The Apostle Paul was a masterful communicator. He had a
complete grasp on his subject matter and he spoke and wrote with confidence and
authority. His letter to the church at Rome is a classic example of his ability
to know his audience and tailor the message accordingly.
What would have been the reaction if Paul had addressed his
“more than conquerors” illustration to one of the Jewish-Christian churches?
The Jews were much more familiar with the concept of “conquered” rather than
“conqueror.” The Roman Christians, while most of them had probably not actually
participated in military action against another nation, were beneficiaries of
the empire’s might. The idea of being a conqueror would not trigger negative
vibes in their minds.
For different reasons, American Christians, like the Jewish
Christians, might also find that the notion of being a conqueror is a foreign
concept. We won our independence but we overcame
more than we conquered. So we, too, may not quite fully comprehend the
implication of Paul’s words. He says that we are more than conquerors. We are the aggressors, not just the invaded
nation who defended ourselves successfully. Our victory is more than victory –
we are “over-victorious.”*
And what are these things
that we are victorious over? We find the answer in a previous verse: “Who shall
separate us from the love Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or
famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8: 35). Doesn’t that pretty
well cover any adversity we might face? But in our role as more that conquerors, we don’t merely avoid becoming victims. We don’t run and hide to protect ourselves.
We attack. We march into battle
against trouble and hardship, etc., because Jesus is at the right hand of God,
interceding for us. (Romans 8: 34) We don’t just not lose; we overcome.
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