How to Live a Victorious Christian Life

Christians are to live a triumphant life. God does not ever promise in His word that we would get an abundant life or happy life.

Life of faith chooses to do God’s will, because that’s the only life we would rather have. Although Christians will live messy lives, we know that His word, His spirit and divine power can help us overcome our trials in our darkest moments.

God’s promises to every Christian

There are many promises God gives to every Christian to help them have victory over their trials and conquer adversity in life.

1. God promises victory to every saved believer against their sin/trial/certain battles that they are facing.
   

   1 John 5:4: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

2. God promises that sin cannot conquer them because they are under grace.
   

   Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

3. Temptation is not unbearable.
   

   1 Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

4. They will always gain victory.
   

   2 Corinthians 2:14: “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”

5. God does not just promise victory but superabundant victory.
   

   Romans 8:37: “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

6. Spirit-filling victory
   

   John 7:37-39: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

Principle

1. Faith
   They cannot gain victory when in doubt.

   Romans 1:17: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

2. Christ in them fights and wins against sin.
   The reason they keep losing is that they are not giving in to Christ.

   Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

3. To achieve a just life, it is not by their effort but by faith in Jesus Christ.
   

   Galatians 3:11: “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”

4. When they put themselves down while Christ arises, they become stronger.
   They must not think that they are the ones who fight and win against sin. They must focus on Jesus as the one who fights against their sins.

   2 Corinthians 12:9: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Identification

1. Death of Jesus Christ
   The more that they identify themselves with His death, the more they gain victory.
   Their old man (old nature, flesh) was crucified with Jesus. It is dead. They must identify that flesh as nailed on the cross so that its urges and lusts do not reach them.

   Romans 6:5-6: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

2. Burial
   Not only should they reckon the old man nailed to the cross, but they should also take and bury him deep down, never to come up against them.

   Romans 6:4: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

3. Resurrection
   The new man who was raised from the dead is their spiritual nature. What happened to their desire for Bible-reading, prayer? Their thirsting after God and His holiness? Their problem is that they put the spiritual man to death and keep alive their old fleshly nature. Thus, they must identify themselves with the Holy Spirit in them, what He is feeling or sensing about their sin, and the grief caused to Him.

   Romans 6:5: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

4. Present triumphal life
   Jesus Christ is living in triumph now. He is living in victory, glory, clean from, and victorious over sin! Thus, they should also identify themselves as presently having victory over their sins.

   Romans 6:4: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
   Romans 6:6: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
   Romans 6:8: “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:”
   Romans 6:10: “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”

Secrets of a Victorious Life

Herein lies the secrets of a victorious life for godly people who are trying to live a victorious life.

1. Know

   They get a victory against sin when they know that they are dead to the flesh. If they know, to the point that they believe it, that fleshly desire/trial that they are going through, it is dead to them.

   Romans 6:6: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

   This spiritual circumcision is cutting them off from their entire bodies of sins. God put a dividing line between their soul and flesh. They are in the flesh, but they are no longer a part of it. This flesh is like an outer dead shell, like a chick that comes out of its egg. The egg is no longer a part of the chick.

   Colossians 2:11-13: “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;”

   So when they have these feelings in their flesh they say, “This is an illusion that I’m feeling right now as if I was dreaming”. Dreams are not real, but sometimes they feel that way.

2. Reckon

   Reckon means to apply, to make yourself.

   Romans 6:7: “For he that is dead is freed from sin.”
   Romans 6:11: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
   Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

   When they reckon themselves to be dead to sin, they become dead to sin.

3. Yield

   It is Jesus Christ in them that gains the victory. They have to yield to the living Christ in them.

   Romans 6:13: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
   Galatians 5:16: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

   They would not pay attention to sin or choose to sin if they were preoccupied. When they live in sin, their life must then be replaced with something else, a Holy Spirit-filled life! Read the Bible, pray, go to church, etc.

   Does your new, spiritual man yearn for spiritual food, or have you been so alive to your flesh that the Spirit is dead to you? They need to remember their holy spiritual nature, which craves the word of God, prayer, fellowship with the church, etc. They need to enact it and work it out. They must yield to the spiritual nature so that they can be a part of it. To do that, they must reckon their flesh dead and switch the role from fleshly to spiritual, yielding to the Holy Spirit within them.

Choice of the Victorious Life

1. If they choose to sin, they become enslaved to it.
   If they choose righteousness, they become enslaved to it.

   Romans 6:16: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

2. God is not to blame for their sins. It is their choice.
   i. Men chose to sin, which is why they go through the consequences of sin, temptation, disease, famine, starvation. They have always chosen to disobey God ever since the Garden of Eden.
   ii. When they live in sin, God still allows them to make their own choices. He did not make them robots to their addiction. They have a choice to say no and refrain themselves. When they decide to give in to the lusts of the flesh, they fall into sin. They make their own decision and are responsible for them, not God.

   James 1:13-14: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

3. Freedom is theirs for the taking.
   The Lord Jesus Christ already won the victory at Calvary and has given them that victory. At times, they live a life of victory, but they choose not to stay in it. They are ignoring or forgetting their freedom. All they are seeing is sin and slavery to addiction. Jesus Christ gave them freedom, so they must say to themselves, “I’ve had freedom all this time, I just need to claim it, believe it, use it, and not waste it!”

   Romans 6:18: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

4. When they choose to sin through one’s life decision, it is not that they are addicted and stuck to that one sin. The sin grows into iniquity, into deeper sin.
   

   Romans 6:19: “I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.”

5. The opposite is also true. When they choose to yield to righteousness, they are not a slave to Satan anymore. They are slaves to Jesus Christ.
   When they are bound to and stuck with Jesus Christ, that is true freedom. They are not left to themselves to fight against addiction and sin, but they are bonded and enslaved to a higher power. No matter what, they cannot separate from Jesus Christ, but the problem is that they are not using this freedom.

   Romans 6:22: “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”

Failure of the Victorious Life

1. The promise of confession and cleansing no matter what
   

   1 John 1:7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
   1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

2. God can use their failures for good one day.
   

   Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

3. Do not rely on past victories. They must only rely on Jesus Christ.
   When they rely on past victories, pride will get in the way. Remember one’s humble beginnings.

   Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”