Last Sunday, during a Bible study, I quoted Paul’s verse from Romans 8, where he says we are “more than conquerors.” I said, among other things, that Christ is the conqueror; He conquered death. We, however, share in that victory, without having to fight and follow the path He took. That makes us more than conquerors, and in that sense, “more than Christ,” was my conclusion.
Critical listener
After the meeting, I had a conversation with one of the attendees who wondered if this was correct. He offered me some ideas, and I said I would delve into them again and come back to them. In this blog post, I want to correct what I said on Sunday, because I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not true.
Romans 8
37 But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
Context
The key to understanding this verse correctly is its context. It doesn’t say that we are more than the Conqueror; it says: in all these things we are more than conquerors. “In all these things” refers back to verse 35, which speaks of oppression, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword. These negative things seem to oppose us and even aim to destroy us, yet they don’t overcome us. They are not against us, even though we perceive them to be so.
Romans 8
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, what is against us?
Nothing is against us
God is the Placer and Disposer of all things. So if God is for us, who or what can be against us? Evil cannot separate us from the love of Christ. In fact, evil works together for good.
Romans 8
28 And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good (…)
not losers, but more than conquerors
The negative things Paul mentions seem to overcome us. But where it seems that we are losers, because we are oppressed, persecuted, or even killed, we are conquerors in Him. In fact, evil is completely reversed by God and works together for good. This means that “in all these things” we are not merely conquerors, but more than conquerors.
Conqueror without fighting
In the aforementioned study, I also suggested that we are more than conquerors because Christ has already definitively overcome, and the believer shares in that victory, without having achieved it himself or having fought himself. This is true, but in this we are not greater than Him. He too is more than a conqueror, much greater even. He fought, won the victory, God raised Him up and exalted Him to His right hand and gave Him the name that is above every name. God also gives Him the ecclesia, Israel, the nations, and all creation (Eph. 1:10).
The Head
God the Father has given everything to the Son (John 3:35, 5:22, 13:3; 1 Cor. 15:27). All authority, power, judgment, and dominion are entrusted to Him. That we may share in this is pure grace; it flows from our connection with Him. Yet He always remains the Firstfruit and the Greater: we share in Him, but we never exceed Him and never will. He remains the Head; we live and function solely from what has been given to us in Him.