SERMON TITLE: More than Conquerors
TEXT: Romans 8:31-39 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 5-30-21
You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshipping with us in person at our North Main campus or are joining us online — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too.
A quick announcement before we get to the sermon. Tomorrow is the Findlay Memorial Day parade. And I want to invite you to come hang with the Hansons. We have a spot — by the post office — that we gather at for the parade. In past years, some Gateway folks have found us organically but we want all of you to know where you can come hang out with us — and other folks from Gateway — while you enjoy the parade. Some come hang with the Hansons and other Gateway folks tomorrow at the Findlay Memorial Day parade.
So this is it — we’re at the end of our time in Romans chapter 8. Eighteen sermons — over the course of two years — and the plane is finally landing. And — today — we find another assuring promise and hope-giving truth. So let’s turn to our passage for today.
If you have your Bible please turn with me to Romans chapter 8. We’ll be looking at verses 31-39 for the final time.
Here our verses in Romans chapter 8. Beginning in verse 31.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39 ESV)
Our focus is on verse thirty-seven today. Where Paul states, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37 ESV)
We — the people of God — people loved by Christ and who have responded to his love in faith and repentance — Paul says — we are more than conquerors.
Now — to our modern ears — if you’re conquered — you must be weak. Someone stronger has come along and conquered you. Being conquered can mean personally being taken advantage of or having been overpowered by others. To our ears — to be conquered means you’re a victim, you’ve been forced into submission, it means being controlled by someone else.
And how are we to respond? Well we’re told to defend ourselves — no matter the cost. And — if necessary — conquer those who are trying to conquer you. And all of this speaks to a common desire we all have. What desire? The desire to be in control of our lives and not be under the control of others.
Now — a reason why this desire is so universally found — is because God has put in all of us a desire to protect ourselves from others who want to harm us by controlling us. Yet — a consequence of living in a world under the influence of sin — a world that includes you and me being just as influenced by sin as everyone else — one consequence of living in a world under the influence of sin is that we’ll never escape this conflict we find ourselves in where one person or group seeks to conquer another person or group.
And the best our culture can do is provide us with the idea that eventually — some day — if we all get on the same page — eventually we’ll be conquerors — we’ll be victorious. But getting everyone on the same page is something we’re still trying to do — oh — even after thousands of years of trying. Which should make it obvious to us that we can’t do this on our own. Why? Because as I said earlier — we’re all under the influence of sin. Thus the conquerors of today — those on the right side of history today — will find themselves the wicked rulers of tomorrow — on the wrong side of history — and thus it’ll be their turn to be overthrown by the next group of conquerors.
It’s a never ending battle. The cycle seems to go on and on — and it’s exhausting — this repetition of history over and over and over again.
Yet our verse promises the end of this exhausting battle. The hope that the Christian faith offers is in how this battle is brought to an end. And it’s found in two simple words: “through him.” For the gospel tells us that — in and of ourselves — we aren’t powerful enough to be able to conquer things greater than us in power. And this is where our culture and Christianity part ways. Culture teaches us to be self-sufficient — to secure our own victory — to conquer the conquerors — “we will eventually do it!” Yet — the assurance offered to all of us — is that through Christ — and his infinite power — we are the victors. But we don’t do the conquering — Christ has done the conquering. Just like the basketball player — who rides the bench all season long — that player still gets a ring when his team wins the championship — those who are in Christ receive all of the benefits of the victory he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection.
So here’s the bottom line. Here’s the assuring, hope-filled promise for the people of God today. Our victory is guaranteed. Christ’s love for us — as demonstrated in his life, death, and resurrection — is our guarantee that we are the victors. And this means that the people of God have won! Why? And — again — here’s our assurance. Our victory is guaranteed in Christ’s love for us — our victory isn’t anything we accomplish — Christ has accomplished it for us.
So I hope you feel the assurance that this promise is meant to give. And my hope — today — is to increase your confidence in Christ’s victory securing love. Where — instead of focusing on your own faults and failures — or the faults and failures of others — I want us all to look to the guaranteed victory Christ has secured for his people.
