Did you ever go with a very dear friend into some foreign land,――say
one of the islands of the sea, like Madeira; and there you and your
friend vie with each other in making new discoveries of things
beautiful and fresh to both of you: new flowers, fruits, birds, vistas
in valleys or mountains? If so, you know something of what it means to
explore, with a friend, in the land of Victory in Christ.
It was the new and undiscovered country of the Victorious Life that
brought us together, Bob McQuilkin and me. (New and undiscovered to
us, that is, but as old as the Day of Pentecost.) We should never have
been friends but for Him; we entered, not far apart, the “foreign
land” of undreamed riches and delights; and ever since then we have
been joyously telling each other of our discoveries, comparing notes,
sharing our finds, and together thanking Him who alone is the Promised
Land, the Life, and the Victory.
God has greatly blessed me through the discoveries of my friend, as our
common Guide, the Holy Spirit, has led him on and on into always new
and clearer visions of what belongs, in Christ, to every Christian. I
am glad that he is now sharing his findings and his convictions with
many, through these studies in the Victorious Life.
As one reads this book, let it be remembered that the Victorious Life
is not optional for the Christian who wants God’s whole will. It is a
simple duty for every Christian to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:
18); and being filled with the Spirit means having Victory and all that
goes with this.
We think of the New Testament, and rightly, as being God’s revelation
concerning how men may be saved from the wages of sin. They deserved
death penalty, or hell. This is true, but have we realized, as a
clear-sighted Bible teacher has pointed out, that a much greater part
of the New Testament is devoted to telling Christians how to live after
they are saved than how to be saved? Have we asked ourselves why this
is so? Have we realized what a sad commentary on the Gospel is the man
who claims that Christ has saved him completely from the penalty of his
sins, yet in whose life is plainly seen, and habitually, the unbroken
power of sin?
This book tells how to be as free from the power of sin as from its
penalty. It gives God’s own message on _present_ salvation: salvation
from sin now and here.
What the Victorious Life is; how to make it one’s own in practical
experience; how it may be not only entered into, but maintained;
how it differs in life-and-death ways from false substitutes for
Victory,――these and other questions that are perplexing many a burdened
and seeking Christian are discussed here and answered out of God’s
word.
Closest fellowship with Mr. McQuilkin for five years, when we were
together daily in editorial work, enables me to know that he has come
to his present convictions after exhaustive Bible study, frequent
conference with mature and trusted Bible students, and wide reading
in the best works, new and old, in this field; but above all, after
his rich personal experience, through surrender and faith, of Christ’s
freely offered power and grace to meet all needs in the believer’s
life. With thanksgiving to the Captain of our Salvation, who never asks
us to win victories for Him, but Who has already won all our victories
for us, This book is prayerfully commended in His Name.