Bible Study
The 3 Essential Elements for Victorious Christian Living considered in this study include; faith, love and hope.
To live victoriously is to always overcome, to always conquer, to always prevail, to always triumph, to win all the time. The only requirement for living victoriously is to be born of God, and the way to live victoriously is through faith
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.“
I John 5:4 NKJV
Therefore faith is central to experiencing Victorious Christian Living. However, faith doesn’t work alone. Faith is activated through words (Mark 11:24) powered by love (James 2:26 NKJV) and anchored by hope (Hebrews 6:19, Hebrews 11:1).
Here are some of the sub-topics we’ve looked at so far; Part 1: Study Background. Part 2: The Scope of the Christian Victory. Part 3: How Christians Gained Victory. Part 4: How Faith, Love and Hope Mix Together for Victorious Christian Living. Part 5: Victory Through Love: The Nature of God’s Love. Part 6: Victory Through Love: Characteristics of God Kind of Love.
In Part 7, we started looking at ‘Victory Through Love: Winning Through Love’. We said we would consider 4 applications of this.
1. In Winning People Over
According to Romans 13:8 we owe every man love. Every man here means everyone including people who spitefully use us, those who curse us, those who hate us, those who persecute us. (Matthew 5:43-48). To persecute someone is to oppress, harass or kill the person because of their beliefs or other affiliations. To hate someone is to deeply dislike the person. To curse someone is to invoke harm or bad words on the person.
I have met people with an intense and almost venomous feeling of hatred, a feeling that even they cannot explain. That is not normal, it is evil.
It’s important to recognize that the different groups of persons mentioned above, do not act under a Godly influence, therefore they need our help, and agape is the only way we can overlook or ignore their wrongdoings and yet reach out to help them.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:21 NKJV
The ultimate expression of our love for God is our love for others…
“If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.“
I John 4:20-21 NKJV
We are to love all people; lovers, users, haters, persecutors, cursers, etc with the love of God. We are to bless them, do good to them, and pray for them (Matthew 5:43-48). Responding with love where love seems underserved is one way we grow and mature in love (agape).
2. In Winning Over Fear
The first mention of fear I see in the Bible is in Genesis 3:10..
“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Genesis 3:10 KJV
Adam hid from God because he’d sinned (disobedience). So one can say that sin introduced fear. Recognize also that fear is not just a feeling, it is a spirit. And post the the fall, Adam was under a different influence, different from the original influence/spirit God created him with, Adam was under the devil’s influence. So, fear is a spirit from devil.
Second Timothy 1:7, says God didn’t give us the spirit of fear.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7 KJV
If God didn’t give it to us, guess where it came from…from the devil.
1 John 4:18, actually provides us with much information about love. Among other things, it says “fear has torment”.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
1 John 4:18 KJV
In my Bible, torment is often associated with demonic/devilish forces, never with God. The enemy gives fear with the intention to torment someone.
Adam did wrong, ushered in fear into humanity, but praise God that in Christ (and at our newbirth), God implanted (again) the spirit of love within us…
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
Oh! I am so happy that in 1 John 4:18, we read that perfect love drives away fear.
What is a perfect love?- a love that loves as God loves. A love that……..
“…..endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 AMPC
This is love! And truly, we all need to have 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, permanently inscribed in our mind’s eye/heart, so that everytime we say we love, we can truly weigh just how much we really love.
God didn’t give us the spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind.
Perfect love drives away fear. Anytime you feel afraid, think and speak the love of God- that God really loves you and that His love has been lavishly spread (abroad) in your heart?
3. For a living and effectual faith.
Faith without works is dead (James 2:17), so a faith with works alive and living.
Ephesians 2:8-10, provides a very fine balance of works as used in the new testament. The unapproved works of self-righteousness and the approved works of brotherly love….
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.“
Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV
So we are created for good works. And one expression of good works is showing brotherly love in being kind…
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?”
James 2:14-16 NKJV
Kindness is a characteristic of love and an expression of good works. Good works perfects faith, making it living and effectual.
Total forgiveness is a characteristic of love, love forgets. And it is almost impossible to be successful in our faith works living life with a heavy load of unforgiveness (Mark 11:22, 24-26).
A faith without love is a dead faith but faith balanced with love is living and effective.
4. In Enjoying Peace with God and man
Perfect love drives away fear, when fear is gone, peace reigns. According John, the sure way of achieving a perfect love is to keep God’s Word…
‘He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.“
I John 2:4-5 NKJV
How do we keep God’s Word? By studying, meditating and acting on it. Matthew gives a good summary of the Word of God- love God, love your neighbour (that is, the person just next to you at anywhere)…
“Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:35-40 NKJV
If we remind ourselves of all the ‘thou shall not’s’ of the 10 commandments, then we would really agree as Jesus said in Matthew that the whole law is summarized in loving God and loving man. When we truly love as God loves, we will not fail any of the ‘thou shall not’s’. The gain for us is that we enjoy peace and we live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18). Ofcourse we know that the peace of God which Jesus gives comes free to us, but it will be difficult to enjoy this peace if we are not at peace with God and other men.
Halleluyah!
Please join me next time as we continue with the next part of this study- ‘How to Develop/Grow Our Love Nature.’
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Blessings & Love Always
