Faith is the Victory

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It is very common to hear people say things about their faith in all types of conversations and contexts. What exactly does a person mean when he talks about “his faith”? What are people referring to when they say their faith helped them survive through a trial? Well, there are different answers to those questions depending on who is making the faith statement. People put their trust or faith in many different things.

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The Bible, of course, speaks a great deal about faith, but the context is very specific about the object of faith and what it means to have faith. “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God” (I John 5:4-5).

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First of all, notice that those who have victory in this verse (those overcoming the world) are those who are “born of God.” Victory is not something we humans innately have within us. Before we can know this victory in our lives, we must receive the new birth from God. It is the loving God Who gives us spiritual life and the capacity for victory in our lives. This message is exactly what the Lord Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3:3, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Apart from being born again or born of God, man is under condemnation and will ultimately perish eternally, which is more than just physical death (John 3:15-16).

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How is it possible to be born of God so this victory may be known in our lives? This victory does not come by having faith in ourselves, in one another, in human institutions, or even in a church. Those with this victory (the ones overcoming the world) are those who are believing that Jesus is the Son of God. Again, from John 3:18, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

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Victory for all eternity comes not by believing things about Jesus, but by believing “into” Jesus. We must have faith (complete dependence and trust) in Him personally as the One the Bible reveals is God the Son Whom God the Father sent to be our Saviour. It is only this type of faith that pleases God and we are coming to Him because we “believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

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Before Nicodemus became a Christian, he was a man of faith (John 3:1, 10). However, he did not have victory in his life because he did not have Christ Jesus in his life. He knew some things about Jesus, but until he trusted Jesus as the Christ sent by the Father, he did not have the victory in his life that God won in his behalf. This faith will sustain beyond the survival of cancer, bankruptcy, or some other earthly tragedy. This faith brings greater joy than earthly accomplishments in sports, academics, vocations, etc. Faith into Jesus gives victory not just in this life but for all eternity.

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Don’t be content with a temporary victory that faith in something other than Jesus Christ may bring only to ultimately find the faith claimed was empty and the victory hollow. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (I John 5:12).