Total Victory [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. Little children, you're from God, saying this is who you are. You're from God. You're born again by God. You're from God. You're made by God.

You're recreated in His image and have overcome them, speaking of those that are against Christ. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series More Than Conquerors, a study of Romans 8, as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Just contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news? In Christ, you are no longer a victim. You are a victor. And in fact, Paul says you have in Christ, total victory. You are uber victorious. You are more than a conqueror.

And what you decide about whether that's true or not will determine almost everything else in the way you think and behave in this world. I like to be like the little boy who went in his backyard with a baseball bat, and he was announcing to the trees and his dog in the yard, I'm the greatest hitter in the world. Here comes the greatest batter in the world. Here comes the greatest batter in the world. And he took the baseball and he threw it up in there, and he took a mighty swing, and he missed. Strike one, he said.

But watch this. I'm the greatest hitter in the world. The greatest hitter in the world. He throws it up again, whiffs again. Still, he says, I'm the greatest hitter in the world. He throws up the third, and one more mighty whiff. Strike three, and he sees the ball lying on the ground, and he goes, I'm the greatest pitcher in the world. The greatest pitcher in the world. There are some people, there are some saints that go through a lot of disappointments in this world and somehow carry with them an abiding spirit of victory within.

What is that? How can Paul go through all the things that he went through, more difficulties than any of us have ever faced, and say we're more than conquerors? And as we'll see today, as I just want to talk to you about the importance of this one little phrase and some proof of it and the power of it, just the importance and the proof and the power of this one little phrase, more than a conqueror, what I think you'll see is that everything rests on this because what God wants to instill within us is not mere behavioral change or even just changing processes in our lives, but for a shaping of our identity.

That's what more than conquer is, is an identity statement. It's who you are. And beloved, there is so much at stake at this, and this is why there is spiritual warfare over this very point. This is why there is a grand debate about how do we interpret all of life? Is it merely about those who really have it good and those who have it bad?

Is it really about because my circumstances are tough, because I've been through things that therefore I guess I'm a loser? Or is there something higher and transcendent about who we are in Christ that prevails through the adversities of life and engenders a whole different way of thinking about our lives? And that's what Paul's at here. And everything builds towards this. It all builds in Romans towards this where finally he says you're more than a conqueror. The word is actually in Greek one word, hupernikau. It comes from this prefix. We would say we would say hyper in Greek.

It's huper. It really comes over as the word uber. It means above, beyond, great to the fullest extent. And from the word nikau for winning, to have victory, conquer, win, overcome. The noun form nikai, nikai, it's victory.

Thus, you see Nike all the time. That's also the mythological goddess of victories, the Greek word nikai. So this is one word, hupernikau, hubernikai, one word about who you are. And it applies to every Christian. More than a conqueror.

It's hard to translate. It's a uber conqueror, a hyper victorious one, something beyond the ordinary sort of victory. And it follows all of these logical questions that Paul is bringing about of God's for us who can be against us and who shall bring any charge against God's elect and who can condemn you if Christ Jesus had. It is what D. Martin Lloyd-Jones called logic on fire. It is an argument from the greater to the lesser. And I want to first just convince you of how important it is to see yourself as an uber conqueror, as one who has in Christ total victory.

I want to convince you of how important it is, because I think then you are more ready in spirit to adopt this as your identity. I've been reading a book. I'm surprised I hadn't read it before because it's a runaway New York Times bestseller, secular book by a man named James Clear called Atomic Habits.

It's a good title because atomic has a double meaning, atomic like explosive, but atomic like the smallest particles. And his point is that it's the small habits, the things that we do day in and day out over years and end up having explosive power in our lives for transformation. And he's right about that.

And I love it when you read something, you go, oh yeah, that's a lot of secular social science behind it, but it's really in the end, it's our truth and it's the deepest biblical truth. And I found that to be in this book. And he talks about how there really is three different basic forms of motivation if you want to change your habits.

And he graphically puts it in these three concentric circles. And the outer layer, so the most superficial layer of motivation for changing our habits, changing our behaviors is outcome based. And that's where you've got things you'd like outcomes.

I'd like to lose some weight. I like to learn to play the guitar. I'd like to be more patient with my kids, all those things. You could have your own list of things that these are outcomes that you want. And there is a level of motivation by just saying, I want to be that and, you know, kind of strive towards it. But I think all of us know that that's a fairly weak motivation because, duh, here we sit and we've got this list in our mind right now, you're thinking of the things that you'd like to have outcomes in your life. And maybe your habits haven't changed to that.

