D201 Lesson 9: Walking in Victory

Israel experienced deliverance and freedom from their bondage in Egypt, but they perished in the wilderness because they did not know how to maintain victory.

We are engaged in a spiritual war with SIN, the FLESH, and the DEVIL.

Sin is disobedience motivated by rebellion.

The flesh is the remnant of the fallen human nature inherited from Adam that is inclined toward sin. It is sometimes referred to as the sin nature.

The devil is the arch enemy of God and of His people. He is the source of all evil and deception.

In spiritual warfare, we must make a QUALITY decision to walk in VICTORY.

Genesis 4:7 (NLT) “You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

This long-term commitment to walk in victory is made possible by one quality DECISION at a time.

We are not ALONE in the conflict. The God who gave us victory YESTERDAY can give us victory TODAY.

The BLOOD of Jesus deals with SINS.

The CROSS of Jesus deals with the SINNER.

The problem is not what we have DONE but WHO we are.

We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.

The “sin” is the product. The “sinner” is the sin factory.

Illustration: If we try to eliminate alcoholism by eliminating all the beer, wine, and whiskey on the store shelves we will not succeed. We must close the brewery that makes and distributes it.

The LAW was not given to make us righteous. It was given to expose our fallen sin NATURE.

The law reveals that something is wrong with US (Romans 7)

The blood of Jesus COVERS the sins we have committed, but it takes the CROSS to stop the production of sin in our lives.

We must understand the power of the Cross of Christ to gain victory over the sin nature.

Victory over sin is not reforming our BEHAVIOR but transforming our IDENTITY.

1 Corinthians 15:22 (NKJV) “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”

The sinner’s identification with Adam keeps them in bondage to the sin nature.

The believer’s identification with Christ delivers them from the power of the sin nature.

Romans 5:12–21 (NKJV) “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The cross of Christ changes our spiritual HERITAGE from being in ADAM to being in CHRIST.

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

Romans 6:3-4 (NKJV) “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized INTO CHRIST JESUS were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Spiritual Reality: When Jesus died on the cross, WE DIED WITH HIM.

Illustration 1: If our grandparents had died when they were three years old, we would not exist today. We would have DIED WITH THEM. In the same way, through faith, we died with Christ on His cross.

Illustration 2: Take a small piece to represent a person. Place it in your Bible which represents Christ. Everywhere the Bible goes, the piece of paper goes also. In the same way God has placed us IN CHRIST by faith in Him. Our old sin nature died with Him and we rose with Him as new creations.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Spiritual Reality: We (our sin factory) died with Christ. This spiritual reality that must become a revelation within us if we are to experience its power.

If we identify with the sin nature, we will think and act like a slave to sin. If we identify with Christ, we will think and act like a free man. We will not obey the old slave master of sin.

Romans 6:1-14 reveals FOUR steps to walking in victory.

The first step in walking in victory over sin is KNOWING.

Romans 6:6 (NKJV) “KNOWING that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of death may be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

We must know that we DIED with Christ.

We must know that we are no longer a SLAVE to sin.

The second step in walking in victory over sin is RECKONING.

Once we know that we died with Christ and are no longer a slave to sin, we must reckon it to be true.

Reckoning means to reconcile.

Illustration: To reconcile a checkbook, we must balance make the record in our checkbook with the record presented in the bank statement.

God’s declaration that we are now IN CHRIST is the God’s bank statement of truth. To overcome the bondage of the sin nature in Adam, we must reconcile our identity and thinking with who we are in Christ.

Romans 6:11 (NKJV) “Likewise you also, RECKON YOURSELVES to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.”

We must line up our thoughts to these two realities in Christ:

We are DEAD to sin.

We are ALIVE to God

The third step in walking in victory over sin is YIELDING.

Romans 6:13 (NKJV) “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

As one who has died, the members of our body are now unemployed.

As one who has been made alive with Christ, we are to yield the members of our body as instruments of righteousness to God.

“Yielding” is a matter of the WILL. We must CHOOSE to allow Christ to live through us.

The fourth step in walking in victory over sin is WALKING IN THE SPIRIT.

Our bodies are the TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

1 Corinthians 6:19 (NKJV) “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Walking in the Spirit is yielding to a PERSON —the HOLY SPIRIT.

The Cross of Christ secures victory FOR us (salvation).

The Holy Spirit enables victory IN us (holiness).

Why do some live in VICTORY over sin while others do not?

Some are RIGHTEOUSNESS-conscious while others are SIN-conscious. Some live under condemnation because of their past while other live free of condemnation by faith in the blood of Jesus to cleanse them of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Some are SPIRIT-conscious while others are not. Some KNOW that the Holy Spirit dwells in them while others do not.

Some are LORDSHIP-conscious while others are not. Some recognize divine ownership while others do not

Christianity is not a CHANGED life but an EXCHANGED life.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Our former life of sin is now ended, and a new life has begun.

We are freed from the old taskmaster of sin to become bondservants of Jesus Christ.

“In Christ” we cease being “owners” and become “stewards”.

Our life is no longer our own but Christ’s who lives in us.

Our struggle is not one of WRONG vs. RIGHT, but of FLESH vs. SPIRIT.

Flesh: Yielding to self (carnal nature).

Spirit: Yielding to the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:16-17 (NKJV) “I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another; so that you do not do the things you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Romans 13:14 (NKJV) “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

Satan’s temptations are an attempt to get us to REACT in the flesh rather than to RESPOND under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:1-2 (NKJV) “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.”

In every temptation, God has provided a way of ESCAPE. Those who walk in the Spirit will discern it and be delivered.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Summary: How do we experience victory over TEMPTATION.

KNOW that you have been crucified with Christ. You NO LONGER HAVE TO OBEY the taskmaster of sin who demands that you live according to your fleshly cravings.

RECKON yourself as dead to the POWER of temptation, but alive to God.

YIELD the members of your body as instruments of righteousness to God.

WALK in obedience to the Person of the Holy Spirit who lives within you. Look to and depend upon the Holy Spirit for His direction and strength rather than depending upon yourself. Remember: It is not about you trying to live a good life for Christ. It is about Christ living HIS LIFE through you!