Jeff Schreve - Victory or Defeat?
In the «Fake News» series, this message from John 8:31–36 addresses the struggle between spiritual victory and defeat, emphasizing that true freedom from sin’s power comes by abiding in Christ’s word—recognizing Satan’s lies and applying God’s truth for both eternal salvation and daily victory over besetting sins.
Victory or Defeat?
We want to talk about this question today: Victory or defeat? When it comes to your life—your Christian life—what do you experience more of? Are there more spiritual victories or more spiritual defeats? Do you tend to find yourself not experiencing much thrill—just experiencing a lot of agony?
I remember when I was in college, David Ferguson was our teacher in our college department. And he said to us—he said, «You know, for many of you, you have a sin that is something that just plagues you. It is like a shadow; it just dogs your steps, and you are just not able to shake it.»
He said, «It is almost like there is a handle on your back. And just when you think you are starting to take off spiritually, the devil grabs that handle and pulls you down—and he rattles your chain and he shakes you, and you fall into the same sin—same sin, same sin—over and over and over again. And you experience the agony of defeat in the same area.»
Maybe it is drugs; maybe it is alcohol; maybe it is pornography; maybe it is worry; maybe it is gluttony. William Cowper wrote a song in the 1700s: «O For a Closer Walk with God.» And one of his lines—I just love it—he says this: «The dearest idol I have known, whatever that idol be, help me tear it from Thy throne to worship only Thee.»
You know, in all of our lives, we have certain things that become—as the Scripture says in Hebrews chapter 12—“the sin which so easily entangles us.» The King James says «besetting sins.» They are the things we keep tripping over time and time and time again. And we wonder: is victory really even possible? Is it possible—or is it just a pipe dream? Because I cannot seem to get past this sin—whatever this sin is for you.
How to Live in Victory
So here is our question: How can you live a life of victory and not a life of defeat? And here is the answer: By recognizing the lies of the devil and applying the truth of God.
We are in a series called «Fake News: Exposing the Lies of the Devil.» And today: «Victory or Defeat?»
John chapter 8—Jesus is having an encounter with the Jews and with the Jewish leaders. And it says in verse 31: «Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’
They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, „You shall become free“? ’ Jesus answered them, saying, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.’»
Such a great chapter—John chapter 8. It begins with Jesus forgiving the woman caught in the very act of adultery. He says to her, «Was there no one here to stone you?» She said, «No one, Lord.» «No one to condemn you, ” He said. „Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.“
And then He has this encounter with the Jews—with the Jewish religious leaders—and the chapter ends with Jesus declaring that He is the Great I Am. „Before Abraham was born, ” He says, „I am.“ And they picked up stones to stone Him. That is how chapter 8 ends. But He was hidden from their presence, and He went away from their presence. They are trying to kill Him. Why? Because He claimed to be the Great I Am.
Well, right in the middle of the chapter, He says something very pointed and very profound about what it means to be a true disciple—what it means to have true spiritual victory—what it means to be set free from the power of sin, the destructive power of sin.
Two Truths for Victory
Now, I want you to notice with me two truths from the verses that we read concerning victory.
Truth One: Eternal Victory in Heaven
Truth number one: The Lord wants you to have eternal victory in heaven. He wants you to enter into His victory that would last for all eternity. He wants you to have a genuine relationship with Him—to experience true salvation.
Now He says, „If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.“ And in verse 31, it says that Jesus was speaking to those Jews who had believed Him. Now we read that and we are thinking, „Okay, He is talking about people who have trusted Him—who have been saved.“ But I do not think that is what John means—because he used the same thing in John chapter 2: „that many believed in Him, beholding the signs which He had done.“
But the Jews that we are going to see—they mainly believed in the signs that Jesus did. They were wowed by His signs. They followed Him in mass. Why? Because He fed them—because He healed the sick—because He raised the dead. He was amazing in what He said and what He did. And so they were curious—and so they would come after Him.
