One of the themes of the old Keswick conventions was “If you fail, shout Victory.”
The point being that just as Christ is our moment by moment available victory when temptation comes; He is also our victory when we fail. Jesus has made provision through His shed blood for those times when we stumble and fall. If you believe that God is faithful to conquer every temptation that rises up in you; and if you believe that He is faithful to cause all things to work together for good, no matter what the situation is, then you must believe 1 John 1:9, where we are told that if we confess our sins He is “FAITHFUL” to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The old Keswick idea of shouting victory when we fail, is also surrounded by the understanding that when we sin, it was us, not Christ who failed; Therefore you don’t have to earn your way back to victory over a period of time. That is one of the great deceptions of the enemy. In other words, it wasn’t Jesus’ failure, and the moment after you have failed Jesus is still the victorious one who is prepared instantly to manifest His victory in you, in light of all this confession and repentance. Having confessed your sin you do not have to work your way back into a place of victory by proving you are Holy enough to deserve it, since your victory is a PERSON who conquers our sin as we trust Him moment by moment. It is Him as our holiness that we draw from and abide in. He is instantly, and immediately waiting and prepared to once again, temptation by temptation, conquer the power of sin in you the moment you start trusting Him again as your victory. Understand clearly, this doesn’t mean that you’re shouting victory about sinning; it simply, and gloriously means that having sinned you can step back into victory immediately, because the victorious one who lives in you hasn’t changed one bit.
