More than Conquerors
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Victory: Implements in Your Hand
Romans 8:31–39 APNT:
31 What then should we say about these [things]? If God [is] for us, who is against us?
32 And if he did not spare his Son, but delivered him up for all of us, how will he not give us everything with him?
33 Who can accuse the chosen [ones] of God? God justifies.
34 Who condemns? Christ died and rose and is at the right hand of God and makes petition on our behalf.
35 What will separate me from the love of Christ? [Is it] trial or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?
36 As it is written: Because of you every day we are dying and we are counted as lambs to slaughter.
37 On the contrary, in all these [things] we are victorious by way of him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor authorities nor powers nor those [things] present nor future
39 nor height nor depth, neither any other created [thing] will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Victory: The Aramaic word is zakaya, and the verb is zeka. We open our hand and God puts the weapon or implement into it.
All of our implements, or the victory that we have, God has literally put in our hands.
Romans 5:18 APNT:
In like manner, therefore, because of the error of one, condemnation was to all men, so also because of the uprightness of one, the victory [implements in your hand] for life will be to all men.
1 Corinthians 15:57 APNT:
But blessed [be] God who gives us the victory [implements in our hands] by way of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Part of our victory is the promise of a new body.
2 Corinthians 10:4–5 APNT:
4 For the equipment of our service [KJV: weapons of our warfare] is not of the flesh, but of the power of God and by it, we overcome rebellious strongholds.
5 And we pull down reasonings and all pride that elevates [itself] against the knowledge of God and we lead captive all thoughts to the obedience of Christ.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, not of the flesh, they are of the power of God. It’s as if we opened our hand and God placed the power of God into it to use.
The Hebrew word for “to be victorious” is zaka. The letters put together that way mean to be pure or free from impurities. You could translate it as “innocent,” “clear,” or “clean.”
One use of it is where the oil in the Temple was refined and made pure so that it could be used in the service of the Tabernacle and later the Temple.
Another example was of a crystal. We find crystals embedded in rocks, but the crystalline form itself is clean and pure in itself, no matter what is surrounding it. That’s a picture of God’s gift of Spirit within us; it’s clean and pure in itself.
Zaka can either be translated as “victory” or “innocence.” The victory has something to do with that purity.
Daniel 6:22 KJV:
My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency [zaka] was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
Daniel was made innocent or blameless, and the innocence was part of what prevented the lions from harming him. We have also been made blameless and given innocence. The crystal inside us (the rocky shell), the Spirit, is where the purity resides. That’s why we can live our lives blameless. And it gives us the right and the courage to pray for each other. We don’t focus on our outside, which isn’t worthy, but on our inside, which is worthy to pray for others.
That innocence or blamelessness is part of the weaponry that He’s placed in our hands.
Romans 8:36 KJV:
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
This quotation comes from Psalm 44, which is basically a cry for help.
Psalm 44:4–8 KJV:
4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. 5 Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. 7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. 8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
We are not going to trust in our flesh, an outward weapon, or something physical. We put our trust in God.
Psalm 44:20–23 KJV:
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; 21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. 22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
Psalm 44:26 KJV:
Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.
The verse about being counted as sheep for the slaughter, the emphasis is on “for thy mercies’ sake.” Because we are Christ’s and belong to Him, sometimes we feel like sheep led to slaughter. But we can pray like the psalmist did: “Arise! Help! God you are our victory!” That’s why in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Let’s go back to that idea of weapons.
Psalm 119 has a section for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The section associated with the Hebrew letter “z” ז (used in zaka) begins in verse 49. This section shows us several other weapons that we have from the power of God.
Psalm 119:49–50 KJV:
49 ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
One of our weapons is the Word, which gives us life.
Psalm 119:54– KJV:
54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law. 56 This I had, because I kept thy precepts.
In the New Testament, God has literally given us the name of Jesus Christ to use for every situation.
So we have three powerful weapons: the Word, the name, and the purity (innocence).
When it comes to the name of Jesus Christ, we should pause and consider what it means when we use it.
Another Name for Jesus Christ
Micah 2:13 KJV:
The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.
In Old Testament times, one of the names for the Messiah was “the breaker through” or “the breaker.”
Inasmuch as Jesus has gone before us, things remain not as they would have been had he never passed that way. He has conquered every foe that obstructed the way. Cheer up now thou faint-hearted warrior. Not only has Christ travelled the road, but he has slain thine enemies. Dost thou dread sin? He has nailed it to his cross. Dost thou fear death? He has been the death of Death. Art thou afraid of hell? He has barred it against the advent of any of his children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition. Whatever foes may be before the Christian, they are all overcome. There are lions, but their teeth are broken; there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted; there are rivers, but they are bridged or fordable; there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which renders us invulnerable to fire. The sword that has been forged against us is already blunted; the instruments of war which the enemy is preparing have already lost their point. God has taken away in the person of Christ all the power that anything can have to hurt us. Well then, the army may safely march on, and you may go joyously along your journey, for all your enemies are conquered beforehand. What shall you do but march on to take the prey? They are beaten, they are vanquished; all you have to do is to divide the spoil. You shall, it is true, often engage in combat; but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe. His head is broken; he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall not be sufficient for his malicious design. Your victory shall be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count.
“Proclaim aloud the Saviour’s fame,
Who bears the Breaker’s wond’rous name;
Sweet name; and it becomes him well,
Who breaks down earth, sin, death, and hell.” —Charles Spurgeon
Let’s pray for each other in the name of The Breaker Through.
Romans 8:35–39 APNT:
35 What will separate me from the love of Christ? [Is it] trial or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?
36 As it is written: Because of you every day we are dying and we are counted as lambs to slaughter.
37 On the contrary, in all these [things] we are victorious by way of him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor authorities nor powers nor those [things] present nor future
39 nor height nor depth, neither any other created [thing] will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer is another wonderful weapon.
This teaching is also available on the Acts Now Fellowship website.
Bookstore Suggestions:
