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Revelation 12:11
While the blood of the Lamb represents a number of specific things that help us overcome, it could be summed up as doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. This is the first element listed in Revelation 12:11, and as such, it is the first key to overcoming—recognizing that overcoming is beyond human capability! We cannot atone for our own sins. We cannot truly cleanse our own conscience. We cannot force our way into the Holy of Holies. We cannot give ourselves eternal life. Finally, we cannot resurrect ourselves. We have a part to play in overcoming, but the bottom line is that God does the overcoming in us. He does not merely help us. Rather, we beseech Him to overcome the corruption in us, and then we submit to the process He leads us through. This point is crucial because God has created us with a human spirit, which includes human will. The human will can motivate men to accomplish extraordinary things—like climbing Mount Everest, swimming the English Channel, and putting a man on the moon. Yet the corrupted human will is wholly insufficient for overcoming corrupted human nature, let alone Satan. The human will is dreadfully inadequate. In Colossians 2:23, Paul warns of "will-worship," which he says has the appearance of wisdom. Will-worship was part of the asceticism active in the Gnostic culture of Colossae, in which the devotees were regimented and disciplined in their religious practice. They willed themselves to avoid touching and eating things that they judged to be spiritually impure, but their demonstrations of self-control did nothing to glorify God or edify their fellow citizens. This was not the kind of self-control gained as a fruit of the Spirit but a reveling in their own ability to choose an action or way of living and stick to it by their internal fortitude. Initially, if we think about it in relation to avoiding sin, this sort of discipline sounds good, and indeed, discipline is a good thing. However, will-worship leaves God out of the picture. If God is not the One leading the process of overcoming, we will inevitably apply our will and efforts to the wrong things, at the wrong time, and in the wrong measure. Moreover, if a strong will were the answer to overcoming, then we would have something to boast of and not need God. We could create ourselves in His image. Yet, Scripture resoundingly points us back to God and what only He can provide. Creating mankind into the image of Elohim is God's project, not ours. Again, this does not mean that we are idle or passive; we have many responsibilities in this process. Understanding our part begins with comprehending the blood of the Lamb and how much we cannot do. When we are in that humble state of mind, God can begin turning us and guiding us through the overcoming process on His terms.
David C. Grabbe
How Did They Overcome? (Part Two)
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