Overcomers - Overcome by God — Phil Beach Jr.

Revelation 21–22 and God’s Ultimate Purpose

Revelation chapter 21 and verse number 3, and this is the particular scripture. Actually, we'll begin in verse number 1 of Revelation chapter 21. These are very significant portions of scripture, particularly Revelation chapter 21 and 22, because in them we see what the Lord is working towards.

We see the end, and it's so important to see the end because it helps us to keep perspective. Knowing the end enables us to understand what the Lord is seeking to do in our lives now. He's seeking to bring us into conformity to the end.

When the end here is finally revealed in time, it's going to be the revealing of that which the Lord had wrought during our time here as earthly pilgrims seeking a heavenly city, a heavenly man, a heavenly nature, a heavenly glory, a heavenly Holy Spirit.

So it's very important to keep in mind these last couple of chapters in the book of Revelation and read them often and glean from them, and we'll be encouraged when we do so in the times when the Lord does severe dealing in our life, we'll be encouraged.

But beginning in Revelation chapter 21, going down to verse number 3, these are very rich verses. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.

So you can automatically begin to just look at key words, and the Holy Spirit can teach you the Lord's heart and the Lord's thought by understanding key words. You notice in verse number 1 of chapter 21, it's a new heaven and a new earth.

The Lord is doing something new, you see, new, everything is new. The Lord doesn't want to take the old and renovate it. The Lord is after something new. The Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5 .17, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things pass away, behold, all things become new. So the Lord is after a new heaven, a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. What a wonderful thought here to ponder and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us.

It's so good to know that Christianity is God making us all together new, all together new. The Lord doesn't want the old. The Lord doesn't want us to carry over the old into our Christian life. The Lord wants the old to be reckoned by us, set aside, as done, as in God's heart, unfit.

He's after that which is new, and that's an emphatic, an emphatic statement here. God is after that which is new. In chapter 2 of verse 20, chapter, verse 2 of chapter 21, And I, John, saw the holy city.

Now see, not only is the Lord after making things new, but He's after something holy. You see, John didn't just see a city. He saw a holy city. Now beloved, a holy city is a city that is set apart. The word holy means to set apart.

It means to sanctify. It means to dedicate something exclusively and wholly to a particular person. As we have illustrated before, you can make a tape recorder holy. The way you do it is you take the tape recorder and you dedicate it and say, from this day forward, this tape recorder will not play any tapes except Bible tapes.

And in doing so, you have made it holy. You have consecrated the tape recorder. Well, the city that John saw was a holy city. It was a set-aside city. It was a consecrated city. It was a city that was exclusively for God, by God, in God, through God, and to God's glory.

You see, so when the Holy Spirit deals with us in our life and begins to shine the light in the different departments of our life that are our departments, that are our areas of our life that we want lordship in, that we want preeminence in, we shouldn't be surprised.

Because the Holy Spirit, according to Revelation chapter 21, verse number 2, John saw a holy city. So God's end product, God's final completed product is going to be a city that is holy. You see? It's going to be a set-apart city.

Everything in that city will be by God, and for God, and in God, and to the glory of God. Now, we can't expect that that's going to be realized in our life if the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is not effectually working in our lives on a daily basis, bringing this crisis of the need to offer everything and everything the Holy Spirit puts His finger on to God.

We have to take our hands off and be free from the possessiveness of our own lives. The Holy Spirit says, you are bought with a price, you are not your own. And all these words need to go very deeply in this whole idea of not being our own possession.

Belonging to God is connected with a holy city. We're not our own. God has bought us, therefore, we, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, have to consecrate ourselves to God. We have to offer ourselves to God.

We have to give the Lord all of our life and all the departments of our life. Now, this can get real practical, can't it? Sure, it can. We have to give the Lord our time. Our time is not our own. We can't decide that we're just going to do this and that.

We have to be prayerful. We have to say, Lord, is it your thought for me to do this now? Is it your thought for me to do this now? We have to give everything to the Lord so that we can be a holy people.

You see, I don't believe that the holy city is going to be made up of unholy people. And I don't believe that we can be holy the way the Lord wants us to be, simply in a positional way, simply in a judicial way.

But I believe that this holiness, this being set apart for God, must be practically raw in us on a daily basis. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, there's that word new again, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.

Now, beloved, this holy city, this new Jerusalem, the scripture says, comes down from God out of heaven. All that the Lord is doing, as far as the new creation is concerned, is coming down from Himself out of heaven.

It is not originating from earth. It is not originating from man. It is not originating from the mind of man, from the works of man, from the heart of man. It is not originating from earth. It is not something of an earthly thing.

It's not tainted with man's energies, or man's wisdom, or man's reasonings. But the scripture says that this new Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven. Oh, how wonderful it is to know that the Lord's work is a heavenly work.

How wonderful to know that His work in us is a work that comes from His own very hand. This is a very important point. There's so much earthliness in our own lives. There's so much earthliness in the realm of Christianity today.

There's so much that is originating from man. Even if it's His religious nature, if it's coming from man, it's not acceptable to God. How we need to pray over these things and ask the Holy Spirit to so make known to us the realities of these truths.

How wonderful it is to be apprehended by this and to pray, Oh God, Oh God, may Your work continue in my life that comes from You, that is out of heaven, Lord. God, I need to know the work of Your Spirit that comes out of heaven.

I need to know the work of Your Spirit that comes from Your hand. God, I need to know that heavenly stamp upon my life. This heavenly work, this heavenly Jerusalem is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Well, my, we can just go on and on here, which we don't want to do, because we can get quite involved in this. But prepared as a bride, well, you can ask the Holy Spirit to teach you in the Scriptures what are the features that characterize a bride.

What are those features? Can it be that those features are not developed in our life? Or should I say, are not being developed in our life? And then we have a hope to be part of this heavenly bride? How can we have a hope of being part of a heavenly bride that's going to be revealed someday as one that comes out from heaven, from God, and yet at the present time, there's no real dealings in our life.

There's no real evidence that the features that characterize a bride are beginning to be expressed in our life. Oh, how we should pray, Lord God, Lord God, could it be, Lord, that you would begin to work in my life so wonderfully and so firmly, but yet lovingly, but firmly, to where the features of a bride can begin to come forth?

What are some of the features of a bride? Oh, my, utter love for her husband, utter devotedness, yes, purity, some features for the bride. How we need the Holy Spirit to begin to teach us along these lines.

Do you see these features coming forth in your life? A devotedness to the heavenly bridegroom, a love for the heavenly bridegroom, a zealous desire to want to only offer yourself to Him and to nothing else, a singleness of heart, the absence of having a roving eye, that is, an eye that is after other lovers other than the Lord Himself.

What about a heart that is, a life that is so open that we give everything to Him, that we do nothing of ourself, that everything about our life, all the facets of our life are open before our heavenly bridegroom, and now we're seeking His counsel.

Now we're asking Him to be the one who is leading us and guiding us. All of these features are what the Lord is going to realize in glorious manifestation in this lovely bride. So these are the things that we should be praying that the Lord makes real in our lives now, you see.

The Indwelling Presence of God and Full Surrender

Now verse number 3, and this goes along with what Virginia wanted to sing about, I surrender all. Verse number 3 is the picture of the ultimate expression of that song, I surrender all, all to Thee Lord Jesus I freely give.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God.

Behold the tabernacle, that word tabernacle means a habitation. The habitation of God is with man. Do you know what that implies? The habitation of God is with man? That implies that God has found a place to live.

God has found a place to live where He is completely honored as Sovereign Lord. When I read this scripture, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, in my heart I began to see that this implies that men and God are in perfect harmony.

Now God never rebelled against man, it was man who rebelled against God. So the presence of the tabernacle of God with men implies the absence of rebellion in the heart of men. The absence of rivalry in the heart of man against God.

The absence of self-will in the heart of man asserting itself against God's will. Can you see it beloved? The tabernacle of God is with men. The implication is that there is finally a humankind, the new creation man.

God has finally done it. He has gotten a man, a corporate man. The head is Christ, the body are those who are joined to Christ. He's finally gotten a man in whom He is perfectly and entirely at home in, that is a place where His rights are honored, where His Lordship is honored, where there's the absence of any enmity against Him.

Oh, what a glorious end. What a glorious end God is after here beloved. Now when we read these things, we mustn't place the fulfillment of these things exclusively in the future somewhere in the by and by and say, oh what a day that will be when God can be with man and man is in harmony with Him.

No beloved, we should be realizing that Paul teaches in Corinthians, what? Know you not that ye are the temple of God and that God dwells in you by the Holy Spirit? What? Know you not that ye are the members of Christ?

Now the truth of this scripture ought to so grip our hearts insomuch that we would begin to pray earnestly, oh dear Holy Spirit of God, would you please begin to bring in my life and in my heart such a submission to You so that the absence of rebellion is present, the absence of rivalry against You is present.

Oh how we should pray, Lord subdue me, conquer me, overcome me through the glorious life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you see it? Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. What that implies, what that means.

