more than conquerors

 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:


   “For your sake we face death all day long; 
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”


 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:28-39

This is one beast passage from the bible. Verse 28 is probably one of the most quoted verses I have seen. This passage has a lot of meat to chew, so I want to share a bit about "more than conquerors".

Pages 96-97 from the book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper provides a great commentary about what "more than conqueror" means.

Basically, trouble, hardships, persecution, famine and sword might have the aim to make us fall away from God. When things are difficult, there might be thoughts of wanting to give up living for God. Victory occurs when we remain in the Lord, because Jesus' love is so intense. So the idea of being a "conqueror" means that the enemy is defeated (Christ's love endures and affliction does not separate me from God). But how about "more than conquerors"?

The idea is that,"more than conquerors" subjugates his enemy, making the enemy serve the conqueror's purposes. So, the afflictions do not just get owned by Christ's love, but the afflictions are actually making us realize how much bigger Christ's love is and propelling a bigger desire to remain in Christ's love. Indeed, how great is our God!

One time, I was studying at the SLC, and Bily asked me to get a fork from Timmy's or turnkey so that he can eat his lunch. But I was a bit out of it that day and brought him a spoon instead. While we're chatting online (we were in different tables, and it is quiet study room) he was telling me how hard it is to eat the meat with the spoon. Then he said, "but, there is victory in Christ =)". Yeah, this is kinda random, but even in small issues like this, we can remember that we have an assured victory in Christ, and that His love for us is as high as the heavens are above the earth (Psalm 103:11).