On This Day: To Live the ‘More Than Conquerors’ Life

   And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
   “‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
    and him only shall you serve.’”
   And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to guard you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
   And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1-13)

   The thought that Jesus giving in to temptation would have turned this world into a nightmare of completely unrestrained evil pierces my heart to consider how often my failures have shut down something that could have happened to the glory of God and the good of others. 

   Jesus’ victory over sin, death, hell, and condemnation has given me the salvation by which all my sins are forgiven and God is constantly purifying me from unrighteousness (I John 1:9). It also gives me the “more than conquerors” life by which I can “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). That is, if I resist temptation and walk in “the obedience of faith”. 

   To make this work, God has given us “the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (vs 11). We can “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (vs 13). 

   When the apostle Paul wrote, “…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37), he meant that we who have received “the newness of life” from Christ are to live in his victory over sin by resisting temptation just like our Savior did. 

   The apostle John made clear how we do this when he wrote, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). 

   Luke describes Jesus’ victory over Satan’s temptations in the wilderness so we can appreciate why we have our great salvation (because Jesus never sinned and always did the Father’s will), and how we must “be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

   While I could say much more to encourage us in these things, today’s focus is to get down to business with God. Confess every sin he brings to mind, worship God for his forgiveness and cleansing from sin, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8), and watch how others benefit from our victory over sin by our faith in Jesus’ victory over sin. 

© 2025 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)