And how that should touch our lives very deeply, oh may the Holy Spirit do it. Is the habitation of God with you today? Does God dwell in you? If He does, may I ask a second question? How much of the Lord is honored in your life?

How much of His rights are being given in your life? God dwells in me, says the Christian who was born again, and rightfully so. That is a true testimony, isn't it? But how much of God dwells in you has full say in your life?

Is there harmony in your life with God? That is, is God's will the will that you earnestly desire? Is God's will the will that you passionately long for? Is God's heart the heart that you passionately long to know?

You see, when the tabernacle of God dwells with men, it implies that man is no longer self-centered. Man is no longer self-sufficient. Man is no longer revolving around his own life, fulfilling the desires of his own heart.

But the tabernacle of God with man implies that a great deliverance has occurred. A great emancipation has occurred. And now man is Godward instead of manward. Now man is God-centered and Christ-centered instead of self-centered and ego-centered.

There's a great change that occurs deep within our hearts, deep within our very beings. When the tabernacle of God is dwelling with us, we are emancipated and liberated from being servants and slaves to sin and self and Satan and the world and the pleasures of this world.

And we become creatures, heavenly creatures, creatures of His own begotten. Creatures of His own hand who now revolve around Him. Who now focus their heart's attentions around Him. Who now long for Him to have His place of preeminence in their life.

Oh, how this can deeply touch us. He will dwell with them and they shall be His people. And God Himself shall be with them and be their God. So, beloved, this is the Lord's end. This is what the Lord is after.

The Overcomer’s Inheritance and Victory

And what we want to look at tonight, by the help of God's grace, is this question. If we've seen through Revelation 21, 1 -3, what God's end is, then the question is this. How in the world is He going to get us there?

How is God going to get us there? What is the process by which the Lord implements, through which we can come into this more and more, so that the truths of this particular portion of Scripture are actually beginning to be expressed in our life in ever-increasing measure?

That's what we need to get after tonight. And of course, what that means is simply this. Lord, how am I to be an overcomer? Because truly, Revelation 21, verses 1 -3, all the way down to verses 5 -6, truly they speak of a people that have come into the full meaning of what it is to be an overcomer.

Do you want to be an overcomer tonight? Do you want to overcome? Revelation 21, verse 7, He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son. So the Scripture here speaks of an overcomer as being one or those who shall inherit all things.

So there's much at stake here, isn't there? The overcomer comes into some incredible blessings from the Lord, being able to inherit all things. Now, let's just look at a few Scriptures here that refer to this life of being an overcomer and the connection with the overcomer of inheriting all things.

You see, Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse number 31. What shall we then say to these things, if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

So there's that phrase again, freely give us all things. That coincides with the phrase in Revelation, He that overcomes shall inherit all things. Now, how about Ephesians chapter 1, verse number 3? Ephesians chapter 1, verse number 3, Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

So there we find again that word, all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. So you see, this thought of the overcomer inheriting all things is something that runs throughout the Scriptures. And it's a very, very dear thought in the Lord's heart.

And He wants to instill within us a passion to set our hearts and our eyes steadfastly upon Him that He can secure this work in us. Now, first of all, I want to just look at the word overcome. What does the word overcome mean?

The Scripture speaks of overcomers in various different places, but before we look at them, what does it mean? Well, the Scripture, when it speaks of the word overcome, that word means to subdue, to conquer, to prevail, to obtain the victory.

So an overcomer is one who has subdued, or one who has conquered, one who has prevailed, one who has obtained the victory. So take, for example, in Revelation, the promise is made to the overcomer seven different times in the book of Revelation in the various different churches there.

So if the Lord is mentioning the overcomer so many times in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, then the Lord is really after an overcomer. His heart is really set toward realizing in a people the qualities that characterize an overcomer.

So when the Scripture says, he that overcomes, he that overcomes, seven times in the book of Revelation, what it's really saying is, he that subdues, he that conquers, he that obtains the victory, to him that prevails against.

So the Scripture is speaking here of somebody who is in the place of victory, in the place of victory. So automatically we have to connect the thought of being an overcomer with the thought of being victorious, being a conqueror, being one that obtains and is obtaining the victory.

So it brings us into the thought of a battle, doesn't it? The very word itself, overcomer, implies a battle. Let's look at a few places in 1 John where the word overcome is used. 1 John 5. 1 John 5, verse number 4.

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.

So that's the references in 1 John where the word overcome and overcometh is used. And you'll notice that the overcomer here is directly connected to the one born of God, the one that believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the one that is able to possess a living faith.

Now, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we won't go into it at this time. We know that there's promises made to the overcomers. And these promises are very sure and very certain. And they're only made to the overcomers.

