THE VICTOR'S MENTALITY 2 [Two-Fold Victory over Sin 2]

Last week, we started a new series: The victor's mentality. Before we go into the mindset of a victor, the Holy Spirit prompted us to reflect on our victory as believers. I shared humanity's primary issue—sin—and how it was eradicated for us. It is this sin that the devil was leveraging to inflict pain on us. But I am glad to tell you that it is over. The debt of sin has been paid. Glory to Jesus!

We began to recognize our two-fold victory over sin, which are:
1. Victory over the guilt of sin
2. Victory over the power of sin

We must understand this distinction! Many people only understand the first part and not the second part or vice versa. Embracing victory over the guilt of sin while neglecting victory over the power of sin will hinder your ability to walk free from sin’s control. Such a person would consistently live a life of spiritual defeat. These are a set of people the devil has lied to that they cannot be free from particular habits. The devil tells them, "Well, that is the age you are; it is normal to lust." These are believers who easily compromise their faith at the slightest opposition because they have not come to the awareness of the power over sin that we have in Christ. I am here to announce to every believer that you have been given power over sin. This brings me to the second aspect of our victory over sin: our triumph over its power.

Back to the illustration I shared last week from Leviticus 16:7-10 (NIV):
"Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat."

Leviticus 16:15 (NIV):
"He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: he shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it."

The second goat is called the scapegoat.
When the offerer brings the goat, he will lay his hand on the goat, transferring all their sins and putting them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness. This is a picture of what we have experienced in Christ Jesus. All our sins have been laid on Him, and He has carried them far away from us, to a place that is out of our reach. Isaiah prophesies about this in Isaiah 53:6: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Do you know what Jesus did? He detached us from sin. He removed the influence and impact of sin from us to the extent that we cannot contact it anymore. Jesus became our scapegoat! He was scapegoated for us on the cross. It was on Him we placed all our iniquity, and then He carried it away, having died for it once. He broke the influence of sin from us! I don't know what the devil must have told you. It is not true! The power of sin has been destroyed in your life. He does not want you to know this. Our scapegoat (Christ) had already toiled the way to the wilderness—that was where he was crucified, outside the city so that we could live in the city of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says:
God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

However, just as I have said before, we must have a balance of this two-fold victory over sin that Jesus gave us: that He is both the Lamb that was slain for the remission of our sin and our scapegoat who detached us from sin, with all its power and influence, and took it far away from us where we can never be contacted. If we only embrace our victory over the power of sin but neglect victory over the guilt of sin, that will also bring defeat. This happens when a person tries to live a holy life but does not fully rest in the finished work of Christ for their justification. What it results in is legalism and self-righteousness. Such a person will continually live in fear and condemnation, thereby lacking the joy and peace that come with an understanding of your justification in Christ.

We must understand this balance as believers—the reality of our two-fold victory over sin. It will enable us to walk in grace while also living in holiness, as we reflect on the full victory that Christ has provided.

Prayerfully meditate on these things. See you next week.


Written by Peter Ayoola Fakeye

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