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.)

Pastoral Ponderings: The Purity of God’s Good News

After the apostle Paul gave the Corinthians a list of external experiences that I could easily attach to because they are things I have gone through in much smaller ways with my ministry,[1] he now presents a list of personal qualities that are not so easy to relate to. 

by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love;[2] 

I am letting myself begin with the focus Paul is making, to see that these qualities in Paul were evidence of the genuineness of his calling as an apostle, and of the gospel he preached everywhere he went. These personal qualities were to call the Corinthians back to their first love, renouncing the false gospel of the false teachers, and once again fully opening their hearts to Paul and his good news. It is obvious that we should do the same in any ways that we have drifted into listening to the wrong men and their wrong messages. 

At the same time, while Paul has jumped from grade 1 to grade 10, so to speak (without even a period, I should say!), this is as much a list of qualities to strive for as the externals he just presented. Paul was setting an example for the Corinthians, and his example still stands for us today. 

I only got so far as the hopelessly-impossible-in-myself quality of “purity”. It means, “moral purity n. — the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; especially lacking a firsthand knowledge of evil.”[3] I know Paul wasn’t claiming perfection, but he could honestly say that he had not tainted his ministry with impure living of any kind. Instead, he had exemplified purity everywhere he went and in everything he taught. 

What helped me this morning was reminding myself of two central issues of our salvation. First is that our salvation is three-dimensional in the sense of justification, sanctification, and glorification. Justification imputes the righteous purity of Christ to our account by grace through faith. Sanctification works genuine purity of heart into our lives as we are transformed into the same image as Jesus Christ “from one degree of glory to another”.[4] And glorification promises that we will one day be as pure as Jesus because “we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”[5] This means that every born-again Christian is a work in progress. We can praise God for the purity imputed to us, the purity growing in us, knowing that this purity will be perfected in us. This is why our salvation is “good news of great joy”! 

The other part of our salvation that really blessed me this morning is what I call the “Beatitudinal Journey”. When Jesus introduced his Sermon on the Mount with eight Beatitudes, “blessed are the pure in heart” came sixth in his list.[6] If we follow how he gets there, it is a very encouraging and hope-filled process of transformation that all God’s children can experience no matter when we begin or how we describe our starting place. 

Here is an illustration of how I see the Beatitudes as a journey of transformation.

When I hear Paul speak of “purity”, I feel “poor in spirit” about how often this quality eludes me. It makes me “mourn” all the guilt, shame and fear that follows impurity wherever it leaves its unrighteous mark. It brings me to the “meekness” that knows I cannot fix impurity by my own strength, and so I surrender to the authority of Jesus Christ to transform me through the good news of salvation. And, with this certainty that Jesus alone can make a man’s heart pure, I allow myself to “hunger and thirst” for the “righteousness” of “purity” no matter how much or little I believe it is in me. 

It is at this point that Jesus promised that God would bless us with the satisfaction of righteousness we long for in our justification by grace through faith, along with our continuing sanctification by grace through faith, and motivated by the future hope of our glorification by grace through faith. 

And, knowing how we are a work in progress, we praise God that by the time we see how much mercy he has shown us to bring us into the righteousness of his Son, we ourselves feel a genuine desire to be merciful to everyone we meet, and it is in this mercifulness that we find our hearts becoming pure because we now want only the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven and nothing of the horrible life of sin we have left behind. 

I know that “pure in heart” is the primary focus today, but I do also need the reminder that it is this work of God in us that makes us “peacemakers” who are unstoppable because we want nothing more than to see other people come to have peace with God just as we do. And this purity of heart also rejoices in our persecutions because we know that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”.[7] But once we have become the blessed peacemakers of God, although the pain of persecution may cause us to recoil (like getting ready to go to the dentist), our hearts have become pure in the righteousness of Christ so we will endure all things for the sake of finding lost sheep just like our Savior did for us. 

Anyway, what started out as my morning sharing turned into too much to say, and so I leave this “Pastoral Pondering” with you in the hope that you will let the good news of great joy that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord, bring you to rest in the grace of God that purifies all who come to him through faith in his Son, and to rejoice that God is working all things in your life together for this good, of making you more like Jesus, and that includes a heart that becomes more pure by the day. 

The apostle John testified, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”[8] It is that cleansing from unrighteousness that purifies our hearts, and it comes by confession of sin, not trying to do better. 

The apostle Paul’s testimony gives us one more “witness” of faith[9] that we can “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”[10] All who believe in Jesus Christ can keep growing up in this, and, if you need help, please ask!

