THE VICTORY
Will you visualize it? The time is perhaps 50 A.D. in one of the ancient cities of theBible, the seaport town of Corinth. A great many people have gathered to hear a mannamed Paul. The LORD has not yet added Paul's words to Scripture. No one knows thatHe will, not even Paul. The fiery apostle begins to speak of the mysteries of godliness,reasoning from cause to effect, from the known to the unknown, using illustrations alreadyfamiliar to teach what is not yet understood. The people hear and begin to understand.Conviction reveals itself on the faces of some of those gathered. Desire awakens in heartslong turned to stone. At length, acceptance flashes into the minds of a few, and new lifebegins to surge through the born-again, as miracles occur here and there among thecongregation. Those gathered hear the words, "Thanks be to God, which always causeth usto triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in everyplace." (2 Corinthians 2:14). Did he say always? Did they hear him right? The testimony of Paul is very different from anything these people have heard before. Their great men, theconservative Pharisees, who prided themselves as expositors of the sacred writings, hadnever spoken thus. So some have not received Paul's testimony, and to the "stony hearts"remaining, his words are most unwelcome. "Always?" they whisper maliciously. "That's fullof pride! We're supposed to be humble--never boastful!"

Like the whisperers of that day, nurtured in the "humility" of failure, we too havebeen taught not to bear a decided testimony. The very Scriptures that speak victory havebeen wrested from their obvious meaning that there may be no living witness. Thanks beto God who always gives us THE VICTORY! "Let the redeemed of YAH say so...!"(Psalms 107:2).

In Christ the battle has been fought, on every point, and "the victory" has beenmade complete. He was made flesh itself--the same flesh and blood as those whom He cameto redeem. He was made in all points like these; He was "in all points tempted like as weare." If in any "point" He had not been "like as we are," then, on that point He could notpossibly have been tempted "like as we are." He was "touched with the feeling of ourinfirmities," because He "was in all points tempted like as we are." When He was tempted,He felt the desires and the inclinations of the flesh, precisely as we feel them when we aretempted. For "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts [his own desires and inclinations of the flesh] and enticed." James 1:14. All this Jesus couldexperience without sin; because to be tempted is not sin. It is only "when lust hathconceived," when the desire is cherished, when the inclination is sanctioned, --only then itis that "it bringeth forth sin." And Jesus never even in a thought cherished a desire, orsanctioned an inclination, of the flesh. Thus, in such flesh as ours, He was tempted in allpoints as we are, and yet without a taint of sin.

And thus, by the divine power that He received through faith in God, He, in ourflesh, utterly quenched every inclination of that flesh, and effectually killed at its root everydesire of the flesh; and so "condemned sin in the flesh." And in so doing, He broughtcomplete victory, and divine power to maintain it, to every soul in the world. All this Hedid "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." This victory, in its fullness, is free to every soul in Christ Jesus. It isreceived by faith in Jesus. It is accomplished and maintained by "the faith of Jesus," whichHe has wrought out in perfection, and has given to every believer in Him. For "this is thevictory which overcometh the world, even our faith." He "abolished in His flesh the enmity[hostility]" that separated mankind from God. Eph. 2:15. In order to do this, He took theflesh, and must take the flesh, in which that hostility existed. And He "abolished in Hisflesh the enmity," "for to make", in order to make, "in Himself of twain," God and the estranged man, "the one new man, so making peace." He "abolished in His flesh theenmity," in order "that He might reconcile both" Jew and Gentile--that is, all mankind whoare subject to that hostility--"unto God, in one body by the cross, having slain the enmityin Himself." Eph. 2:16, margin. "The enmity" was "in Himself," by being "in His flesh."And there "in His flesh" He slew it and abolished it. And He could do this only by itsbeing indeed "in His flesh."

Thus Jesus took upon Him the curse, in all its fullness, precisely as that curse isupon all mankind. This He did by "being made a curse for us." But "the curse causelessshall not come," and never came. The cause of the curse is sin. He was made a curse forus, because of our sins. And to meet the curse as it is upon us, He must meet sin as it is inus. Accordingly, God "hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." And this "thatwe might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM." 2 Cor.5:21. And though He thusplaced Himself entirely at the same great disadvantage as are all mankind,--made in allpoints like us and so, "in all points tempted like as we are," --yet not a single tendency orinclination of the flesh was ever allowed the slightest recognition, even in thought; butevery one of them was effectually killed at the root by the power of God, which, throughdivine faith, He brought to humanity. And thus, "as the children are partakers of flesh andblood, He also HIMSELF LIKEWISE took part of THE SAME; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them whothrough fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not onHim the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in allthings it behooved Him to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful andfaithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them thatare tempted." Heb. 2:14-18. And this victory which Christ wrought out in human flesh, isbrought by the Holy Spirit to the rescue of everyone in human flesh who today believes inJesus, the Christ. For by the Holy Spirit the very presence of Christ Himself comes to thebeliever; for it is His constant desire to "grant you, according to the riches of His glory, tobe strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in yourhearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend withall saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love ofChrist, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." Eph.3:16-19.

Thus the deliverance from the guilt of sin and from the power of sin, which holdsthe believer in triumph over all the desires, the tendencies and inclinations, of his sinfulflesh, through the power of the Spirit of God, --this is wrought today by the personalpresence of Christ Jesus IN HUMAN FLESH in the believer, precisely as it was wrought bythe personal presence of Christ in human flesh over nineteen hundred years ago. Christ is ever the same-- "the same yesterday, and today, and forever." The gospel of Christ is everthe same-- yesterday, today, and forever. The gospel of Christ today is the same that it waswhen He walked this planet in the flesh. Then it was "God manifest in the flesh;" andtoday it is the same-- "God manifest in the" same flesh, the flesh of sinful men, humanflesh, just as human nature is. That gospel is "Christ in you, the hope of glory," --Christ in you just as you are, sins, sinfulness, and all; for He gave Himself for our sins, and for oursinfulness. And you, just as you are, Christ has bought, and God "hath made accepted" inHim. He has received you just as you are; and the gospel, "Christ in you, the hope ofglory," brings you under the reign of the grace of God, and, through the Spirit of God,makes you so subject to the power of Christ and of God that "the fruit of the Spirit" appears in you, instead of "the works of the flesh." This is THE VICTORY in you.

Thus every soul in this world can truly say, in the perfect triumph of Christian faith, "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 lovedme, and gave Himself for me." Every soul in this world can say, in all truth and allsincerity, "I am crucified with Christ." It is but the acceptance of a fact, the acceptance of a thing that is already done; for this word is the statement of a fact. It is a fact that JesusChrist was crucified. And when He was crucified, we also were crucified; for He was oneof us. And so it is written: "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." My oldsinful human nature is crucified with Him, that this body of sin might be destroyed, thathenceforth I should not serve sin. Romans 6:6. Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christliveth in me. Always bearing about in my body the dying of the Lord Jesus, --thecrucifixion of the Lord Jesus, for I am crucified with Him, --that the life also of Jesusmight be made manifest in my body. For I who live am always delivered unto death, forJesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in my mortal flesh. 2 Cor. 4:10,11. And therefore the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son ofGod, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.

In this blessed fact of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, which was accomplished forevery human soul, there is not only laid the foundation of faith for every soul, but in it thereis given the gift of faith TO every soul. And thus the cross of Christ is not only thewisdom of God displayed from God to us, but it is the very power of God manifested todeliver us from all sin, and bring us to God --always causing us to triumph in Christ Jesus!

O sinner, brother, sister, believe it. Oh, receive it! Receive THE VICTORY --eventhe "faith of Jesus". Surrender to this mighty truth. Say it, say it in full assurance of faith,and say it forever. "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christliveth 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." Galatians 2:20. "Now thanks be to God, whichalways causeth us to triumph in Christ..." (2 Cor. 2:14). ". . . and this is THE VICTORY thatovercometh the world, even our faith."(1 John 5:4). [Adapted from the works ofPastor A. T. Jones.]