SHEEP THAT ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS
(Constant Coulibaly)

Years ago, when I was at the school of Journalism, we learned a writing technique that consists of grabbing the reader's attention when crafting an article. This practice is common to various areas in the field of mass communication (advertising, marketing, public relations, broadcasting, etc.).

Over the years that I have been a student of the Bible, I have learned that God employs similar techniques when speaking to His people. One way He does this is through the use of contrasts. Here is an example from Romans 8:36-37 where the Spirit-filled apostle Paul wrote, "For thy sake, we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all things we are more than conquerors." The expression "more than conquerors" is the translation of the Greek word hupernikao, a compound of huper, meaning "over," and nikao, meaning "to overcome." According to Vine's Dictionary, it means "to gain a surpassing victory," literally, "we are hyper-conquerors," i.e., "we are pre-eminently victorious" (Vine, 122).