But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God who gives the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ, spoken in Paul's teaching on the literal resurrection of the dead. Jesus won that victory over death and the tomb by His suffering, death and resurrection, breaking the fetters of the grave and securing immortality for the faithful when the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed at His coming. God also gives through Jesus Christ present victory over sin, joining human weakness to divine strength so that believers refuse the promptings of the flesh and overcome, since the battle is surrender of self and no human power can win it alone. That victory is Christ's already gained and becomes ours only as by faith we enter into it, looking to Him for strength and grace, working together with Him in courage, watchfulness, prayer and persevering effort until eternal life is reached. In Him it brings forgiveness of sins, blotting out of transgressions, justification, peace, removal of remorse, and restoration of the weakened will and self-respect.
Words and Resurrection Setting
Thanks be to God who gives the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ, and this thanksgiving belongs to Paul's teaching on the resurrection of the dead in 1 Corinthians 15. The resurrection taught there is literal, yet the immortal body need not be made of the same particles of matter as the mortal body, for personal identity rests in organization rather than in identical matter. That victory rests on Christ's resurrection and on the resurrection of the righteous, which makes the defeat of death certain. Because the outcome is sure, believers have reason to remain steadfast and active in the Lord's work, knowing their labor is not in vain.
No other doctrine of the gospel receives more stress in 1 Corinthians 15 than the resurrection, which is held before believers to stir diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness. That glorious truth has been almost wholly obscured and lost sight of by neglect, because the hope of going into glory at death has taken its place. The victory over death is therefore by the resurrection of the flesh at the Lord's coming, not by immortal blessedness at death.
Victory Over Death
Thanks be to God who gives the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ is Jesus' triumph over death and the tomb, won through His death and resurrection after His suffering in the garden and on the cross. As risen Saviour He broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth proclaiming triumphant victory over death and the grave, and that victory is given through Him to believers as the Saviour who forgives the sins of all who come confessing, saying thy sins be forgiven thee, go in peace and sin no more.
Christ's triumph over death and the grave is God's victory for those redeemed through Jesus. His resurrection conquered death, paid humanity's ransom, and enables people to overcome Satan in Christ, and His raising of captives from the dead gives evidence that those who sleep in Jesus will be raised in the final resurrection. At Christ's return the dead will be raised incorruptible, the living will be changed, and the faithful will receive immortality and live forever with their Lord. The rescued dead are raised at His second coming, and their joy and praise spring from that victory.
The victory is cried out when the dead come forth in the morning of the resurrection with the gates of heaven opened and the eternal reward given. It is eternal life, happiness, peace, a crown of immortal glory, dwelling in His presence, seeing the King in His beauty, beholding His matchless charms, and praising Him with an immortal tongue. Because Jesus has passed through death, those who live righteously in Him can face death without terror and look forward to eternal life and hope. That victory belongs to the history of human suffering and divine sacrifice and leads to a future life where evil can no longer tempt or overcome anyone.
Victory Over Sin
Thanks be to God who gives victory over sin through Jesus Christ, and in the continuing struggle human weakness is joined to divine strength, while faith gives thanks to God for Christ's help through the indwelling Spirit. The Christian life is constant warfare between the desires of the flesh and the promptings of the Spirit. The believer still feels the promptings of sin, including anger, lust, covetousness, hatred and selfishness, but refuses to indulge them and keeps up warfare against them instead of yielding as a servant to sin, and so overcomes.
The victory is not won by human power, for the field of conflict is the heart. The greatest battle ever fought is the surrender of self to the will of God and the yielding of the heart to the sovereignty of love. The old nature born of blood and of the will of the flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God, so old ways, hereditary tendencies, and former habits must be given up. Humans cannot overcome the mighty foe who holds them captive, so God alone gives the victory.
The victory is given to transgressors of God's law who stand convicted and condemned to death with nothing in themselves to save them from the sentence and penalty of death. Receiving it means saying so with contrition of heart and turning from disobedience and transgression unto purified, refined, and sanctified hearts as vessels unto honor. The Saviour forgives the sins of all who come confessing, and the victory given through Him is forgiveness of sins, blotting out of transgressions, justification, peace in place of heavy burdens, removal of remorse for sin, strengthening of the weakened will, restoration of self-respect because bought with Christ's blood, and the turning away of God's anger into comfort. It is received by responding to God's calls of mercy with trust and laying troubles and sins at His feet.
