What is Victory?
Watchman Nee
What is victory? In the Bible, victory is first mentioned in 1 Samuel 15:29 (ASV margin), where it says that Victory will not lie nor repent. Indeed, victory is a person. A thing is not a person, and a matter is not a person, but the Victory of Israel is a person. Victory is not a thing or an experience. It is not a matter; it is a person. We all know who this person is; He is Christ! I tell you that victory is not something from us. It is not our experience; it is a person! Victory is not a matter of what we are, but a matter of Christ living on our behalf. This is why the victory we have will not lie nor repent. Thank and praise the Lord that victory is a living person!Brothers and sisters, victory has to do with an exchanged life, not a changed life. Victory does not mean that one is changed, but rather that one is exchanged. We are very familiar with Galatians 2:20, which says, ''I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith in the Son of God.'' What does this verse mean? It means that our life is exchanged. Our life is no longer in the realm of ''I''; it has nothing to do with us anymore. It is not an evil ''I'' being changed into a good ''I.'' It is to be ''no longer I.'' The greatest mistake we make today is to think that victory involves progress and that defeat involves the absence of progress. This is why we think that everything will be well if we do not lose our temper or if we have an intimate fellowship with God. We think if we have these things, we will overcome. But we have to remember that victory has nothing to do with us. We play no part in this victory. . . . Thank and praise the Lord that victory is Christ; it has nothing to do with us.
From: The Life That Wins by Watchman Nee
