Overcomer: Who We Are in Christ

There are so many wonderful titles in the New Testament by which Christians are described. We are called believers, disciples, witnesses, the elect, servants, saints, sheep, soldiers, priests, children of God, children of light, children of the day, among others. But there is one title that you don’t hear as often, the term “overcomer.” Of the 28 times the word is used in the New Testament, 16 of those times it is used of believers. For example, Revelation 2:7,

To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

As you read here, the term is not used as a title for believers per say, but rather it is used as a description of what believers do, we overcome anything that comes our way (Revelation 2:11, 17, 26).

“Nikao”: Overcomer in Greek

The English word “overcomer” comes from the Greek verb “nikao” and it means to conquer, to win, to prevail, to overpower and has the sense of defeating something to gain the victory. In addition to the verb, there is one reference to the noun form of the word in 1 John 5:4. This is the word everyone knows, “nike” (pronounced “nee-kay” in Greek). “Nike” of course, is where we get the English word Nike. Nike sneakers are marketed as the shoes that lead you to victory in whatever athletic endeavor you are engaged in. The Greeks also liked the word “nike” and named a goddess by that name; the goddess of victory. So John, playing against the background of first century Greek culture, assigns to Christians the kind of invincibility that belonged only to the “gods” in that culture. Jesus used the verb form of Himself in John 16:33, when He said:

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Jesus said “I have defeated the world.” “I have conquered the world.” “I am the victor over the world.”

The Ultimate Conquerors

The word is also used in Romans 8:37 in even a more dramatic way. The Apostle Paul is speaking about the position of Christians, when he says in verse 37:

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

The phrase we are more than conquerors is one word in Greek; it is a compound form of the word “nikao” meaning “super overcomers.” Paul compounds the word, which would be like saying in English, “We are the ultimate conquerors!” This is our position as Christians; we have become invincible through faith in Christ. There is nothing that can conquer us. We are super-conquerors because we are in Christ and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts. Christ is the One we get our strength from, it is nothing in us, it is Christ in us the hope of glory. Because of that truth, we should never forget that we are not just barely overcomers, we didn’t just barely win the victory, we didn’t win by one point in overtime at the buzzer, we are super-conquerors!