The victory comes to those who subdue the sins God hates, put them away, let Jesus come in to fellowship with them, receive Him and draw divine strength from Him and grow up in Him. They are elevated, noble-hearted and generous, led to good works by divine truth, and triumph in holiness. This is in contrast to leaning on a false hope, an old experience, or mere profession of truth while the heart remains deceitful, selfish, covetous, proud and controlled by evil passions. The victory through Christ includes overcoming every evil temper and human depravity by God's assisting grace, and without victory through Christ there is no hope. God's power working through Jesus Christ gives victory as part of the redemption plan of restoring God's image in the human soul and uplifting humanity.
How Christ Won Victory
The victory God gives through Jesus Christ was won on human behalf when the Son of God, the Majesty of Heaven, humbled Himself to become substitute and surety and met the powers of darkness single-handed. What looked like defeat at His death was in truth glorious, eternal victory. That victory required His descent from the highest position to the lowest that could be occupied, drinking the cup of suffering apportioned to Him and dying as every transgressor of the law must die if continuing in sin, in fulfillment of the covenant made before the foundation of the world was laid.
He is the divine Son of God and the Messiah of prophecy, foretold by Moses and the prophets to appear as a man among men and fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, who to redeem a lost world endured the cross despising the shame and ascended to heaven triumphant over death and the grave. This corrects the misleading expectation of a Messiah who would take an earthly throne and kingly power according to human desires, for God gives this victory to save the world from sin, and His followers are to live as He lived and work as He worked with intense, persevering effort. By His resurrection He conquered death, paid humanity's ransom, and secured victory over Satan for all who receive it so that they can overcome in His name. His raising of captives from the dead gives evidence that those who sleep in Jesus will be raised in the final resurrection, and His triumph guarantees Satan's eventual death and the end of his kingdom.
This victory is beheld in the word of God, where communion is held with patriarchs and prophets and the voice of the Eternal speaking with men is heard, giving subject for the deepest thought and arousing to the loftiest aspiration. It is what the angels contemplate with wonder. Reverent contemplation of it softens, purifies, and ennobles the heart and at the same time inspires the mind with new strength and vigor.
As Chief Physician and true Head of the missionary and medical work, Jesus vanquished death when humanity was upon Him and now stands at the side of every true, earnest, God-fearing practitioner. He hears the prayers of physician and missionary when His name will be glorified thereby, prolongs the life of the suffering patient, and will be glorified to do greater things. He gives endless life to all who believe in Him and endure unto the end. That victory covers both relieving the sufferings of the human body and, as under-shepherds watching for souls, applying the balm in Gilead to heal the bruises that sin has made upon soul as well as body under the serpent's sting.
Living the Victory Daily
The victory is Christ's because He has already gained it, and it becomes ours only as by faith entrance is made into what He has won, while its rest and triumph are not yet possessed in ourselves because hard battles with self continue and do not become fewer. Victory and triumph must be fully obtained without laying off the armor or leaving the battlefield, and the hope of eternal life belonging with it is not to be taken up on slight grounds but settled between God and the soul for eternity, since a supposed hope and nothing more will prove ruin, and because a person will stand or fall by the word of God that word must be searched for testimony in his own case to see what is required to become a Christian. In the Christian warfare believers are to look to Christ for strength and grace, and victory is assured because Jesus died for them, so they are not left to fight battles alone but can come off victorious and conqueror in His name, with strength drawn from God by seeking the aid of the Spirit sufficient for the utmost needs so that failures of self-conquest are not a necessity. Victory is gained through Christ's grace by courage, faith, and watchfulness to resist and deny self and overcome sin, requiring earnest prayer and untiring effort to preserve union with Christ.
In the conflict for eternal life where grace is arrayed against nature and self must be overcome, the battle is the Lord's but the victory becomes ours when working together with Him, cheerfully lifting the cross of Christ, following the path of self-denial, looking to Jesus as Author and Finisher of faith, and pressing forward without going backward and without becoming weary in well doing, with perfect victory possible through lifelong persevering effort and eternal vigilance, gaining sure victories step by step until eternal life in the kingdom of glory is reached, because Christ was tempted in all points as humans are yet without sin. Sharing the victory requires constant daily exercise of all the powers and faculties of the renewed nature, with daily crucifying of self and warring against inclination and a perverse temperament that would draw the will in a wrong direction, while strength for every emergency is given while growing in Christian experience and continuing to look to Jesus in faith. It is gained by religious discipline, by following duty rather than inclination, by cheerful labor and persevering industry in temporal and religious life, and by doing duties at home with cheerful interest, contentment, submission and hope as much engaged in serving God as in praying and talking in meeting, which course brings light into darkened chambers of the soul, joy and happiness, and courage to war the warfare. Victory through Jesus Christ is the song of triumph that must be learned now by fixing the eyes on Jesus and being complete in Him in order to be among the redeemed in heaven, for those who have not learned it will be absent when names are called there, and the verse reveals the might and power and grace and salvation brought through Jesus Christ, so to keep refusing it is to refuse to be saved and it must be accepted soon.
