“Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, ‘It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.’” (Revelation 12:10-11 NLT)
We know we are saved by Jesus' sacrifice. Believing this, and committing our lives to follow Jesus, is what makes us Christians. In this passage we see an additional component of salvation—our testimony. Those who overcame the accuser, the devil, did so by the “blood of the Lamb AND by their testimony.”
In Greek, “testimony” means: evidence given, record, or report. It's the evidence in our lives of the power of the blood of the Lamb that enables us to overcome the devil. The record and report of overcoming temptation, doubt, fear, and the accusations of the devil is our side of the salvation story.
“He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world” (1 John 2:2). This is true, but those who do not accept Jesus’ sacrifice, reject his Lordship, and refuse the gift of salvation do not benefit from his sacrifice. So there are two parts of salvation, God’s part and our part. God’s done his part; Jesus “died once to break the power of sin” (Romans 6:10). In doing so, he accomplished all that was needed for our salvation. Accepting the gift does not add to the work of the cross. The cross was sufficient; nothing can be added. But we need to accept it, and there needs to be evidence in our lives that demonstrates Jesus is our Lord.
That evidence is our testimony. Not only our salvation story, but every circumstance that demonstrates Jesus is our Lord. So what is your testimony for today? What is your testimony for this past week or month? What’s the standout testimony for 2024? Let’s share our testimonies as a way to openly display Christ’s defeat of the accuser and celebrate our victory!