The Gospel is the Victory Won by Christ at Calvary

The Gospel is the Victory won by Christ at Calvary

By Jay Wegter

“You shall call His Name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). We are saved from the penalty of sin (legal guilt/condemnation). Saved from the practice of sin (the enslaving power/dominion of the flesh). Saved from the presence of sin (ultimate deliverance from sin when glorified).

In order to grow as a Christian, you must know the resources you have against sin because of the gospel—walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16), power to resist and escape temptation (1 Cor 10:13)—live as a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). How will Christ save His people from their sins? His atoning work is as both Priest, and sacrifice, He offered Himself (Heb 7:27; 9:25-27). His work of substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection is applied to His people by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must know how Christ’s death was my death to sin, His burial the abandonment of my old life, His resurrection, my start of new life. You cannot grow to spiritual adulthood unless these truths become yours—in other words, you learn to explain them to your own soul.

Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn 3:8) (the lawlessness of breaking God’s commandments—1 Jn 3:4). We need to mark this down in our age of permissiveness: Christ saves His people from hell by saving them from their sin— Romans 6:21-23. He does not save without saving from sin. Grace does not take the danger out of sin, God’s grace conquers sin by bringing victory over its service/slavery.

The Gospel is the VICTORY won by Christ at Calvary. You must know this victory in order to reckon this victory. Because of Christ’s substitutionary death for all who would ever believe, sin’s dominion is broken for God’s people. “K nowing this

, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Rom 6:6-7). Christ as Creator and Ruler of all did not need personal victory over sin and the world. He came to earth as overcomer for the sake of His bride. He gained the victory over sin, death, and hell in order to give that victory to His church.

Everything Christ endured from His birth to His ascension was for His people. His vicarious life had one great aim for His people—to give them life, righteousness, sonship, pardon, holiness, adoption, and victory—all out of His infinite stores of grace (Rom 6:23). He gave His life to make the believer an overcomer in both position and practice (in both status before God and in Christian walk). His conquest over the enemies of our souls was not merely an example to follow (1 Pet 2:21)—His conquest and victory is the believer’s possession by sovereign decree, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD” (1 Cor 1:30-31).

Now, by faith and obedience, we participate in His conquest over the enemies of our souls. We enter into His victory by faith and obedience resulting in the conquest of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Victory was gained decisively by Christ, our mighty Champion, but, we are to daily appropriate that victory through faith, love, and obedience. In Colossians chapter 3 we see four aspects of appropriating Christ’s victory over sin. 1) We are to practice occupying our minds upon things above where Christ is; for believers are united to Him, and our lives are hidden in Him (

Col 3:1-4 ).

2. We are to reckon ourselves dead to sin (Christ’s death was my death to sin). And, as those dead to sin we are to mortify the lusts generated by our old natures ( Col 3:5ff. ).
3. We are to put off the behaviors of the ‘old man’—casting them off like a dirty garment, refusing to give them expression through our persons ( Col 3:8-9 ). 4) We are to put on the behaviors of the new man. These ‘garments of grace’ are to characterize all of our relationships. Sin and lust are not merely conquered by abstaining from their practice, there must be replaced with godly behaviors (

Col 3:10-4:6

).

Thus, the only possible way we can live for God is to ‘die with Christ’ to the old life of sin and self. This co-crucifixion is exactly what happened—the sin natures of all who would ever believe were judged in the crushing of the body and soul of our Savior 2000 years ago. The tearing of Christ’s flesh was the legal judgment of our sin natures. Our co-crucifixion with Him was to this end; so that we would ‘no longer live for self, but for Him who died and rose on our behalf’ (2 Cor 5:14-15). By reckoning these truths (spiritual realities) by faith, the reality of ‘co-crucifixion’ is worked into our daily walk so that victory over sin becomes inseparable from our Christian experience.

The victory Christ won is the rightful property of His church. He overcame the enemies of our souls in order to give that victory to His church. But it is NOT a victory that is enjoyed passively. The saint is commanded to enter into Christ’s victory by feeding the mind upon gospel realities. We are commanded to reckon, to count, to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (by means of His cross).

Romans chapter six describes the active appropriation of Christ’s victory (Rom 6:11ff.): “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom 6:11-13). True believers are overcomers in Christ, and overcoming is how they are to live.

All that Christ has accomplished at the cross is ours by virtue of being in union with Him. When the Spirit placed us in Christ, all of the benefits of Christ’s ‘crosswork’ became our possession—‘deeded’ to us in the New Covenant. But this is a ‘positional truth’ that is not immediately experiential. You may wake up tomorrow morning and not ‘feel’ dead to sin. In fact, if you allow yourself to be gripped by fear, anger, resentment, or lust, you may ‘feel’ very alive to sin! Paul’s point is that true believers are to reckon themselves dead to sin regardless of how they feel. This reckoning is not an attempt to make something fictional into something real. It is an appropriation of Christ’s victory by faith (actively seize). The Lord accomplished a mighty conquest of our souls’ enemies (Col 2:14-15). Our part is to believe it and act upon it—what Christ accomplished is bedrock reality for His people. That is how we participate in victory that Christ has purchased for us.