But Jesus would say, „Hey, if you really want to be a true disciple, then this is what you need to do.“ See, there are true disciples and there are false disciples—just as there are true prophets and false prophets, true teachers and false teachers, true witnesses and false witnesses, true brethren and false brethren. The Bible talks about all those things—and the Lord does not want you to be false. He wants you to be true.
So what is the true disciple? Well, the true disciple is one who comes to Jesus on Jesus’s terms. True disciple comes to the Lord on the Lord’s terms. He comes the Lord’s way. He does not try to come his own way.
And the argument that Jesus had with the religious leaders showed the religious leaders they hated Jesus. Why? Because Jesus was not playing ball their way. Jesus was talking about another way—and they did not want to come that way. And Jesus said, „You are bound in sin, and you need the Son to set you free.“
And when the Son sets you free, you are free from the penalty of sin—there is no condemnation for you—and you are free from the power of sin. And the Lord wants that for every single person—to have victory forever and ever and ever in heaven—because your sins are forgiven and your faith has saved you, and you can go and live in peace forever.
So that is the first truth. And that is so critical. And so many people believe a lie. They believe they are not right—and they believe they are all right. Why? Because they have been baptized—because they joined the church—because they give some money—because they come, you know, Christmas and Easter—maybe a few other times—that they are a good person. They try to not hurt people.
Those things are wonderful—but that does not get you to heaven. You have to come the Lord’s way—poor in spirit, understanding you are bankrupt—you cannot do anything to save you—and Jesus is the only one who can save you, and He is the Great I Am.
Truth Two: Daily Victory on Earth
Now, second truth: The Lord wants you not only to have eternal victory in heaven—but He wants you to have daily victory on earth.
Now, this is kind of the rubber meets the road for the Christians in this audience—those watching livestream—those under the sound of my voice. You say, „You know, I have put my faith and trust in Jesus, and there has been a change in my heart—and I believe I am a true disciple and not a false disciple—but I am struggling with sin. I am struggling with sin. And I do not understand—because if the Son has set me free, then I am free indeed. And I am really, really struggling.“
Well, look at it again. Jesus said in verse 31: „Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him”—those who were checking Him out—those who were seeking—those who were moving closer to Him. That is what He means. „If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.“ The truth shall set you free.
Now, every true disciple has eternal victory—because they passed out of death into life. And so their names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And they are never going to lose that. And so they are going to have eternal victory.
But they also—as a Christian—can have daily victory. And the Bible makes that clear. Romans chapter 6… they were saying in Romans chapter 5: „Well, you know, if sin brings grace, then let us just sin it up—because the more I sin, the more grace I get.“ And Paul says, „Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we who are dead to sin still live in it?
We have died to sin—knowing that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with—that henceforth we should not serve sin—for he who is dead is freed from sin.“
In Romans chapter 6, Paul says, „I am freed from sin. We are freed from sin. Every Christian is freed from sin.“ But now here is the rub. Okay, that is what it says on paper. But what about my life? What about practice? How does that work in practice?
Because, man—I sure do not feel like I am dead to sin. A true disciple still experiences the presence and the pull of sin. You can be a true disciple—and you still experience the presence of sin. Heaven is where you are taken away from the presence of sin. We still live in the presence of sin.
I am free from the penalty of sin as a believer; I am free from the power of sin. I have died—my life is hidden with Christ in God, and sin no longer has dominion over me—but I still deal with sin. I still struggle with sin.
You know, we sometimes sing that song „In the Sweet By and By.“ But what about in the struggle now and now? How do you do in the struggle now and now? Because in the sweet by and by, we are not going to have to struggle with sin. But right now I live in a fallen world—and there are temptations that come into my life, just as there are temptations that come into your life.
