Are You More than a Conqueror?
Are You More than a Conqueror?, Blog, Carnal, Conquerors, Division, Envy, Erik Garthe, mature, No Longer Conformed, Spiritual Growth, Strife, Unredeemed, Victory
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“We are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37), is how the apostle Paul refers to the effectiveness of Christians through the Lord Jesus Christ. I must admit that I don’t see the reality of that statement in general among believers today.
Instead, the redeemed vessels appear to be taking on as much of the world’s water as the unredeemed ones. Many who profess Christ as Savior and Lord live their lives under the sway of Satan. How do I know this? It’s easy. The inerrant and infallible Word of God provides the insight. In his letter to the believers at Corinth, the apostle indicated that he “could not speak to [them] as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:1) What an indictment! Every time Paul attempted to feed them solid food (deeper spiritual truth) they choked on it. He had to keep giving them the milk of basic truth because their spiritual digestive systems were not developing at all. That means no spiritual growth! Three types of people are identified in this passage: unbelievers, maturing believers and carnal believers. The sad situation is when the third group gains influence in a local body of Christians. How can you tell when this happens? Read 1 Corinthians 3:3, “For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men (unbelievers)?” Every time strife and division occurs in the body, there are carnal believers involved. What are carnal believers? They are those who profess Jesus Christ as Savior but refuse to submit to Him as Lord of their life. These want “fire insurance” against the eternal punishment of hell, yet don’t want to sacrifice anything for the kingdom of God. Unless a life is totally surrendered to the Lord, it will be stunted in spiritual growth. Hence, no unity in the body; no power in the witness; no effectiveness in the ministry. Are you more than a conqueror?
Sin cera, Erik
Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.