The victory is the final triumph reached after fighting for what is right, making the victories gained through Christ precious when the Christian pilgrimage is over, and it is sung by those laid at His feet and gathered in His strong arms, with His everlasting arms beneath them, as they pray much and exercise living faith. It is won in a warfare to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil by choosing the road that leads heavenward, by laying hold through faith on the divine nature God gives in Christ, through the merits of Jesus Christ who gave His life and stands to help at every step with angels of God and heavenly instrumentalities working with man. Those who receive it give Jesus their mental, moral, and physical powers, lay them at His feet, use them in His service, win souls to Jesus Christ, and give Him their life in return for His, having peace here and Christ formed within as the hope of glory so that Christ did not die for them in vain. God gives victory through Jesus Christ over the enemy who puts difficulties before the believer and tries to bear him down, and obtaining it is a high privilege, while triumphing in God brings glory and praise to the Lord, so the believer must resist Satan and not let him have his way, and trusting God with unwavering faith gives courage to carry His work forward and confidence that He will grant the victory.
Victory in the present battle against faultfinding and disorder, against murmurings, exalting little motes, and making a man an offender for a word, which is a grievous sin in God's sight, comes through Jesus Christ and is received with gratitude to God, and the battle has turned toward victory yet must still be fought without yielding one inch to gratify the faultfinding, disorderly element, because Satan works with human hearts that are not daily partakers of the divine nature. God gives His people the victory through Jesus Christ when their faith is tried, as when Sabbath and Sunday were a trial of faith, especially the Sabbath, and thanks is due to God who gives that victory.
Thanks be to God who gives the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ, spoken in Paul's teaching on the literal resurrection of the dead. Jesus won that victory over death and the tomb by His suffering, death and resurrection, breaking the fetters of the grave and securing immortality for the faithful when the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed at His coming. God also gives through Jesus Christ present victory over sin, joining human weakness to divine strength so that believers refuse the promptings of the flesh and overcome, since the battle is surrender of self and no human power can win it alone. That victory is Christ's already gained and becomes ours only as by faith we enter into it, looking to Him for strength and grace, working together with Him in courage, watchfulness, prayer and persevering effort until eternal life is reached. In Him it brings forgiveness of sins, blotting out of transgressions, justification, peace, removal of remorse, and restoration of the weakened will and self-respect.
Words and Resurrection Setting
Thanks be to God who gives the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ, and this thanksgiving belongs to Paul's teaching on the resurrection of the dead in 1 Corinthians 15. The resurrection taught there is literal, yet the immortal body need not be made of the same particles of matter as the mortal body, for personal identity rests in organization rather than in identical matter. That victory rests on Christ's resurrection and on the resurrection of the righteous, which makes the defeat of death certain. Because the outcome is sure, believers have reason to remain steadfast and active in the Lord's work, knowing their labor is not in vain.
No other doctrine of the gospel receives more stress in 1 Corinthians 15 than the resurrection, which is held before believers to stir diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness. That glorious truth has been almost wholly obscured and lost sight of by neglect, because the hope of going into glory at death has taken its place. The victory over death is therefore by the resurrection of the flesh at the Lord's coming, not by immortal blessedness at death.
Victory Over Death
Thanks be to God who gives the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ is Jesus' triumph over death and the tomb, won through His death and resurrection after His suffering in the garden and on the cross. As risen Saviour He broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth proclaiming triumphant victory over death and the grave, and that victory is given through Him to believers as the Saviour who forgives the sins of all who come confessing, saying thy sins be forgiven thee, go in peace and sin no more.
