IN All These Things We Are More Than Conquerors

Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us

I apologize that it has been so long since my last entry. Today I want to look at one of the favorite passages of Scripture from the NT. Romans chapter 8 is a great source of comfort, encouragement, and security to those that love God. Unfortunately we often miss the central message of Scripture because we love (yes I said "we" not "ye" :) ) to isolate the passages of Scripture which were meant to be taken in context of the overall message. In our bible study, we often forget that epistles (letters) are meant to be read from start to finish. Why do we treat Scripture this way, when we do not treat secular literature in this manner? When we open our mail (yes, I'm talking about the legitimate mail, not the mountains of junk mail, credit card applications, and flyers that threaten to implode our mailboxes each day) to read a letter, we don't take a sentence or phrase from the middle of the letter and try to interpret the whole of the letter from that one part do we? And yet we do that with Scripture all the time!!! Shame on us.

Now most of you that know me (or are familiar with my writings) know that I am not the king of subtlety. In the title of today's blog, yep- you guessed it- my emphasis is on the little word "in." We are taught by many popular "teachers" that true faith should be exercised to avoid all possible obstacles. Many teach that a "conquering" faith is one that always rebukes and avoids every storm of life. Any trials that their fellow Christians endure are often looked upon with disdain and scorning. Secretly, they may think to themselves "if only that person had more faith, they could have avoided all of this." But Paul did not think that way. When Jesus appeared to Ananias in the book of Acts, He told him of how Paul would suffer great things for the name of Christ (Acts 9:16).

No, Paul did not teach that a conquering faith avoids all forms of suffering and persecution. On the contrary, he taught that "in all these things" we are more than conquerors. "What things?", you might ask- well, let's take a look:

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Paul affirmed that we are more than conquerors IN all these things. When you look at that list, you may tend to think of one who suffers such as a victim. God does not tell us that those who suffer are defeated. He tells us that even in (what seems like) the face of defeat, we are victorious! So today, if you are feeling low- feeling like you are on the losing end of things- remember that if you are in Christ- you are more than a conqueror- EVEN in the midst of what the world, and even some in the church may think is a defeat for you.

Be encouraged today dear friends!

Until next time....

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