We must be convinced (by counting God’s promises about us in Christ as fact) that through Christ’s substitution on our behalf, we are dead to sin. We must reckon ourselves dead to sin before we can fight sin successfully. Romans 13:14 has a wonderfully relational way of saying the same thing in terms of reckoning oneself dead to sin by virtue of His atoning death. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to

its lusts.

” The gospel order is, reckon yourselves dead to sin, then say ‘no’ to sin’s overtures. Christ has killed the sin that defiled and enslaved us, separated us from God, and brought judgment upon us. Therefore, we are to ‘take to the morgue’ the sin that Christ has slain. Put sin to death by starving it—by refusing to let it have expression through your body and spirit.

Victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil is not an option, it is the condition necessary to finish the race. The citizens of heaven are said to be overcomers. “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part

will be in the

lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev 21:7). Those who live obediently by faith in Christ are overcomers (1 Jn 5:4-5).

The victory joined to overcoming is set up in stark contrast to those who are overcome by the world. Scripture refers to them as ‘cowardly and unbelieving’ and not heirs of eternal life. What a cause for sober reflection! Those who do not overcome; but instead are overcome by sin and the world (lay down in it), will not enter heaven (Rev 21:8; 2 Pet 2:18-22; Phil 3:18-19). One cannot have his sin and heaven too.

Defining myself as crucified with Christ (a positional reality) is an act of obedient faith. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit set me apart in Christ as belonging to God. Set apart to Him is an accomplished fact that allows me to live the rest of my earthly life as God’s own possession (Heb 10:10, 14). The more I trust in this fact that I am set apart from sin unto God as His child devoted to Him, the more I will understand why Christ does not want to share my heart with idols (Eph 3:14-17).

CONCLUSION: Our part in preaching the gospel to ourselves is to view these treasures by faith, meditating on them until we are able to explain their wealth to our own souls. We should always be matching His all-sufficient Savior-hood with our sinner-ship—always dwelling upon how His redeeming work is a perfect fit for our ruin by sin (Heb 7:25-27).

The Puritans remind us that to deal with the wealth of the gospel is to deal directly with Christ’s Person. For the benefits He has won for us are not ‘commodities’ that have an existence apart from Him. Our wealth is in Him—we are sons in Him; overcomers through Him, heirs in Him. As we meditate upon our union with Christ, and the riches we have in Him, our hearts are drawn out in love and adoration to Him— and our loyalty to Him becomes more stable and firm.

We must always remember that Christ’s work in His atonement was a purchase —not only of eternal life, but also of ourselves as well. To have received God’s free gift of redemption is also to have become God’s own possession. It is to be owned by the Lord as His cherished possession (1 Cor 6:19-20). It is to be Christ’s ‘slave’ who is ruled by His Word. What follows then for the rest of our lives is giving our selves back to God (presentation) in overflowing gratitude (Rom 6:12-23).

Grace is commonly defined by professing Christians as boundless kindness, but not as absolute obligation. Paul, in Titus 2:11-14, corrects this misnomer by declaring that grace instructs us in holiness. Grace fits us and motivates us to live our entire lives as set apart to God’s calling as His possession—to present ourselves back to God without reservation as our daily privilege (Rom 6:11-13). In this life, you will never outgrow your need for the gospel—for Paul states: “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace [the gospel], which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

Preaching the gospel to ourselves is the key to thinking spiritually, it is the chief spiritual habit which the Lord utilizes to form Christ in us and grow us to maturity. When we are gospel-centered, it is normal for us to experience fruitfulness and as well as victory over the world and its idolatrous offers. Only the gospel proclaims that a sinner may be right with the God by faith (Phil 3:10). Exploring all that God is toward us in Christ is a gold mine we cannot exhaust. There is no greater glory and honor than to know God (Jer 9:23-24), to be beloved by, and to belong to, the One who owns and rules the cosmos. For He gave His blood to make us His own (Eph 5:25-27).

The Puritans remind us of several things related to the centrality of the gospel:

1. The gospel ought to be central because it is how God gives Himself to us in Christ.
2. Christ is our ‘source Person’, the fountain of life; the gospel sets forth union with Christ as our very life, now and eternally.
3. When we are feeding on the gospel, we are dealing directly with Christ, for He gives Himself to us within the gospel promises of the new covenant.
4. The gospel is our ‘food’ because it answers our heart's hunger by graciously giving to the believer the full availability of Christ who is source of all divine blessing, favor, light, love, belonging, and presence.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Why is our core identity and its source an area of intense spiritual warfare?
2. What are the benefits of preaching the gospel to yourself? How is that accomplished?
3. What is the connection between being loved by Christ, and the ability to understand, and rest upon the gospel promises in His Word? (Hint: Christ’s sheep are those who ‘hear His voice’—John 10:4, 16). Locate as many gospel promises as you can in John chapter 10. To whom are these promises made?
4. Explain what it means that Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary’s cross was a verdict. It was a verdict about what? What established the verdict? Who pronounced the verdict?

5. How does God intend that this verdict affect the believer’s conscience (use Scripture)?
6. The righteousness that God is looking at when He justifies a believing sinner is resident in Christ, not in the sinner. How does this truth ensure that salvation is ‘all of grace’? How does this truth drive all of the believer’s motives in his Christian walk?