Christ's triumph over death and the grave is God's victory for those redeemed through Jesus. His resurrection conquered death, paid humanity's ransom, and enables people to overcome Satan in Christ, and His raising of captives from the dead gives evidence that those who sleep in Jesus will be raised in the final resurrection. At Christ's return the dead will be raised incorruptible, the living will be changed, and the faithful will receive immortality and live forever with their Lord. The rescued dead are raised at His second coming, and their joy and praise spring from that victory.
The victory is cried out when the dead come forth in the morning of the resurrection with the gates of heaven opened and the eternal reward given. It is eternal life, happiness, peace, a crown of immortal glory, dwelling in His presence, seeing the King in His beauty, beholding His matchless charms, and praising Him with an immortal tongue. Because Jesus has passed through death, those who live righteously in Him can face death without terror and look forward to eternal life and hope. That victory belongs to the history of human suffering and divine sacrifice and leads to a future life where evil can no longer tempt or overcome anyone.
Victory Over Sin
Thanks be to God who gives victory over sin through Jesus Christ, and in the continuing struggle human weakness is joined to divine strength, while faith gives thanks to God for Christ's help through the indwelling Spirit. The Christian life is constant warfare between the desires of the flesh and the promptings of the Spirit. The believer still feels the promptings of sin, including anger, lust, covetousness, hatred and selfishness, but refuses to indulge them and keeps up warfare against them instead of yielding as a servant to sin, and so overcomes.
The victory is not won by human power, for the field of conflict is the heart. The greatest battle ever fought is the surrender of self to the will of God and the yielding of the heart to the sovereignty of love. The old nature born of blood and of the will of the flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God, so old ways, hereditary tendencies, and former habits must be given up. Humans cannot overcome the mighty foe who holds them captive, so God alone gives the victory.
The victory is given to transgressors of God's law who stand convicted and condemned to death with nothing in themselves to save them from the sentence and penalty of death. Receiving it means saying so with contrition of heart and turning from disobedience and transgression unto purified, refined, and sanctified hearts as vessels unto honor. The Saviour forgives the sins of all who come confessing, and the victory given through Him is forgiveness of sins, blotting out of transgressions, justification, peace in place of heavy burdens, removal of remorse for sin, strengthening of the weakened will, restoration of self-respect because bought with Christ's blood, and the turning away of God's anger into comfort. It is received by responding to God's calls of mercy with trust and laying troubles and sins at His feet.
The victory comes to those who subdue the sins God hates, put them away, let Jesus come in to fellowship with them, receive Him and draw divine strength from Him and grow up in Him. They are elevated, noble-hearted and generous, led to good works by divine truth, and triumph in holiness. This is in contrast to leaning on a false hope, an old experience, or mere profession of truth while the heart remains deceitful, selfish, covetous, proud and controlled by evil passions. The victory through Christ includes overcoming every evil temper and human depravity by God's assisting grace, and without victory through Christ there is no hope. God's power working through Jesus Christ gives victory as part of the redemption plan of restoring God's image in the human soul and uplifting humanity.
How Christ Won Victory
The victory God gives through Jesus Christ was won on human behalf when the Son of God, the Majesty of Heaven, humbled Himself to become substitute and surety and met the powers of darkness single-handed. What looked like defeat at His death was in truth glorious, eternal victory. That victory required His descent from the highest position to the lowest that could be occupied, drinking the cup of suffering apportioned to Him and dying as every transgressor of the law must die if continuing in sin, in fulfillment of the covenant made before the foundation of the world was laid.
He is the divine Son of God and the Messiah of prophecy, foretold by Moses and the prophets to appear as a man among men and fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, who to redeem a lost world endured the cross despising the shame and ascended to heaven triumphant over death and the grave. This corrects the misleading expectation of a Messiah who would take an earthly throne and kingly power according to human desires, for God gives this victory to save the world from sin, and His followers are to live as He lived and work as He worked with intense, persevering effort. By His resurrection He conquered death, paid humanity's ransom, and secured victory over Satan for all who receive it so that they can overcome in His name. His raising of captives from the dead gives evidence that those who sleep in Jesus will be raised in the final resurrection, and His triumph guarantees Satan's eventual death and the end of his kingdom.
This victory is beheld in the word of God, where communion is held with patriarchs and prophets and the voice of the Eternal speaking with men is heard, giving subject for the deepest thought and arousing to the loftiest aspiration. It is what the angels contemplate with wonder. Reverent contemplation of it softens, purifies, and ennobles the heart and at the same time inspires the mind with new strength and vigor.
