Overcoming

This is one of my favorite subject to talk about, as it really inspires me. I once had a teacher who made the excellent point that what wasn't explained in history was the information that everyone knew, the information that everyone took for granted. To me, overcoming, especially in our group fits this bill and can be a source of confusion to the younger generation. It is just so easy to assume that everyone knows what it is to be an overcomer, that the word overcoming almost becomes a platitude or colloquialism. In this post I just want to give an applicative definition of what it means to overcome.

I've heard taught that being an overcomer means that you have reached a point at which you can no longer be tempted. Each of the synoptic Gospels give an account of Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness. Hebrews also states that Jesus was tempted just like we are (Heb 4:15). I have trouble reconciling us attaining a state where we could not be tempted with the scriptural account of Jesus being tempted. Romans does not support this description of overcoming (Rom 3:10). As a matter of fact, James says something very strange about temptation (James 1:2). Who was he talking to? Obviously not "overcomers".

We do not ever reach a incorruptible state. Looking at this logically, if we did somehow manage to reach what would be a sinless state, we would no longer need a savior. If we attained this point of perfection, we would no longer need to worry about how we handled ourselves. What I find though is that the people who espouse this doctrine of overcoming are very worried about committing sin, and don't have much assurance. Without being overt about it, they seem to believe a salvation of grace up to a point. Somewhere in their Christian walk they switch over from believing in grace to believing in works, or at least denial of the works of the flesh. I once asked a wonderful elderly lady who had been about our way for almost all of her life whether she knew that she would go to heaven, and she began telling me about how she always tried to do good and at least she tried not to sin, but she was just never sure that it was enough so she just kept trying. Eph 2:8-9 directly addresses this denial of the gift of God which is the product of teaching overcoming this way. We cannot ever save ourselves.

So what is overcoming? I'd like to use an example to illustrate my point because it will be more poignant. Consider if you will a man who is an alcoholic. He attends AA and turns his life around. He may never lose the desire to drink for the rest of his life, but every time he denies that desire and refuses to take a drink, he is an overcomer.

Overcoming is an action verb, not a state of being. We are admonished to put off the old man and put on the new man (Col 3:9-10) but no where in that admonition are we led to believe that we will reach a level eventually where that is automatic. Your Christian walk does not have an autopilot.

Personalizing this, every time I am tempted and make a choice not to sin and follow through with it, I am an overcomer. It's that easy. Anyone can do it, there is no mystery involved. In a way, it's much like breathing; doing it regularly is very good for you. There is a constant aspect of our walk described by Luke (Luke 9:23). We will all struggle with sin until the day that we die, it is our nature. We will not obtain an incorruptible nature until we have gone out of this existence (1 Cor 15:52, 1 Pet 1:4). So until we do die, the old saying "Keep on keeping on" applies.

This being said, this is NOT an admonition to no longer try to be an overcomer. Humanity tends to vacillate from one extreme to another. I am not saying that anything goes or that we should just keep sinning because of the grace of God (Rom 6:1-2, Rom 6:12-15). Please don't read anything into this post that I'm not saying.

I want to bring in a concept of worldliness into the discussion here because it fits. The world is full of sin and corruption, but we've been called out of the world (John 15:19). But still we are surrounded by the world we are called out of. It's like being in the middle of a river and not getting wet. This is impossible, but I believe that my God doesn't know the meaning of that word. As a matter of fact, he allowed the children of Israel to pass through the Red Sea and the Jordan on dry ground. We can only be called out through a closeness with Jesus Christ, no other way! That make us of God, his children, because of Jesus dwelling within us (1 John 4:4). In Him and in Him only do I dwell.

I'm going to raise the stakes here a bit and state that Jesus was an overcomer. What? Did I hear me right? I want to say it again, Jesus was an overcomer; he overcame sin (John 16:33). How did he do this? One temptation at a time. You see, temptation only becomes sin when we give in. When you don't overcome, you sin. When you don't sin, you overcome. Jesus did not sin, he overcame sin. As a matter of fact if Jesus hadn't overcome, we wouldn't be able to.

There is so much scripture regarding this I hardly know where to start, but don't know if any other scripture lays this out better than 1 Cor 15:57. We have our victory through Christ! Go back a bit you will see that we have yet to be completely changed, and we will put on incorruptibility (1 Cor 15:52-53). I do not separate the physical from the spiritual in this scripture as some are wont to do. Both physical and spiritual are the creation of God, and both are damned without Him.

I want to close this post by quoting 1 John 2:1-2 because it is a passage so full of hope for us, so full of meaning, and so necessary in these times. "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: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world."