About the Book

Book: Jesus Promised Victory

Author: Ken Gould

Genre: Non-Fiction, Christian living

Release Date: October 15, 2018

Are you frustrated with trying to live the Christian life?

Do your struggles with sin discourage you?

Have you been taught you can’t ever win the battle . . . that as long as you are living, you will fall short?

Jesus told people to sin no more. Rather than tell them the struggle with sin and Satan would be difficult, He said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus doesn’t ask us to do the impossible.

Ken Gould rejected distorted teachings about God and was an atheist for twenty years, until God revealed His existence to him. Afterward, he recognized Christianity wasn’t something to be taken lightly. His highest priority became to know God and understand His counsel.

Gould says, “It is possible to live a godly life in victory. What we believe about God affects our ability to live a victorious life.”

In this guidebook on living in God’s victory, learn:

How to cooperate with God to attain the victory He has for you.
How our definition of sin can remove frustration and allow us to live a godly life.
How believing lies about God keeps us from escaping our rebellious, sinful attitudes.
The interaction between natural laws and sin.

“God’s truth sets us free from Satan’s slavery and it’s lies about God that keep us trapped.”

Click HERE to get your copy.

About the Author

Ken Gould has a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Washington, and a master’s in business administration from the University of Houston, as well as a professional engineering license. His career has included shift supervision, management, technical support, process development, and projects. He and his wife Kaneeta live near the confluence of the great rivers in the heartland of America where he enjoys being out in nature and sailing.

More from Ken

What’s Taught in Church Doesn’t Work.

Nearly everyone when asked readily admits, that what churches teach doesn’t work. People know this from personal experience and observation. Many are aware behavioral scientists find church members are just as likely to abuse their spouses as the unchurched. Spouse abuse isn’t the only bad behavior that is just as prevalent among church members as the unchurched, other bad behaviors include pornography and child abuse.

In John 8:31 and 32 the Apostle John records Jesus telling the Jews that believed in Him if they hold to His word or His teaching depending on the translation. They are truly His disciples, they will know the truth and it will set them free. Verses 34 to 36 make it clear, Jesus is talking about sin’s slavery. Is it fair to say Church members engaging in these bad behaviors are slaves to sin? Of course. Then these church members aren’t holding to Jesus teachings, aren’t His disciples and haven’t been set free. Put another way the teachings of the church aren’t any more likely to make disciples than the teachings of the world.

This isn’t the only scripture expressing the idea that Jesus came to set us free from slavery or captivity. Luke 4:18 and 19 also expresses the same idea. I like to refer to it as Jesus mission statement. Luke records Jesus selecting it to read when handed the book of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18, 19 NIV)

After reading it Jesus told them “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Let’s focus on proclaiming freedom for the prisoners and setting the oppressed free. What prisoners did Jesus set free and who did He set free from oppression? Did Jesus set John the Baptist free from Herod’s prison? No. Did Jesus set the Jews free from Roman oppression? No. So what prisons and oppression did Jesus set people free from? Satan’s prisons where people are enslaved and oppressed by sin.

Where are Satan’s prisons or strongholds and what are they made of? The Apostle Paul tells us about Satan’s strongholds or prisons in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” Here the Apostle Paul tells us Satan’s strongholds or prisons keep the enslaved from knowing God. Can we say Satan’s strongholds and prisons are lies about God?

Since Satan’s prisons and strongholds are lies about God, where do lies get their power? Lies get their power from people who believe them. So we empower Satan’s prisons and strongholds by believing his lies about God. Where are Satan’s prisons and strongholds they located? In our minds.

The character assassin, Satan, imprisons and enslaves us on the road to destruction with lies about God. Truth about God destroys Satan’s lies, freeing us from enslavement in his prisons and strongholds, putting us on the road to life.

How important was the truth about God to Jesus? Jesus tells us in His prayer just before they crucified Him, recorded in John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Jesus tells us the knowledge of God or the truth about God and Himself is the key to eternal life. How often is this important truth taught in church?

What do the churches teach is the key to eternal life? Don’t churches teach the key to eternal life is forgiveness? Jesus told us He separates people, into two groups, like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats when He returns. Most of us are familiar with it, it’s found in Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus also tells the difference between the two groups, the saved and the lost. What does Jesus tell us is the difference between the two groups? Are the two groups the forgiven and the unforgiven? No. The difference between the groups is how they treated the less fortunate, or their actions.

Is Jesus telling us it’s our actions or works that determine our destination? Didn’t Martin Luther discover we are saved by faith not by works? Yes he did. The Apostle John tells us we are judged by our works in Revelation 20:12 and 13. How can we be judged by our works and not saved by them? Our works reveal our character. The Christlike are kind to the less fortunate. The Satanic are mean, hateful, and cruel to God’s children. Our works reveal the condition of our heart.

In church there is much talk about a conversion experience, and often the focal point is the sinner’s prayer. Many times those promoting the sinner’s prayer stress asking for and accepting forgiveness. People often remember when they said the sinner’s prayer and point to it as when they were saved. However, if after praying the sinner’s prayer, we don’t seek God and His ways, our motives, attitudes, or desires won’t change. It is when we come to admire and desire Christ’s motives, attitudes, and desires, that we experience conversion and the process of character transformation begins.

Jesus Promised Victory: Why Does It Seem so Elusive? explains what works, what doesn’t, and why.

My Review

When I picked this one up to read, I was anticipating an inspirational book about victory in Jesus, but the red flags started popping up immediately. I persevered and finished the book, and I’m glad that I did, although I can’t recommend it for reasons that I will explain in this review. As with some Christian nonfiction works, sadly, there are nuggets of truth here, but they are overshadowed by misinterpretation and false teaching.

Before I get into that, however, I do want to comment on what I did like about “Jesus Promised Victory.” Author Ken Gould summarizes his points during each chapter and also recalls material that has been discussed in prior chapters, which is very helpful for putting things together and remembering what has been presented. This is not to say that I agree with everything he writes, but I do appreciate this writing style in nonfiction books such as this one. Appendix B: Egyptians and Their Firstborn is insightful and interesting with regard to the Levites and to the Egyptians and their false gods.

As for the issues that I had with this book, many are attributed to interpretation of Scripture and the author’s wording. There are some instances in which I think that he might be correct in his statements, but because of ambiguity with the phrasing, I am uncertain. In other cases, I outright disagree. Twice in the first chapter, the words of John in Scripture are credited to Jesus. I feel that, throughout this book, the author’s views are contradictory, stating something and using Scripture that would seem to nullify the point to support it. Again, some of the wording puzzles me, such as saying that we “cooperate” with the Holy Spirit, who is our “accomplice.” I personally feel that the author in general ascribes too much power to Satan; he also writes that Satan pretends to be Jesus or God, but the saved shouldn’t be fooled, as the author suggests they are, because they will know Jesus. I do not agree with the Seventh-Day Adventist belief in annihilationalism, which I do not find supported in the Bible. All things considered, I feel that the author is putting the onus of victory on us, but the truth is that the victory is already won through Christ’s sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection. For instance, early on in the book, the theory of “the great controversy” says that “In the conflict between Christ and Satan or the great controversy as we’ll see, God is the accused.”

While I can’t recommend this book due to content inconsistent with God’s Word, it does spark debate and call for a further examining of Scripture, and it does show our dependence upon Jesus.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own.