The Victory Is Given

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:57 · NKJV

Paul has just walked through death, the grave, and the sting, and he lands on one verb. Gives.

Not offers if you qualify. Not lends while you perform. Gives. The victory belongs to Christ, and God hands it to you through Him, which means it was won before you ever arrived at the fight.

Victory that is given, not earned, sounds strange to anyone who grew up on trophies. We are used to earning the win: early practices, extra reps, the final score posted on the wall. But the victory in this verse is over death itself, and nobody trains for that. It is more like the end of a war, when word finally reaches a village that the fighting ended days ago. The villagers did not win it. They receive it. The only question left is whether they keep living as if the enemy still holds the town.

Thanks be to God is the only honest response to a gift. You cannot repay it, and He set no price on it. What is left is gratitude, and living like the outcome is already settled.

The victory was given, not earned. You are living after the outcome, not before it.

Go deeper: The War Is Already Over →