And how do we have victory over those—so it is not just on paper? That we cannot just say, „Well, Romans 6 says I am dead to sin—but sure do not feel like I am dead to sin. And so I guess it is just for other people. It is not for me.“
Well, Paul said this—Romans 7: „For I know that nothing good dwells in me—that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.“
That is what Paul said—after he was saved. Romans 6: „I am dead to sin.“ Romans 7: „I am still struggling with sin.“ Man, it is still there. It is still working on me. I have a new nature—and I am dead to sin—but sin is still in my members, as he describes it. There is still this pull of the flesh that wants to do evil.
And then he goes on to Romans 8 and says, „But praise God—I can walk in the power of the Spirit.“ And that is how he has victory—and that is how you and I have victory. Praise the Lord. That is good.
Now, a true disciple walks in victory by walking in the truth. „You shall know the truth, ” Jesus said, „and the truth shall make you free.“ The only way to have victory in practice—so it is not just on paper—to have victory in practice is you have to apply the truth to your life. You have to know the truth—and you have to walk in the truth.
Psalm 15 says: „O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.“ So critical to do that.
You know why? Because the natural flow of life will get you to believe a lie. Just the natural—everything is coming against you as a Christian. The Bible says that as we grow as a Christian, it is the narrow road that leads to life. And where is the narrow road? The narrow road—as one preacher described—comes right up through the gut of the broad road that leads to destruction. And there is a current that pushes us back.
If you try and coast in the Christian life, you will never stay in the same spot. You will go backward. Why? Because there is a current of evil that comes against you—and that comes against me. So we have to push forward in the truth so that we can live in victory every single day—so that we can experience the thrill of victory and not constantly experience the agony of defeat.
Five Foundational Truths for Victory
And so I want to share with you five truths that are so critical—so foundational—for you to believe, for me to believe, in order to walk in victory. Because the devil is a liar and the father of lies.
1. God’s Love Is Not Based on Performance
Truth number one: God’s love for you is not based on your performance. It is not based on your performance.
So often, we think that, you know—God loves me if I am doing right. But if I am doing wrong, then He does not love me. You have heard me say before—we have a daisy theology. When I was a kid growing up, we would—if we liked a girl—we would pull out a little flower, and we would pull off the petals. And what would we say? She loves me; she loves me not; she loves me; she loves me not.
And you hope to get to the last one: „Ah, she loves me! Maybe I will write her a note—or kick her.“ You know—I mean, you are a little kid. So that is how you showed a girl you liked her, you know?
We do that with the Lord—and we say, „Well, I am doing good today—He loves me. Man, I messed up—He does not love me anymore. He loves me not. Oh, but then the next day I did something good—He loves me. But then I messed up again—He loves me not.“
And we live on this roller coaster of God’s love: He loves me; He does not love me; He loves me; He does not love me. Listen—God loves you because He has chosen to love you, and He loves you with an everlasting love. And it does not matter how you perform—He just loves you.
Romans chapter 5, verse 8: „But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.“ I mean—you talk about bad performance. You are a sinner; you are separated from God—and God demonstrates His love toward you in that He sent His Son to die for you.
I mean—“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.» So the lie is: I have to perform for God to love me. And when you live on that kind of a performance treadmill—man, your life is just constantly going up and down, and you will experience so much defeat and so much discouragement.
2. God’s Acceptance Is Not Based on Performance
Second truth: God’s acceptance for you is not based on your performance. See—they kind of go hand in hand: God’s love for me; God’s acceptance of me.
And we have the same idea: Well, God accepts me when I am doing well. He does not accept me—He does not love me; does not accept me—if I am not doing well. If my mind is in the gutter—if I am in a fight with my wife—if I fell in this area or fell in that area or fell in the other area—well, then God does not accept me.
Ephesians chapter 1, verse 6—the Scripture says: «To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.» The Beloved is Jesus. And the moment that you accept Jesus as Savior and Lord—God accepts you.
And you are accepted in the Beloved—because you are in Christ, and God accepts Christ. He accepted Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. And if I am in Christ, then I am accepted in the Beloved.
And what the Father said about Jesus: «This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.» Then I am in that—and I am His beloved son—not in the sense of Jesus—but I am in His beloved Son. And the Lord is pleased with me.
