have the wisdom from God to handle them they may be the very things that will drive you to destruction and eternal damnation. 

These are the very things that we are told as Christians not to run after because the bible says, “…your Father knows that you have need of them but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”

I started recently to ponder about whether we as Christians live victorious lives, whether believers in the Lord Jesus Christ internalizes the truth of the word of God in their lives, if they even believe it and if they live by it or want to live by it. 

Not too long ago I went for an interview in a Christian setting. I had a face-to-face interview with a panel of four people that consisted of the two senior pastors of the Church – the Man of God himself whom I have great respect for and his wife, and two other people, a lady I know that has been a believer for a long time and a man I was meeting for the first time who from the discussions, mentioned being in the faith for the past 14 years.

Most of the discussions we had dwelled upon my shortcomings and my weakness, whether I get angry or not. The kind of problems I had in the last Church where I was a worker and how I resolved it. I looked back and didn’t remember any problem I had in that place with anybody nor did I get angry with anyone, neither did anyone get angry with me. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not a saint and I have not said that I do not get angry but I never had a problem of getting angry with anyone so there was no issue to resolve. Obviously the panel of interviewers misunderstood me and said that I must be a saint or a special person. The senior pastor said I must be a colossus of sainthood or something like that. 

But wait a minute, Isn’t that what we aspire to be as Christians? So, could that be really wrong if one person has internalized the truth of the gospel in her life and living it?

This encounter set me thinking. Is there something wrong if a Christian who has been a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ for two decades and counting becomes a colossus of sainthood? What does 2Cor 5:17 tell us? “Therefore if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 

There are four major things to consider in this scripture. 1, What does it mean to be in Christ? 2. What does it mean to be a new creation? 3. What does it mean for old things to pass away? 4. How do old things become new? 

If a Christian thinks deeply, analyze, understand, internalize and live by these four truths of the word of God in this single scripture, there is no way anger would be a part of your life as a living, breathing, tongue-speaking child of God and good example, ambassador of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When they, I  mean the panel of four interviewers were laughing and said I must be a colossus of sainthood, I was wondering if what they should be asking me was about my weaknesses and shortcomings or if they should be asking me about my experiences as a child of God since I told them I became a born-again in 1996. 

This scripture, Galatians 2:20 came to my mind at the time they were laughing, “I have been crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life I live now in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” But I did not say anything because my earlier attempt to explain how I have internalized and began to live what I read from the bible had been rebuffed by sarcasm and laughter.

So, I kept quite because you know I was before two senior pastors who are presiding over a mega church with branches all over the world. Inside of me I said there must be something they know that I didn’t know. But how can I be wrong about living a victorious and an overcomers life in Christ when the words of the bible says I can live above sin, I can overcome anger. In fact, the word is, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.”

The overcoming life is lived when you know that by yourself you can do nothing. The victorious life is lived in Christ. By yourself you cannot overcome anger or even any kind of sin but you become victorious when you now that you cannot but Jesus can.

"Am dead and my life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is my life shall appear I will appear with Him in glory." "I consider all things dead for the excellence of God …" 

The life of the Spirit in Christ Jesus has made me free from the life of sin and death. In order words, the life you have in Jesus has given you an exchange, no more impossibility, no more fruitless living and barrenness of any kind. It’s a change-over, a switch-over if you like. It’s a swop. It’s the great exchange. It’s free, given freely and freely you receive it.

A man who has not received the new life, who has not known regeneration, is led captive by the devil at his will; he is without the Spirit of life, he is still subject to, “the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). You are “born of God” (1John 5:18), and “you are no longer your own” (1 Cor. 6:19). 

Christ lives in you now, the life you live now in the flesh, you live by the faith of the son of God, who loves you and gave his life for you. (See Galatians 2:20). Your old nature of sin, the natural man, the first order, the Adamic nature has been changed for a new order which is the order of Christ – the heavenly order. (See 1 Cor. 15:45-49).