So it doesn't have a whole lot of power for us. But the next circle, the layer a bit deeper than that he calls processes. And this is where and this and much more likely that their change would come in your life. If instead of just thinking about the outcome that you'd like, you'd think about the process by which you'll get there. This is where instead of just saying, I'd like to be in good shape, that's a good outcome. You start thinking about a process in your life where you say, I am going to restructure my calendar so that I'll be at the gym at this in such time. Or you have a desire that I want to have an outcome.

I want to learn to speak a foreign language. Well, that's great. But then if you set up a process of study, either a course or online course or some app you're using and you set it up, you set up a process.

If you say I'm tired of wasting so much time, mindlessly surfing around on social media, then maybe you need to set up a process and say, you know, starting at eight o'clock at night, I put my phones in the drawer, you know, that's a process. That's a deeper level of change than just merely focusing on outcome. But what James Clear says, and this is where I'm getting now to what is actually a deep biblical truth. And it's the very, the very source of what brings transformation according to the word of God. And that is identity base.

And that's where you begin to see yourself in such a way that only certain habits would fit with that kind of person. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. It has been called the most influential letter ever written. Every word written by the apostle Paul and his epistle to the Romans is dripping with the astounding news of what God has done for you in Jesus, answering the two biggest questions of life.

What went wrong and how has God made it right? Discover the richness of those answers and enhance your Bible journey today. Make a donation to Alan Wright Ministries this month and unlock our Romans reading guide paired with the ESV scripture journal. Immerse yourself in the word and capture personal insights, prayers and reflections directly alongside the powerful text.

These sleek portable journals amplify your study, enrich group sessions and deepen personal reflections. Elevate your spiritual odyssey and forge a stronger connection with the scriptures. Help Alan Wright Ministries reach the world with the good news of the gospel with your gift today and receive these essential tools that will elevate your study, enrich your prayer life and deepen your understanding of the Book of Romans. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. Instead of saying I'd like to be in better shape, you know, you have to start seeing yourself as the kind of person who is fit and who cares about health. I remember some years ago I was, I don't know, I was bemoaning to my wife about how much I sit around and I've been trying to change that, but nobody told me you sign up to be a pastor and then you sit down and eat fried chicken for the next 35 years. And so I sit, I sit, I sit in front of a computer, I sit with people, I sit in meetings, I sit in coffee shops. And I told Ann, I said, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just, I'm sedentary.

I'm just, I'm just sitting around. And I looked at it and I was thinking back to former glory. I said, I used to be an athlete. She said the thing that's absolutely the very best thing that you could say in that moment. She said, you're still an athlete. I'm like, thank you for that, darling.

I'm going to go lift some weights right now. In other words, if you think of yourself as an athlete, you're likely to do the stuff that athletes do. I asked my son one time who's so diligent studying and I never, ever, ever once to my knowledge ever said, you know, you ought to get in the books and study, you know, he was just diligent about it.

Abby was too. But I asked Bennett one time, I said, why do you do that? He said, you thought about it? He said, I think I see myself as an A student. And so I just usually study as much as I think would be required to make an A on the thing. You're way better to get your student, your child to see him or herself as an A student than you are to focus merely on the outer layer, the outcomes, or even just the processes. You focus just on the outcomes. You know, I want you to get in a good college and get a good job, you know, so you better study because, you know, again, a little bit of motivation, but not much. You get to the inner layer and then you got processes that, you know, first thing from after school, we're going to set it up.

You can't do anything else, no video games until you study. Well, that might help bring some change, but the real change comes at the identity level. Everything that Paul has been building up to in Romans one through eight is so that he can say with authority, you're more than a conqueror. It is important. And James Clear says many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. But the alternative to build identity-based habits, and with this approach, we start by focusing on what we wish to become, identity. And essentially, and I think James Clear says it well, behavior that is incongruent with the self will not last. That's not what A students do, you see.

They don't just not look at the books at all. So everywhere in God's word, we're seeing that he's leading us into the idea that there is victory for us in Christ. First John five, where I think it's the apostle John who's doing so much to crystallize all that he's learned now as a spiritual father and wants to convey under the unction of the Holy Spirit, writes for everyone who has been born of God overcomes, and that's the word nikao, victory, overcomes the world. And this is the nikai, 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. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

So the identity is the product of what you believe. He says in First John four, four little children, you're from God, saying this is who you are. You're from God, you're born again by God, you're from God, you're made by God, you're recreated in his image, and have overcome them, speaking of those that are against Christ.

