How do we obtain victory over sin and death?

The apostle Paul says, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). The life of victory grants the believer a life of thanksgiving to God. The resurrection of the Lord equips us to present a sacrifice of thanksgiving acceptable to God.

It is not possible to achieve victory by ourselves — victory is the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ to us.

Ambrosiaster says, “Christ did not win the victory for himself but for our benefit. For when he became a man, he remained God, and by overcoming the devil, he who never sinned gained the victory for us, who were bound in death because of sin. The death of Christ defeated the devil, who was forced to surrender all those who had died because of sin.”¹³⁴⁹

St. Augustine says, “Lest we do what is pleasant but unlawful, and lest in this warfare, filled so abundantly with toil and peril, we either hope to secure victory by our own strength, or attribute it when secured to our own strength, and not to His grace of whom the apostle says, ‘Thanks be unto God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. 15:57).”¹³⁵⁰

1347 St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 81.7 (NPNF I/6:503) amended.

1348 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 42.4 (NPNF I/12:257) amended.

1349 Ambrosiaster, Commentary on 1 Corinthians On 1 Corinthians 15:57 (ACCOS 7:184; CSEL 81.3:18687).

1350 St. Augustine of Hippo, City of God 22.23 (NPNF I/2:501).

St. John Chrysostom says, “For the trophy He Himself erected, but the crowns He has caused us also to partake of. And this not of debt, but of mere mercy.”¹³⁵¹

The apostle Paul concludes his discourse on the resurrection of the dead, saying, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). Faith in the resurrection of Christ grants us victory over sin. Therefore, we offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, not only with words, but also with a fruitful life in the Lord. The apostle Paul calls us to live the resurrected life as a token of enjoying eternal life.

St. John Chrysostom says, “Just and seasonable is this exhortation after all that had gone before. For nothing so disquiets as the thought that we are buffeted without cause or profit … And he did not say, ‘working that which is good,’ but ‘abounding;’ that we might do it abundantly, and might overpass the lists … For that former labor on man’s expulsion from paradise, was the punishment of his transgressions; but this is the ground of the rewards to come.”¹³⁵²

1351 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 42.4 (NPNF I/12:257) amended.

1352 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 42.5 (NPNF I/12:257) amended.