So, the thought that we want to look at tonight with the help of God's grace... Oh, before we do this, I thought it was interesting too that the first mention in the New Testament of the word overcome is found in Luke 11 .22.

We'll look at that, and then we'll look at the second mention. Because you can learn a lot about words and particular phrases when you look at their first mention in the Bible and their last mention in the Bible.

You learn a lot about it. And remarkably, in Luke 11 .22, the first mention of overcome is in a story that Jesus told about Beelzebub and his kingdom and the kingdom of God. And in verse 22, it says...

Well, let's begin here in verse 17. Alright, Jesus was casting out devils and the people were accusing Jesus of casting out devils by the power of Satan. And this is what Jesus' response was. Verse 17, And He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falleth.

If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. But if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out?

Therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace. Now, that strong man refers to Satan and his palace refers to his kingdom and those in his kingdom.

His goods are men who are bound. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, here it is, and overcome him. There's the first use of the word overcome in the New Testament. And you know when the Scripture speaks in verse 22,.

But when a stronger than he shall come and conquer him, he taketh away from him all his armor, wherein he trusted, and divided his spoils. When the Scripture speaks of that stronger one, it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is that stronger one who comes upon the strong man and spoils his goods and overcomes him. So, whenever the word of overcomer is mentioned, we have to be very careful that we understand the word and the meaning of the word and the good of the word as it directly relates to the life and person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the overcomer. Now, in John 16, verse 33, this is the next place that the word overcome is used. 16, verse 33,. These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world. Now, see, in Luke, Jesus refers to himself as the one who overcomes the strong man. So, Jesus has overcome Satan. Now, Jesus refers to himself as the one who has overcome the world.

Okay? So, what we're seeing is all of these wonderful truths that relate to the overcomer, being a conqueror, being one that overcomes, being one that gets the victory, are directly connected to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

This is vital for us, beloved. This is vital for us if we are to truly know the overcoming life in our daily practical life. We have to realize that Christ is the overcomer and Christ is the source of all the power to overcome.

So, now that we see that Jesus Christ has overcome the devil, let's go to Colossians and see another Scripture that supports that. It's so very important for us to have this foundation in our lives, beloved, because there's much talk today about being overcomers.

But, unfortunately, very few believers equate being an overcomer with the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of His life being expressed in them. Too often, the call to be an overcomer stirs into action and fans into flame the strength of the believer to want to try and overcome by his own power and his own might, and that's going to lead down a dead-end street.

We're not going to succeed in overcoming that way. We can't overcome by pulling up our own bootstraps. The way to overcome, and this is what we're going to get into a little later, is to be overcome. The way to conquer is to be conquered.

The way to be triumphant is to be triumphed over. You see? And that's what the Lord is after. So in Colossians, verse number 13, chapter 2,. And you, being dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, that is, Christ, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing, that is, overcoming, over them.

Overcoming them in it. Triumphing over them in it. So here, the Lord Jesus is shown to be the One who has overcome principalities and powers. You see? Now, 1 Peter. What we're doing now is we're using the Scriptures and showing how everything is connected to and fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

He is the overcomer. And we're seeing that quite vividly, are we not? 1 Peter chapter 2, beginning in verse number 21. For even hereunto were ye called, that is, to suffer, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps, who did not sin.

Neither was guile found in His mouth. There you go. So here, the Scriptures teach that Christ Jesus overcame what? He overcame sin. So He is the overcomer against sin. He's the overcomer of the devil.

He's the overcomer of the world, according to John chapter 16, verse number 33. Now let's go to the book of Hebrews. Chapter 7, verse number 25. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto Him by God, seeing that He ever liveth to make intercession for them.

For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. So, beloved, Christ has overcome all things. He overcame sin. He overcame any kind of defilement.

He overcame any kind of evil. He overcame anything that would be unholy or polluted. So Christ becomes the absolute fulfillment and picture of an overcomer. He is the overcomer. Now, let's go to Matthew.

Not only has Christ overcome all of these things, but in chapter 28, verse 1 of the book of Matthew, it says,. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.

And behold, there was a great earthquake. For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow.

And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead men. Listen to what the angel said. The angel answered and said unto him, said unto the woman, Fear ye not, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

He is not here. Listen. For he is risen as he said. So not only has Jesus conquered and overcome sin, he's overcome the world, he's overcome the devil, he's overcome all the things that are not acceptable to God.

But here the Bible says that Jesus overcame death itself. So he is the overcomer and he has overcome all things. Hebrews. Turn there back again and we'll find another Scripture to help us see this truth.

