More Than Conquerors
Romans 8:37 tells us, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” According to the dictionary the word ‘conqueror’ means: someone who wins a war, or subjugates or overcomes an adversary. To be more than a conqueror means to not just be a winner or victor, it means to be overwhelmingly a victor or winner.
Satan, the devil, is our adversary. He will do all he possibly can to bring defeat, to steal our joy, to threaten our spiritual security, to disrupt our relationship with Jesus. He will try to war against our minds, our emotions, our attitudes, our actions and reactions, trying to bring any kind of setback or conquest. But Paul is telling us here in the verse above that through Christ we can be more than a conquerors. We can stand firm, in every area of our life, against any attack from the enemy, knowing that we not only will win in the end, but we can win in the here and now.
I like how one writer put it: “Satan lacks the power to steal our eternal destiny, and he cannot separate us from the love of God right now. Nothing we face worries God in the least. If we are His children through faith in His Son, then we have His pledge of love and protection. In John 10:27-29, Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand."
Commentator, Albert Barnes, said this: “We are the victors, not they. Our faith is not destroyed; our love is not diminished; our hope is not blasted. But it is not simple victory; it is not mere life, and continuance of what we had before; it is more than simple triumph; it augments our faith, increases our strength, expands our love to Christ. The word used here is a strong, emphatic expression, such as the apostle Paul often employs.”
Being more than conquerors means that we face every dark valley, and every trial and every trying circumstance with courage and confidence, knowing that we are not alone. And we know that there is nothing that comes our way but that God, our Heavenly Father, permitted it to come knowing that we could take it. And He will be there to give us all the strength and power and encouragement we need to come out on the other end of the thing with more love, more faith, more hope than when we entered. Through Jesus we can be more than conquerors!