He Has Overcome - Romans 12:21 (Part 1)
Dear Friends,
We are ready to resume our Discovering Grace Weekly teaching letters for this upcoming year, so I want to begin by encouraging us with the word “Good!” Keep this word in your mind all week long. Meditate on it throughout your day, post it around your house or office, and let your mind get renewed to this hopeful, dynamic and marvelous word. It was one of the first words spoken in the record of Scripture by God on the first day of creation.
“Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.” - Genesis 1:3-4
All throughout the Scripture, God is always making a separation between that which is light and darkness, good and evil. We never see God calling the darkness “good.” This is important! Right now, we need more than ever to see light, and to see good, and to keep ourselves “unstained by the world.” (James 1:27b) So to kick off this new year, we will be launching a series for our Discovering Grace Weekly that deals primarily with our key verse from Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
We understand that most folks were really looking forward to abandoning the year 2020, but not if it meant being overcome by even more evil. As things seem to be progressing in unsettling ways, how do we keep from being overcome by all the evil and the heavy talk and frightening circumstances before us? The Bible makes it really clear how we are to navigate these turbulent times. We are called to “overcome evil with good.” So that is what we are going to explore more deeply for the next number of weeks...however detailed and explicit the Holy Spirit wants to communicate this theme. Let’s begin!
In Romans 12:21, we are told first and foremost to “not be overcome by evil.” Let us start by understanding what the word “overcome” means. It is the Greek word nikaō. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines this word as meaning “to conquer, overcome; to carry off the victory; to come off victorious.” Kenneth Wuest, a Greek scholar, notes that this verb implies a battle. Now when we put it back into the context, we are not to allow ourselves to be conquered or overcome by evil. Though a battle may ensue, we are not to let evil carry off the victory or come off victorious over our lives. Right now, that almost seems impossible. And yet, God would never encourage us to do something that was not within His power, living on the inside of us, to accomplish.
If you have been born again through faith in Jesus Christ, you have within you all that is necessary to “not be overcome by evil.”No matter how fierce the battle, evil will not have the last say in your life. Evil has no dominion over you, if you are in Christ. It cannot overcome you, conquer you, or gain a victory over you in any way, shape, or form. My friend, you have the ability to “not be overcome by evil.” Depression, worry and fear of tribulation, trials or sickness, are all fuel the devil places in our lives to start fires of defeat to overcome us. But be at rest, we have a sure word from The Living Word, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Listen to His great encouragement…
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]” - John 16:33 AMPC
We must remember that these precious and loving words were spoken just prior to Jesus going to the cross to pay the penalty for all of our sin, and deprive sin and evil of its power to harm us any longer. The reason that we are able to “not be overcome by evil” is not because we have some great staying power in ourselves, what we have is One living inside of us Who has already “overcome the world” for us. Let me say it again...The One Who has taken up residence in our believing hearts has ALREADY “overcome the world” on our behalf.
I hope this is bringing great comfort to your troubled heart right now. Friends, when God asks us to “not be overcome by evil,” He expects that the way this will be accomplished in us is through our faith in what He has already done. Boy, this is powerful! Notice what the Apostle John records…
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.” - 1 John 5:4 NASB
The thing that gains us the victory over the onslaught of evil is our faith. Faith is nothing more than your joyful acceptance of what God’s Word says is true. Now, to be sure no one is confused, this verse very clearly states that “whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” This promise is not to everyone, it is given to the one who is born of God. What does it mean to be “born of God?” The Apostle tells us in an earlier verse…
“Everyone who believes [with a deep, abiding trust in the fact] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is born of God [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]…” - 1 John 5:1a AMP
Just to be sure that we don’t miss it, the Apostle John says it again in verse 5…
“Who is the one who is victorious and overcomes the world? It is the one who believes and recognizes the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.” - 1 John 5:5 AMP
So let us review... if you have believed with your heart that Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah, the Scripture declares that you are “born of God.” If you are “born of God,” you “overcome the world.” The thing that secures your victory is your faith that Jesus is the Son of God. I don’t know how to say it any bigger, that if you have your faith locked onto Jesus Christ, you will be able to “not be overcome by evil,” because Jesus overcame the world for you so that by your faith in Him, you will also “overcome the world.”
This always leads me to the ultimate question, “Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Savior of the world?” If you have not believed this fact, I encourage you to not wait another day. The Word says that if you “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31) We encourage you to read also Get Saved Now...Ask Questions Later! and also All Who Are Weary, you’ll be glad that you did!
Friends, the battle is on and we must remember who the real enemy is…
“In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might.
Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.
Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].” - Ephesians 6:10-13 AMP
It is a great comfort to me going in to this new, uncertain year, that Jesus has overcome the world, therefore because I am in Him, I have overcome the world. Since Jesus has overcome the devil and all evil, I have also overcome. And as a final thought for this week, Romans 8:37 reveals that “we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) The word “overwhelmingly conquer” is hupernikaō. It is a combination of two words, huper and nikao.̄ The Strong’s Greek Concordance states that it means “to vanquish beyond, that is to gain a decisive victory – more than conquer.” This is a Super-Victory and it belongs to you in Christ Jesus!
We have only just begun to scratch the surface of this wonderful verse and we will continue to draw more out of it in next week’s Discovering Grace Weekly. The antidote to the devil’s evil is “Good.” So, if evil continues to lurk at our doors in this coming year, I encourage you, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” - Romans 12:21 NASB. Evil may try to come and pick a fight with you, but you have a decisive victory already in the bag. Rely on the love you have in Jesus and let His love go free, through you, and the victory is yours. Evil will never overpower “Good!”
“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:35-39 NLT
Now that, dear Friends, is Grace!
written by
Eileen R. Jacobs (January 2021)
Copyright © 2021 Eileen Jacobs Ministries. All rights reserved.
Note:
One last note...if today you received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, we encourage you to write the date down somewhere important to you. Many people like to write the date of their salvation on the inside cover of their Bible. I can’t stress enough how important this is to do. Not only does it help you remember the day you became a Child of God, but it is a marker of your New Birth like a birth certificate, which is a legal proof of your existence. This marker is important because, whether you know it or not, there actually is a devil. Since he is a spirit, he has an ability to speak to our minds by way of deceptive thoughts. I can almost guarantee that there will come a time when a suggestive thought will come to your mind that will cause you to question whether you are really saved or not. This is where that date recorded or marker or New Birth certificate becomes important. You can simply go back to your Bible or wherever you wrote it down, and remind yourself or say to the devil...”Nope, you’re wrong! This date is the day I received Jesus, the day of my New Birth, the day I became a Child of God, the day I was saved, the day my name was written in the Lamb’s book of life...end of discussion!”
Finally, we would love to know that you have joined the family of God. We are so excited for you and we want to keep you in our prayers. Email us to let us know!
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