This can never be exhausted. We can never talk too much about Jesus. Alright. Hebrews 2 .9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, and he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.

So here Jesus tasted death for every man so that ultimately the overcomers can also overcome death itself. So the Scriptures are teaching us that God has made wonderful promises to the overcomers who shall inherit all things.

But the overcomers and all of those promises being fulfilled in the overcomers are directly related to and connected with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only realization that we can know of coming into the good of these promises and overcoming death, overcoming sin, overcoming the world, overcoming the flesh, is through the overcomer himself gaining more and more and more a place in our life.

Victory Through Christ and the Holy Spirit

I want you to turn to Romans chapter 8. It is vitally important for us to see that the church's power to overcome is wholly related to her ability to live on the basis of His life and by the power of the Holy Spirit deny and disown their old life.

And whenever we get off the basis and off the mindset and get astray from seeing everything that God wants us to be as connected to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit making good in us the life of Jesus Christ onto some kind of a movement where we're trying to obtain the things God wants us to be by our own strength and our own effort, we are immediately cutting ourselves off from the head and trying to grasp for something that is not attainable by our own power and by our own might.

That's why it's essential that we see these things. All right, Romans chapter 7, verse number 17. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

So here the Bible clearly says that in my flesh dwells no good thing. Verse 24, O wretched man that I am. Have you seen the reality of that yet? O wretched man that I am. I tell you, beloved, the passion to be an overcomer and the ability to begin to live an overcoming life really accelerates, or I think it really only truly begins to happen.

It not only begins, but it accelerates when we come to the realization of what Paul saw in Romans chapter 7. These two truths are vital for us to come to know before we can really begin to know the good of living in that life of being an overcomer.

And that is number one, for in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And number two, O wretched man that I am. Those two truths are vital if we are to know what it is to be an overcomer. Those who have not seen that in their flesh dwells no good thing, and O wretched man that I am, those who have not seen those truths are not really able to be overcomers.

Because the very fact of not seeing those truths presupposes confidence yet in oneself, reliance in oneself, dependence in oneself, and self-ability, and self-strength, and wisdom, and knowledge that comes out of our own natural minds as opposed to an utter dependence upon and reliance in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the life of Jesus Christ being transmitted to us, communicated to us by an ever-present Holy Spirit and an ever-continuous infilling of the Holy Spirit of God.

That's what we need in our lives. An ever-present filling of the Holy Spirit of God communicating to us the life of Jesus Christ which is the only life that will enable us to overcome. So, we see that an overcomer, what it means, the various places that the word overcome, overcomer, are used in the New Testament, and how all of these things are connected to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and His glorified life right now and that life being communicated to us by the Holy Spirit of God.

Romans chapter 8 is the follow-through after the revelation of Romans 7. I want to do good. The Holy Spirit is working in me the desire to do good, but I do not find the power to perform it. What is wrong?

Oh, wretched man that I am! Who can deliver me? Verse number 1, chapter 8,. Therefore now there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Notice, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free, has loosed me, has exempted me from the law of sin and death.

So here the Bible clearly teaches that the way to victory over the law of sin and death which works in my nature, which works in my natural mind, which works in my natural body, which is the law of sin and death.

There is a law of sin working in me. But the overcomer, according to the Bible, is the one who subdues and conquers and prevails and obtains the victory over. So how is it that I'm going to overcome and get the victory over this terrible, dreadful law of sin and death?

By coming to realize there's no good thing that dwells in our flesh and that I am, in fact, in myself, in my flesh, a wretched man. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who can deliver me from this body of death?

Who shall deliver me from this dying corpse? Who shall deliver me? The Scripture says, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free. Beloved, let it be known clearly tonight, let it be known clearly tonight that the way of freedom from the law of sin, the way of freedom from the bondage in the flesh, the way of freedom from the voluptuous powers in the world, the way of freedom from all of these things is found wholly and exclusively in the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

It is not a theology in and of itself. It is not an end-time teaching in and of itself. It is the law of Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that makes me free from the law of sin and death. So right here, verse 2, chapter 8, we see the way of Overcomer.

We see the secret power of the Overcomer. So, might we ask, who is it that overcomes? Who is it that comes into this life of being able to overcome these dreadful things in the world and these dreadful things in the flesh?

It is that person that discovers the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and by a living, active faith is enabled to live in the good of that life and disown and deny the life that is according to the law of sin and death, which is the flesh.

So here this Scripture clearly shows us that the Overcomer is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the believer's power to overcome is directly linked to the believer by the power of the Holy Spirit living in the good of the life of Jesus Christ.