Let’s look at our verse — verse 37 — again. Paul writes, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37 ESV)
Now we can’t feel the weightiness of our verse — and the hope it’s meant to stir up in us — if we forget the verses surrounding it. Especially verse 36, which says, “As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”” (Romans 8:36 ESV)
Now — Paul wrote this letter sometime around 57AD. And — at this time — Nero was emperor of the Roman Empire — you may have heard of Nero. At this point in history, Nero hasn’t really ramped up the persecution of Christians — that happens in another seven years or so — but it’s not like Christians have avoided persecution up to this point. Paul — our author — remembers being present when Stephen was killed for believing in Jesus. Paul has personal experience with persecution. That’s why he quotes from Psalm 44 where the people of God are compared to sheep being led to the slaughter.
As one person describes the situation. “At every moment of the day we face death. We’re considered no better than sheep that are marked for slaughter. Nevertheless in all these difficult situations we are winning an overwhelming victory through the one who has proven his love for us. It is the love of Christ that supports and enables [us] to face adversity and conquer it.” (Robert Mounce, Romans (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 191.)
So it’s as if while writing these words — words that describe the persecution he and other Christians are experiencing — Paul stops — puts down his pen — reflects on Psalm 44 — and then quickly picks back up his pen to write the words in our verse as he thinks about the implications of what Christ has accomplished in his victory on the cross and in his resurrection.
Paul’s saying, “Though it may seem like we Christians are being conquered — like sheep being led to the slaughter — we’re the victors. We’re the conquerors. Don’t let what your eyes can see deceive you. There’s more going on — a victory that is ours has been secured.”
Now biblically — the word conquer — means to triumph over. (W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Mclean, VA: McDonald, 1940), 230.) And in ancient times, a conqueror was someone you feared. If a foreign army conquered your city — well — and I think this is obvious — there would be negative consequences for those living in the city. Yet — this is not the stance that the people of God are to take as those whose victory is guaranteed. We don’t go around beating our chests as if our victory is something we’ve made possible.
Instead of beating our chest — because our victory has been guaranteed — we go out and beat our sin. We go out — and in God’s power — defeat temptation. Because our victory has been secured, we love our spouses and kids as God’s commanded us to. We live holy lives for the glory of God. We’re generous, and patient, and kind, and forgiving because we are conquerors. We don’t cringe in fear or rise up in anger when Nero is emperor. And we don’t celebrate as if we’ve won the victory when Nero isn’t emperor and the person we want is on an earthly throne. We have a different King we pledge our allegiance to.
And listen to the words of our King. Here are King Jesus’ promises to those who are victorious through their faith in him.
“The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will permit him to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.’” (Revelation 2:7 NET)
“The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will in no way be harmed by the second death.’” (Revelation 2:11 NET)
“The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give him some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on that stone will be written a new name that no one can understand except the one who receives it.’” (Revelation 2:17 NET)
“And to the one who conquers and who continues in my deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations.” (Revelation 2:26 NET)
“The one who conquers will be dressed like them in white clothing, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, but will declare his name before my Father and before his angels.” (Revelation 3:5 NET)
“The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God), and my new name as well.” (Revelation 3:12 NET)
“I will grant the one who conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:21 NET
Do you see the blessings that are ours through the victory Christ has guaranteed is ours?
These blessings are ours — along with thousands more — because of the victory that is ours — not by our hands or our might — but by the power of our King and Lord.
But you may have noticed that it’s not just that we’re conquerors — Paul says that “we’re more than conquerors.” And maybe you’ve wondered, “What does the ‘more than’ refer to?” “More than” is the translator’s way of trying to help us understand what Paul’s saying in the original language of Greek.
“More than conquerors” is actually one compound Greek word. For all of us non-English majors, a compound word is when you combine two words and make a new word out of them. The word basketball is an example. Skateboard is another. Mailbox. Snowball. You get the idea. So back to our “more than conquerors” phrase — it’s a compound word in Greek. You’ve got the word translated as “conquerors” — and another — translated as “more than”. Here’s the part — in Greek — that’s translated as “more than”. “Huper”
Can anyone make out an English word from the letters? Change the “u” to a “y” and what do you get? Hyper! Now hopefully this will be helpful for you. “More than” is another way of saying we’re “hyper conquerors.” We’re “super conquerors.” We’re the supermen and superwomen of conquerors. But we’re not just super conquerors — we’re supernatural conquerors. And we must be — it’s necessary that we be supernatural conquerors. Why?