 

© 2023 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.)

 

 

 

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[1] “by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger” (II Corinthians 6:4-5).

[2] II Corinthians 6:6

[3] From Bible Sense Lexicon in Logos Research Systems Inc.

[4] II Corinthians 3:18

[5] I John 3:2

[6] The Sermon on the Mount is in Matthew 5-7, and Matthew 5:1-12 lists the eight Beatitudes.

[7] II Timothy 3:12

[8] I John 1:9

[9] Paul is included as part of that “great cloud of witnesses” described in Hebrews 11 and referred to in Hebrews 12:1ff as encouragement to run the race in pure-hearted devotion to Christ.

[10] II Timothy 2:22

Songs For the Journey ~ "I Want to be Like Jesus"

I know that it is God's purpose and plan to make a people in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). This means he is presently working to transform us "into the same image" as Jesus Christ "from one degree of glory to another" (II Corinthians 3:18). 

While God will carry this work on to completion by his own initiative and effort (Philippians 1:6), he also works in us to give us the hunger and thirst to experience such righteousness as his grace provides (Matthew 5:6). 

This song is a sing-along expression of this desire to be like Jesus. No matter how much God must change us to make us like his Son (he knows this better than we could ever imagine), we can join his work by praying for the greatest experience of his work every day of our lives.

One day, we will be just like Jesus when we see him as he is (I John 3:2). In the meantime, we can pray for today's "degree of glory" to be fulfilled in our lives as fully as possible in our Lord Jesus Christ.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

Pastoral Pings ~ The Holy Spirit and the Holy Self

          There are two very good reasons why Jesus’ brothers have no reason to live as defeated recluses. Reason one: we have been given the Holy Spirit. Reason two: we have been given a holy self. When our holy self walks in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we cannot help but have the victory in our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.[1]

          The order in which we experience these two friends is that the Holy Spirit first works in our lives for the salvation that then gives us our holy self. However, I want to focus first on this holy self we have been given, since it is through this holy self that we can both understand and join the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.

          God’s life-giving work in his children includes, “and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”[2] This tells us that everyone who is a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ has a “new self.” It also tells us that this new self is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

          Since holiness is the character reality that expresses itself in righteous activity, we can summarize this gift of transformation in this simple way, that every child of God has a holy self. And, not only do we have this holy self, but we are fully capable of living out of this new self by the grace of God that makes us alive in Jesus Christ.

          In our holy self, we can now appreciate that we have also been given the Holy Spirit. He who was poured out on the church at Pentecost,[3]continues to lead the fellowship of the church so that we are “a holy temple in the Lord,” that is “being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”[4]

          When each believer in Jesus Christ has a new holy self that is fully capable of being holy and righteous, and we have the Holy Spirit making us a holy temple in which God can dwell within us by the Spirit, we cannot imagine that such a relationship between God and man could be defeated.

          It is no wonder that Peter would add his harmony to this song by declaring, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”[5]The work of God’s divine power includes giving us a new holy self that lives in fellowship with the constant work of the Holy Spirit so that we can walk and grow in “all things that pertain to life and godliness.” ALL THINGS!

          It is only when church-going folk try to remain in their old self, that old part of us, “which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,”[6] that we end up in the defeated, self-absorbed, despondent mindset that wants to hide under a log and never be seen again.

          The fact is that, when our new holy self walks by the Holy Spirit, we simply “will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”[7] The Holy Spirit’s fellowship with our holy self causes the fruit of the Spirit to flourish in our lives.[8]

          When the apostles tell us to “be filled with the Spirit,”[9] to “walk by the Spirit,”[10] to be “led by the Spirit,”[11]to “live by the Spirit,” and “keep in step with the Spirit,”[12]it is always referring to our holy self in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. If we are stuck in our old self, what we often refer to as the sark, or the flesh, we will never succeed at living in any kind of fellowship with the Spirit.

          However, when our holy self lives in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we cannot fail.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?[13]

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] I John 5:4

[2] Ephesians 4:24

[3] Acts 2:1-47 tells the story.

[4] Ephesians 2:19-22

[5] II Peter 1:3

[6] Ephesians 4:22

[7] Galatians 5:16

[8] See whole context of Galatians 5:16-26, with vss 22-23 listing the characteristics of the Spirit’s work in our lives, the fruit of his presence in fellowship with our new self.

[9] Ephesians 5:18

[10] Galatians 5:16

[11] Galatians 5:18

[12] Galatians 5:25

[13] I John 5:4-5