Noah is an example of the conqueror who is raised from the dead, to speak symbolically, and charged with the responsibility of restoring the earth (Isaiah 61:4).

Lot is an example of the nonovercomer who is saved through the prayers of godly relatives. Lot was saved from wrath, barely escaping with his life. A part of Lot, his wife, was destroyed by the fire of God's wrath. Lot was saved from destruction but was without fruitfulness, and without the dominion that is the result of fruitfulness, because of the loss of his wife.

Saved as by fire! All fruitfulness, dominion, reward burned away from us. Only our spirit is saved. The Divine fire has consumed all of our personality and actions that God will not accept. Being saved as by fire may prove to be an exceedingly painful and prolonged operation consisting of "many stripes."

The overcomer, the conqueror, the victorious saint, is not saved as by fire. He hears the praise of His Lord: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

In the Day of the Lord the conqueror will be surrounded by those who have been able to possess the Kingdom of God because of his testimony and ministry. He has many friends and has gained an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God.

The overcomer helps the nonovercomer avoid having his spirit cut off from God in the Day of Christ:

To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (I Corinthians 5:5)

The Christian believer who is spoken of in the preceding passage was not an overcomer, a conqueror, a victorious saint. Instead he was living in gross immorality.

Many of the teachers and preachers of our day would state that the incestuous Corinthian had nothing to worry about because we are "saved by grace and not by works."

The Apostle Paul, who knew more than today's preachers of "grace," advised the church elders of Corinth to turn the sinning Christian over to Satan so his spirit might be saved in "the day of the Lord Jesus."

Jude speaks of the nonovercomer, the individual who is saved, as was Lot, by the efforts of the godly:

And others save with fear, pulling {them} out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. (Jude 1:23)

We see, then, there is a difference in fruit- bearing among Christian people. There are rewards that have been assigned to each individual who "overcomes," that is, who rises up in faith and grasps the victory available to every person through Christ Jesus.

Every believer can be a conqueror. Being a conqueror requires a life of cross-carrying obedience to Christ. Christ Jesus is The Conqueror. If we will allow Him to do so, Christ will accomplish victory in our life. We will not be overcome if we abide in Christ. Rather we will overcome our circumstances through means of His resurrection life working in us.

Noah and Lot portray by their lives the differences between the person who is saved to fruitfulness and the person who is saved by fire.

Would you rather have the inheritance of Abraham or Lot? (from The Conqueror)