How Can We Be ‘More Than Conquerors’?

To be a “conqueror” means to overcome oppositions or challenges by personal strength. That sounds like the highest level a person can attain.

Yet Paul declares members of the true church exceed that description. After mentioning some of the most challenging situations that we could face in life (tribulations, distresses, persecutions, famine, principalities and even death), he emphatically adds:

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37, NKJV, emphasis added).

What a mystery! How can this be? The answer pulls back the veil on the wonder of the new covenant. The only way we can obtain this status is to overcome this world and all its negatives through the efforts of another: winning by our association, receiving benefits through the price that someone else pays.

Let me give you an example. When the United States forces stormed Normandy on June 6, 1944, against the fierce opposition of the German army, miraculously and against all odds, with the help of God, they emerged as conquerors. But the populace of the United States who lived within the safe confines of our nation’s peaceful borders simultaneously became “more than conquerors.” They won through the intense efforts of those unselfish heroes who threw themselves onto a blood-soaked beachhead and crawled forward under heavy machine gun fire to take out the German bunkers.

In like manner, Jesus faced fierce, hellish attacks against His Messianic claims, but He pushed through the opposition and conquered all the archenemies of the human race. Though torturously crucified, He emerged the conqueror, “triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:15, NKJV). Those who covenant with Him instantly become more than conquerors because it was through His grappling with sin, death and the forces of evil that we are able to overcome all these things and much more. Yes, we overcome not by human willpower or self-achieved righteousness but by “the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11, NKJV).

The Supremacy of Love

After bestowing this incredible name on God’s people, Paul the epistle writer added:

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord“ (Rom. 8:38-39).

So, the key element in enjoying this status of being more than conquerors is comprehending the greatness of the love God has bestowed on us and being convinced that nothing can divide us from that love. One of my favorite passages dealing with this subject is Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV):

“The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.‘”

An everlasting love has no beginning and no end, so apparently there was never a point when God started loving His covenant people. In fact, being consumed with love toward you has always been a part of God. Even before you existed in this world, God’s heart was brimming with the plans He has for you — so He draws you in that direction every day by His kindness.

The Depth of the Father’s Love

Just before He went into Gethsemane in John 17, Jesus prayed over the church that would yet be birthed. The entire prayer fills up the whole chapter, but two choice verses apply powerfully to this revelation. Jesus said:

“[Father,] I have given them the glory which You gave Me, that they may be one even as We are one: I in them and You in Me … that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me“ (John 17:22-23, MEV).

Do you get that? He declared that we, His followers, are just as beloved of the Father as He is (Jesus, the firstborn Son). Later, Paul declared that nothing can separate us from that love! Encountering God’s love is the ultimate experience of life. Everything else fades in comparison, and abiding in that revelation is like dwelling in an impregnable fortress.

The Song of Solomon is a beautiful book of the Bible filled with metaphorical, poetic symbols revealing the great love the heavenly Shepherd-King-Bridegroom has for His earthly bride. In the last chapter, the bride is depicted coming out of the wilderness, leaning on the arm of her Beloved and pleading with Him:

“Set me as a seal upon your heart … for love is as strong as death … Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it“ (Songs 8:6-7).

That really is the conclusion of the whole matter — even though the enemy has come in like a flood in all of our lives, the waters of tribulation never have and never will quench the fire of God’s love toward us and our love toward Him.

For that supreme reason above all others, we are and ever will be more than conquerors. {eoa}

Mike Shreve has taught on the spiritual identity of believers for over 35 years. This powerful revelation is the central theme of his Charisma House book titled WHO AM I? Dynamic Declarations of Who You Are in Christ. It is also featured on his weekly podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network titled Discover Your Spiritual Identity, and his YouTube channel, YouTube.com/mikeshreveministries. A product of the Jesus Movement era, Mike has traveled evangelistically in the United States and overseas since 1970 with an emphasis on healing and the prophetic. To go deeper into this revelation of God’s love for us, listen to Episode No. 2 of Discover Your Spiritual Identity on our calling to be “His Beloved.”

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