Well — for one — our enemies are way more powerful than we are. Sin is more powerful than we are. Death is. Hell is. Thus we’re given hyper, super, more than normal conquering power — otherwise we would be the conquered and not the conquerors.
Additionally, our victory is eternal — which tells us this isn’t some usual type of battle we’re in. Issues of eternity have been settled by our victorious Savior and he’s passed on his victory to us — those who’ve put their faith in him. Thus we’re more than conquerors.
Finally, our eternal rewards far surpass the plunder of victory one finds in earthly battles. We’re talking eternal rewards — here — not earthly plunger. Thus we’re hyper, super supernatural conquerors. We’re no ordinary conquerors — we’re supernatural conquerors.
And I hope you’re starting to get a bit excited about what it means to be more than a conqueror — I hope your assurance in what Christ has promised to you is increasing right now. But you may be thinking, “Me? Is this who I am?” Well let me tell you that if you are in Christ — if you believe in him — this is who you are. You haven’t earned this and you can’t unearn it. But this is the identity that Christ has given to all who believe in him.
Yet — though this is our identity — we can live as if we’re the conquered instead of living as the supernatural conquerors that we are. Many lack assurance in this promise and thus live as if they’re the conquered instead of the conquerors.
But know that the people of God aren’t survivors who are just barely making it. The people of God are thrivers who can experience the “surpassing victory” (A T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman, 1931).) that their Savior has guaranteed is theirs.
Which leads us to an obvious question. Conquerors over what? We’re victorious over what exactly? Again, Paul writes, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37 ESV)
We’re more than conquerors over “all these things” — so what’s included in the “all these things” that we’re conquerors of? Before we get to what we’re victorious over — I want you to know that we’re in the climax verse of the climax chapter in what many consider to be the climax of all of the Bible. So this is an incredibly important point that Paul’s making. Everything that he’s said previously has been leading up to this point — everything that comes after is based on this point — the promise that we win. Our victory has been secured. But we don’t have to wait to celebrate the victory — the victory is ours now — in the present.
So back to our question. What are the things that we’re victorious over? Well the phrase “in all these things” — literally translated — means “despite — or in spite of — all these things” (A T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman, 1931).) or “in the midst of all these things.” (J. D. G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (Dallas: Word, 1998), 506.) Though there are various things trying to conquer us — because of Christ and his love for us — we’re victorious over these things.
“But, come on Josh. What kinds of things are we talking about exactly?” The things we looked at last week. Things like…
This is how Paul says it. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39 ESV)
These are the things we have been given assurance that we are conquerors of. Many of these things are things we humans have been trying to conquer for centuries. Yet — in our own strength — we’re not the conquerors. We’re the conquered. For example, we haven’t conquered death. We’ve tried. We’re still trying. But the current death rate seems to indicate that we’re the conquered — not the conquerors.
But Good News! Paul’s telling us that our victory is guaranteed — even over death. Not because we’re the generation that will finally figure things out — but because of Christ. His cross is the proof of our victory over these things. The cross proves that God is for us and — as we’ve seen — if God is for us nothing can stand against us. Yet — astonishingly — and so much so that the world thinks there’s got to be another message out there better than ours — the gospel shows us that it’s in our weakness — not our strength — it’s in our weakness — like sheep being slaughtered — it’s in our submission to God — it’s in our laying down our swords and weapons and allowing God to fight for us — that we are the victors.
Like Moses telling Pharaoh to let God’s people go. It wasn’t in Moses’ strength or power that the Israelites walked free. God secured them the victory. He parted the Red Sea. He defeated their enemy. It was Moses’ weakness — his lack of eloquent speech — that God used to secure the victory.
