When Victory Arrives As A Gift
Receiving, not earning, the life Jesus gives.
Devotional Credit: Victory in Christ by Charles G. Trumbull, Chapter Four, “Is Victory Earned, or a Gift?”
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Many of us long for real victory over sin, yet we quietly assume that such victory is only for later, after this life. Trumbull’s chapter meets us right there. He reminds us that what we ache for is not far off. It is present in Jesus, offered as a gift to be received, not a prize to be earned. Thank you, Charles G. Trumbull, for putting courage back into tired hearts and for pointing us to the simplicity of receiving from the risen Lord.
He draws a helpful line between effort and receiving. We do use the will, not to manufacture change, but to welcome what grace supplies. Just as we did not climb our way into justification, we do not grind our way into daily victory. The same Jesus who saved us from the penalty of sin now saves us from the power of sin. The door into both is the same door, trusting reception, not self-effort.
Trumbull also clears away a common worry. This is not universalism. The gift is truly offered in the Messiah, and people genuinely refuse or receive. The human will matters, yet it does not share the credit. Our part is not co-production. Our part is reception. When we try to contribute to what only grace can do, we actually block what grace is doing.
Here is the good news for today. The Christian life is not an anxious project plan. It is life in Jesus, received moment by moment. Victory is not Jesus plus my striving. It is Jesus living His life in me as I keep receiving. That posture keeps the heart soft, the conscience clear, and the hands ready for obedient love.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I dwell in you because you are in the Anointed One. I joined you to His death and raised you with Him to newness of life. Your old master no longer holds the deed to your house. Present yourself to Me, not to the old rule of law, and you will discover that sin’s dominion is broken by grace. I work in you to will and to do for My good pleasure, so set your mind on things above where your life is hidden with the Christ in God. As you received the Lord Jesus by faith, keep walking in Him by the same faith. I am faithful. I called you, and I complete what I begin.
You ask what you must add to make victory real. Add nothing. Believe and receive. When you shift to your own effort, you step under a yoke that I did not place on you. When you abide in My Son, I supply what the law never could. I produce love that is patient, purity that is free, and self-control that is peaceful. This is not passivity. It is yielded trust that acts because I energize. Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God in the Christ Jesus, and present your members to Me as instruments ready for righteousness. I supply what I command.
When temptation whispers that you are unchanged, answer with what I have said. You are crucified with the Christ, and now the life you live in the body is by the faith of the Son of God. There is no condemnation for you in Him. My Spirit of life sets you free from the law of sin and death. Stand firm in the liberty the Messiah secured, and do not go back to the bondage of self-effort. I provide grace upon grace, and the victory is Mine to accomplish as you continue receiving.
References: Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:1-14, Romans 6:14, Philippians 2:13, Colossians 3:1-4, Colossians 2:6-7, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, Galatians 3:2-5, Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 8:1-4, John 1:16, John 15:4-5, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-12, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, 1 John 5:4-5, Romans 5:17, Hebrews 4:9-11, Romans 10:9-10
Real-Life Analogy
Think of a home thermostat. You do not heat the house by waving your arms. You set your will to set the thermostat, the system supplies the warmth, and the steady environment follows. Daily victory works like that. You set your will to receive, and the indwelling Spirit of Jesus supplies what the moment requires, steady and sure. Trying to be your own furnace only leaves you exhausted.
Try this today. Before you answer a cutting message, pause and quietly say, Lord, express Your patient, truthful kindness through me in this reply, and then type the sentence that honesty and peace produce. The point is not to manage yourself harder. The point is to rely on the One who lives in you, trusting Him to act in you and through you as you step forward in obedience, under His grace.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, thank You that in Jesus I am not under law but under grace. Thank You for uniting me with Him in death and life. I agree with You that sin does not own me. I receive Your victory as Your gift for this very moment. Work in my willing and my doing. Live Your life through me as I answer, decide, speak, and serve. I rest in Your sufficiency and rejoice that You finish what You begin. Amen.