And he put it in the past tense, you've overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. And the essence of the spiritual battle is to get you to believe the reverse of that.

The inverse is to say greater is he in the world than he that is in you. So that your problems take priority, and they look like the greater thing than the power of the Holy Spirit who is in you. And you and I both, we go through adversities, and the problem with that is that it gives fodder to the devil to point to your circumstances as evidence that you're not a winner. And this is why James Clear in his book says if you want a new identity, well he says it plainly, new identities require new evidence. And that's what happens when you get in the gospel.

New evidence comes into your life. It's why people that have just feel like their whole life, they've been victims, their whole life has just been nothing but one disappointment after other. Nothing goes well for me. Things don't turn out right for me. I always tend to come up on the losing end.

I don't have any luck. I have, you know, people like that, and they think like that, and then the gospel gets in. And what happens with the gospel is you read stuff like Romans 1 through 8 that redefines who you are, new evidence. And then the Holy Spirit comes and takes up resonance in your heart, and Paul has said to us in Romans 8 that he is the spirit of adoption wherein we cry, Abba, Father, because he's bearing witness to our spirit that we're children of God. And we realize if we're children, then we're co-heirs with Christ, and it changes the narrative of your life, becomes accurate.

It becomes true about who you really are and how much God loves you and what he's done in your life. So it's very important to say that the proof is not in your circumstances, but in the word of God and in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit within you, because we're going to go through hard things. So as soon as you talk about the victorious Christian life, somebody will say, oh, are you just one of those that says that you never have any problems and you're always going to be rich?

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying I'm more like Paul. Here's what Paul, he said, I wish, I can't believe I'm saying these things, you know, but people that were acting like he was not qualified to be an apostle and they were always talking about how much better they were. And sometimes they'd say, well, I'm so much better because I've suffered so much for. And so finally in second Corinthians 11, he just said, are they servants of Christ? I'm a better one. I'm talking like a madman.

He's like, I can't believe I'm having to say this now, but I'm just going to go ahead and tell you. So with greater labors, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews, the 40 lashes, less one. You know what was the 39 lashes or the called the 40 lashes, less one is because it was found to be the case that after 39 lashes, people often died. That's what that particular torture and beating was to bring people to the brink of death.

He's experienced it five times. He was brought to the brink of death by being beaten by religious authorities. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned three times, I was shipwrecked night and day. I was adrift at sea, frequent journeys and danger from rivers, robbers, own people, Gentile city, wilderness, sea, false brothers, and toil and hardship through many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst often without food, cold and exposure. And apart from these other things, there's a daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. So victory and to be an uber victor does not mean the absence of challenge, but some kind of overcoming in the midst of great challenge. Alan Wright, our good news message, total victory from the teaching more than conquerors, a study of Romans chapter eight.

You stay with us. Pastor Alan is back here in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Our Romans reading guide paired with the ESV scripture journal, immerse yourself in the word and capture personal insights, prayers, and reflections directly alongside the powerful text.

These sleek portable journals amplify your study in rich group sessions and deepen personal reflections. Elevate your spiritual odyssey and forge a stronger connection with the scriptures. Help Alan Wright Ministries reach the world with the good news of the gospel with your gift today and receive these essential tools that will elevate your study, enrich your prayer life, and deepen your understanding of the book of Romans. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, pastoralan.org. Back here now with Pastor Alan in the studio with our parting good news thought for the day. And by the way, this whole series has been on Romans one chapter, chapter eight, an unhurried study.

And today we're placing the bookmark as we've kicked off this teaching on total victory. God knows. He doesn't just know.

He's at work. So he foreknows, but he predestines. And it's all aiming towards the blessing of being conformed to the image of Jesus. And so I just like to really say to any listener, you're going through a hard time right now. God's with you. He knows. And even though what you are experiencing may not be something that you would have ever signed up for and it may have with it the real smell of smoke and wickedness from hell, God is still sovereign. And he's able to take that which even the enemy intends for evil and turn it out for our good because he's in that kind of business. He is a God of providence. And there's blessing that's coming. You can't see it yet, but there's blessing that's coming.

It's all a big setup and it's set up to in the end bless your life. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.