As Chief Physician and true Head of the missionary and medical work, Jesus vanquished death when humanity was upon Him and now stands at the side of every true, earnest, God-fearing practitioner. He hears the prayers of physician and missionary when His name will be glorified thereby, prolongs the life of the suffering patient, and will be glorified to do greater things. He gives endless life to all who believe in Him and endure unto the end. That victory covers both relieving the sufferings of the human body and, as under-shepherds watching for souls, applying the balm in Gilead to heal the bruises that sin has made upon soul as well as body under the serpent's sting.
Living the Victory Daily
The victory is Christ's because He has already gained it, and it becomes ours only as by faith entrance is made into what He has won, while its rest and triumph are not yet possessed in ourselves because hard battles with self continue and do not become fewer. Victory and triumph must be fully obtained without laying off the armor or leaving the battlefield, and the hope of eternal life belonging with it is not to be taken up on slight grounds but settled between God and the soul for eternity, since a supposed hope and nothing more will prove ruin, and because a person will stand or fall by the word of God that word must be searched for testimony in his own case to see what is required to become a Christian. In the Christian warfare believers are to look to Christ for strength and grace, and victory is assured because Jesus died for them, so they are not left to fight battles alone but can come off victorious and conqueror in His name, with strength drawn from God by seeking the aid of the Spirit sufficient for the utmost needs so that failures of self-conquest are not a necessity. Victory is gained through Christ's grace by courage, faith, and watchfulness to resist and deny self and overcome sin, requiring earnest prayer and untiring effort to preserve union with Christ.
In the conflict for eternal life where grace is arrayed against nature and self must be overcome, the battle is the Lord's but the victory becomes ours when working together with Him, cheerfully lifting the cross of Christ, following the path of self-denial, looking to Jesus as Author and Finisher of faith, and pressing forward without going backward and without becoming weary in well doing, with perfect victory possible through lifelong persevering effort and eternal vigilance, gaining sure victories step by step until eternal life in the kingdom of glory is reached, because Christ was tempted in all points as humans are yet without sin. Sharing the victory requires constant daily exercise of all the powers and faculties of the renewed nature, with daily crucifying of self and warring against inclination and a perverse temperament that would draw the will in a wrong direction, while strength for every emergency is given while growing in Christian experience and continuing to look to Jesus in faith. It is gained by religious discipline, by following duty rather than inclination, by cheerful labor and persevering industry in temporal and religious life, and by doing duties at home with cheerful interest, contentment, submission and hope as much engaged in serving God as in praying and talking in meeting, which course brings light into darkened chambers of the soul, joy and happiness, and courage to war the warfare. Victory through Jesus Christ is the song of triumph that must be learned now by fixing the eyes on Jesus and being complete in Him in order to be among the redeemed in heaven, for those who have not learned it will be absent when names are called there, and the verse reveals the might and power and grace and salvation brought through Jesus Christ, so to keep refusing it is to refuse to be saved and it must be accepted soon.
The victory is the final triumph reached after fighting for what is right, making the victories gained through Christ precious when the Christian pilgrimage is over, and it is sung by those laid at His feet and gathered in His strong arms, with His everlasting arms beneath them, as they pray much and exercise living faith. It is won in a warfare to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil by choosing the road that leads heavenward, by laying hold through faith on the divine nature God gives in Christ, through the merits of Jesus Christ who gave His life and stands to help at every step with angels of God and heavenly instrumentalities working with man. Those who receive it give Jesus their mental, moral, and physical powers, lay them at His feet, use them in His service, win souls to Jesus Christ, and give Him their life in return for His, having peace here and Christ formed within as the hope of glory so that Christ did not die for them in vain. God gives victory through Jesus Christ over the enemy who puts difficulties before the believer and tries to bear him down, and obtaining it is a high privilege, while triumphing in God brings glory and praise to the Lord, so the believer must resist Satan and not let him have his way, and trusting God with unwavering faith gives courage to carry His work forward and confidence that He will grant the victory.
Victory in the present battle against faultfinding and disorder, against murmurings, exalting little motes, and making a man an offender for a word, which is a grievous sin in God's sight, comes through Jesus Christ and is received with gratitude to God, and the battle has turned toward victory yet must still be fought without yielding one inch to gratify the faultfinding, disorderly element, because Satan works with human hearts that are not daily partakers of the divine nature. God gives His people the victory through Jesus Christ when their faith is tried, as when Sabbath and Sunday were a trial of faith, especially the Sabbath, and thanks is due to God who gives that victory.