“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?”—1John 5:4-5
The above opening text tells us that whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. And that we gain this consistent conquest or triumph over the world, through our faith. Then added to the opening scripture, 2 Corinthians 2:14 says “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place
So scripturally, every believer in Christ Jesus is ordained for consistent conquest over the perverse elements of this world. Such as: sin, devilish attack and manipulations, sickness and diseases, lack and want, e.t.c. And from my personal experience and observation over the years as a Christian—Practicing faith in Christ Jesus—this is the practical experience of some believers. Triumphing over the elements of this world exactly as the scripture says…
Because the scriptures cannot be broken. Yes, this group of triumphant Christians, do go through some seasonal tribulations of life, but they always come out of them victorious to the glory of God. While on the other hand, over the years, of my Christianity I have also seen (and still see) so many Christians with shipwrecked faith…
So many believers who are dominated and defeated often by the same perverse elements of the world, the word of God says we have victory over. Try as they may, sin and devils still have the upper hand over their lives. They are not any different from the unbelievers. And to make a bad situation worse, most of them have embraced their defeat and failure as the Christian ideal…
And consequently, they have made frantic and scholarly effort to bend scriptures to align with their failures, instead of pressing on till they conform to exactly what the undiluted word of God says. The word of God says we shall have dominion over sin. They say nay, no one can have dominion over sin.
The word of God says we can heal the sick and raise the dead in the name of Jesus. They say nay, the era of miracles have ceased. Then some others say healing in the scripture refers to healing for sin, not for physical health. The scriptures says God desires prosperity for his children, they say nay, poverty is the portion of the present Church.
They make all these assertions in spite of the glaring scriptural truths. When you show them these scriptures, they force them to say what their experiences have been, instead of accepting them for exactly what they say.
But this is not supposed to be the right spiritual attitude. When our practical experiences do not conform to scriptural truth, we ought to study and pray more to understand the reason behind the discrepancies in other to get the exact scriptural result…
So in line with this wisdom, we want to study scripturally the secrets behind the triumphant faith in Christ Jesus. So our practical Christian experiences can conform to exactly what the word of God says.
The Secrets of a Triumphant Faith
Outlined below are the biblical secrets for the triumphant faith in Christ Jesus.
- Jesus Based Faith: “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God”
From the above scripture, we see clearly that the triumphant faith is Jesus based. For anyone’s faith to be triumphant, he must first believe in Jesus as the Son of God. That is, he must accept Jesus as his Lord and only personal saviour. And he must not combine Jesus with any other alternative God. His faith in Christ Jesus must be absolute. - Patient and Persistent Faith: The triumphant faith is the faith that is patient and persistent with God (Hebrews 10:35-36). This aspect of triumphant faith is exactly what Jesus teaches us in his parable of the wicked judge and the widow (Luke 18:1-8). In that parable, the widow went to the wicked judge for justice, but the judge was adamant, but her persistent pressure on the judge made the judge to intervene in her matter.In the same way, if we believe God for anything, we must be patient and persistent instead of drawing hasty conclusion after a few efforts. We must press until we get an answer. We must not accept silence as an answer. The word of God says you shall lay hand on the sick and they shall recover. If you lay your hands on a hundred people without a result, believe that there will be a result in the 101th person.
- Love Based Faith : “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything , nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by Love”—Galatians 5:6
The triumphant faith is a faith that is built on a heart with God’s Love. The above scripture says faith works by Love. And Jesus defines Love for him to mean obedience to his commandments. So the faith of the obedient child of God, is a triumphant one. But faith without Love of God, is useless and dead faith (James 2:20). - Word Based Faith: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”—Romans 10:17
The triumphant faith is a faith that is built on the revealed word of God. The reason for so many shipwreck faith is that they are built on assumptions. They are built on popular opinion or scholarship. They are built on ‘hear says’. They are built on experiences, instead of the undiluted and untainted truth of God’s word. For instance, there is a popular belief that says “Heaven help those who help themselves”. But there is absolutely no scriptural backing for such belief. So if your faith must be triumphant, it must be based absolutely on God’s revealed word in scriptures. - Purity Based Faith: “Holding faith, and a good conscience ; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck”—1Timothy 1:19
The triumphant faith, is faith built on good and clear conscience. A good conscience is a conscience that is exercised not to have any offence towards God or man. A good conscience is a repentant heart. According to the scripture above, the Apostle Paul says faith, that is void of a good conscience, gets shipwreck or stranded or frustrated. So if your faith must always be triumphant according to scriptures, like the Apostle Paul, you must always exercise yourself to have a conscience, void of offence towards God and men (Acts 24:16). - Prayer And Fasting Powered Faith: “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”—Matthew 17:21.
In the Chapter above, a lunatic, possessed by a devil, was brought to Jesus’ disciples for healing and deliverance. But they couldn’t cure him. But when Jesus came he rebuked the devil and cured the child from that very hour. So after that, the disciples asked the Lord why they could not cast out the devil. And Jesus said it was because of their unbelief. In other words, it was their lack of faith. But then he also added “Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”.So Jesus recommends faith enhanced with the power of prayer and fasting for overcoming such kind of devils. Today we still have such kind of devils that won’t go except through fasting and prayers. And we don’t have to wait until we encounter them before we pray and fast. To ensure our faith triumphs over every kind of devil every time, we must make praying and fasting a consistent part of our Christians lives.
So there you have it; the secrets of a triumphant faith.
Remained Blessed!
Emeke Odili