Maybe not with what I am doing at the moment—but He is pleased with me as a person—just like with our kids. We are pleased with our kids because they are our kids. And even when they are messing up, we still love them—and we still accept them as our children. And God does the same for us.
Now, you know what I found? Those two things are so huge and so critical—to understand that God loves you; to understand that God accepts you. And here is what I have found: If in your past you have experienced abuse, abandonment, rejection—you have a hard time with believing that God loves you not based on performance—and God accepts you not based on performance.
You know why? Because you feel less than inside. You feel that there is something wrong with you. You know how sometimes you see a football game—and you see some football player make a big play—and you know what he does after he makes a big play so often? He does that… You know—like, I am Superman; I am pulling my shirt off to show you that there is a big «S» that says «Superman.»
You know what is going on in the mind of the person who has been sexually abused—person who has been rejected—the person who has been abandoned? They pull their shirt—and there is a big «S, ” and it says „Shame.“ Shame. I am not Superman—I am shameful man.
And how could God want to have a relationship with me? How could He accept me? How could He love me? And then we feel like we are less than—we are Hester Prynne from „The Scarlet Letter”—and we have a big scarlet „A“ on our chest, and we feel less than—and we do not measure up. We are second-class Christians. There is just no way.
And so I had to work and work and work and work—and maybe then God will accept me. That is a lie. God accepts you the moment you accept Jesus. God loves you—no matter who you are; no matter what you did.
3. God’s Forgiveness Is Complete and Total
Third truth: God’s forgiveness of your sins is complete and total. Complete forgiveness—total forgiveness.
„If we confess our sins, ” 1 John 1:9, „He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.“ I want you to circle that word „all”—or write that down. I do not know if it is in your notes—and it is on the screen: „He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from, ” A-L-L, „all unrighteousness.“
Acts chapter 10, verse 15: „What God has cleansed, no longer considered unholy.“ „What God has cleansed, no longer considered unholy.“
Some of you are haunted by the ghost of guilt—from something that you did last week, last month, last year, last summer—5 years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 50 years ago. And the devil takes it—and he beats you up with that: „Yeah, but look what you did. You had an abortion; you did this; you did that; you did the other”—and you are just beaten down with guilt—“and there is no way, ” he says to you, „there is no way God can forgive you for that.“
But that is a lie. That is a lie. And what we need to do is quit elevating our sin over God’s Son. The sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross—what did He say as He was dying on the cross? „It is finished.“ Paid in full—and His blood washes whiter than snow. You can walk in forgiveness.
I love it in Luke 7—when He tells the prostitute: „Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.“ Hey—what is the truth? No matter what you are going through in life—God is good; God loves you; and His grace is sufficient for your every need.
Keep going God’s way. Keep waiting for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Just wait for the Lord.
4-5. God’s Spirit Will Never Leave You and Will Lead You
And then fifthly—truth: God’s Spirit will never leave you, and He will lead you. He will never leave you—and He will lead you.
Paul said in Galatians chapter 5: „But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another—so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.“
We can be led by the Spirit. We do not have to do this. I do not have what it takes to live a victorious Christian life—He does. And He says, „Jeff, if you will just get out of the way—if you will just yield yourself to Me—then I will live it through you.“
If you will walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh—the flesh is pulling, saying, „We want to do this; we want to go to this sin. We want to participate in this activity.“ And the Spirit is saying, „We need to soar with Jesus. We need to go the Lord’s way.“
We have a choice. We can discipline our minds in the truth—or we can just kind of float along and get pushed back in the lies.
Listen—aren’t you tired of going after cobwebs? You kill the spider with truth. You say, „Lord, You promised, ‘And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ And God, I want to be free. I want to be free from the handle on my back. I want to be free from falling and falling and falling and falling in the same sin—same sin, same sin.
God, I want to have victory—and I do not want it to just be on paper. I want it to be in practice in my life.“ And that can happen. You shall know the truth—and the truth shall make you free.