An Experiential Possibility

Here, therefore, we come to our first logical conclusion. Unceasing victory is possible for every believer because that blessed One who himself is unceasingly victorious, has entered the redeemed spirit, and that to stay. For this reason we find that the life of fullness in God is promised on the simplest conditions.

There is nothing intricate or mystic about it. Our Lord said, “He that believes” (John 7:38 – the same simple condition as for salvation), “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Is that the life of victory you are seeking? That is the life promised to every believer! Repudiate any suggestion, therefore, that the victorious Christian life is an unrealistic or fanciful theory. It is an experiential possibility. Indeed, it is the birthright of the weakest or simplest believer (Rom. 10:12). This is affirmed and reaffirmed times without number in many clear pronouncements of the Word of God. Allow me to quote a few of these outstanding promises:

“Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying: ‘I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!'” (Exod. 15:1)…

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not leave you, nor forsake you” (Josh. 1:5).

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all” (1 Chron. 29:11).

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call his name Jesus: for He will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).

“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).

“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:24-25)

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14).

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (1 John 5:4).

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Rev. 12:11).

“These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are called, chosen and faithful” (Rev. 17:14 – emphasis added).

God’s Norm

Do these Scriptures suffice to establish the fact that nothing short of steady, permanent conquest in Christ is God’s norm for every believer? The defeated Christian is … abnormal. He is a paralyzed member of Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 2:14). The defeated child of God fails to function effectively in the divine program and purpose. Backsliding and carnality are not only inexcusable, but incompatible with normal Christian experience. They produce a regime of contradiction.

Since a living Christ dwells within, there is never any reason for defeat. No enemy is too powerful for the Almighty (Psalm 91:1). Every temptation may be resisted (1 Cor. 10:13). Every emergency may be triumphantly anticipated. If a believer is overcome by the enemy, the simple explanation is that the Savior has been denied his rightful position of supremacy in the heart. His dethronement must ever lead to failure in the conflict, and an arrest of spiritual life. Since practical victory can never be divorced from his indwelling presence, therefore, it follows that the life of triumph is hopeless apart from him (John 15:5). Again, let me repeat — He is your Victorious Life.

Part 2 of 3. This article is from chapter 1 of The New Life by Reginald Wallis (1932). It is available in print with discussion questions from Grace Fellowship International (2002).