Like Joshua leading the Israelites in victory over Jericho. It wasn’t Joshua’s strength. It wasn’t the power of the Israelites that earned them the victory. What did they do? They marched around the city for seven days. They put their musicians in the front of the line — musicians — not soldiers — leading the way. Because their victory wasn’t going to be by their own hands but by the powerful hand of the Lord.
Like Gideon leading his small band of not so merry men into battle against a much larger army. And what did God tell Gideon and his soldiers to take into battle? A trumpet. A piece of a broken clay pot. And a torch. Not exactly the kinds of things that spell victory, right? Yet the victory was theirs because the victory was in God’s hands.
Like the boy — who would later become king — like David — when he walked out to face a giant. He knew the victory was his — not because he was great at slinging stones — but because the Lord was on his side.
And like Jesus — the Son of God — while being hung on a cross — while experiencing a death reserved for criminals — though it looked like his defeat — it was the defeat of his — and our — enemies. Why? Because the power wasn’t in the hands of those crucifying him — the power was in the hands of Almighty God.
And — the people of God — find promises in the New Testament that assure us of our victory — not because of our awesomeness — but because of our awesome God. Promises like…
“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NLT)
And “But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57 NLT)
And “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-15 NLT)
These promises of victory are yours — if you believe in Jesus Christ.
Which leads us to him who loved us and has secured our victory. Our verse one last time. Paul writes, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37 ESV)
How did Christ demonstrate his love for us? Through his suffering and — ultimately — his death. And what does this tell us? One author summed up the results of the promise we’re looking at this way. “Paul seems to be saying that, since Christ proved his love for us by his sufferings, so our sufferings cannot possibly separate us from [his love].” (John Stott, Romans (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1994), 258.)
How can we endure suffering and have assurance that we are conquerors — especially when it looks like we’re the ones being conquered? Because of Christ’s love. Why — even though we’re like sheep being led to the slaughter — why do we have assurance that the victory is ours? Because of Christ’s love for us.
He is the Victor. We sat on the bench while he won the championship for us. And as Paul earlier asked, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Well guess what? No one can separate us from his love. Why?
Because the who of our salvation is greater than the who of our opposition. (JD Greear, What it Means to be “More than a Conqueror”, https://jdgreear.com/what-it-means-to-be-more-than-a-conqueror/) And the who of our salvation — Jesus Christ — has conquered all of our enemies. He who loves us is more powerful than those who oppose us. And — even more than that — he’s using our enemies for his purpose. That’s why we have assurance in the promise that “God is working out all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” God can do that because Jesus is the Victor — even over our enemies.
As one pastor said, “This wonderful chapter shows that the Christian is completely victorious. We are free from judgment because Christ died for us and we have his righteousness. We are free from defeat because Christ lives in us by his Spirit and we share his life. We are free from discouragement because Christ is coming for us and we shall share his glory. We are free from fear because Christ intercedes for us and we cannot be separated from his love. If God is for us, who can be against us!” (Warren Wiersbe, Be Right (Romans), 2nd ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2008).) Who can be against us indeed! Christian — be assured. The victory is yours and the victory is certain. Why? Because it is guaranteed in Christ’s love for you. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, as we finish our time in this chapter full of great assurance, we thank you once again for the wonderful promises you’ve given to us. No condemnation. We’re free from sin and empowered to live by your Spirit. You are our Father and have made us heirs. The Spirit of God and the Son of God are both interceding for us. No one can bring a charge against us. Nothing can separate us from your love. We are victorious. And you are for us.
Jesus, these promises are ours because of your work on our behalf. We deserve none of these promises. We could never earn them. We’re often ungrateful and — yet — these gifts that you’ve earned and deserve — are gifts you’ve given to us. For this we thank you.
Spirit of God, we ask you to help us to remember, to be thankful, to be assured of your love for us. May your promises to us be on the forefront of our minds — the reason for how we live and what we do. And may you draw many to you who need the assurance that you offer. Give them eyes to you what it means to be loved by you as seen in the love of Christ. And we pray all of these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May you go in great assurance knowing that you are victorious. Christ’s love has guaranteed your victory. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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