Confronting the accuser
- Jacob Ninan
As you all know, one of the ways in which Satan attacks believers in Christ is by accusing us of our past. It is not for nothing that he has earned for himself the name, "The accuser of the brothers" (Re.12:10). True to another of his names as the father of lies, not all accusations he makes are true. Many are shots in the dark, by which he tries to make us think that they are true, and then feel guily. His aim is to make us lose our boldness, and also our hope. If he succeeds, we become weak and powerless and subject to all kinds of further attacks from him.
Remember that all thoughts that come to our mind are not our own. Some of them are placed there by Satan or his demons for tempting or attacking us. They are able to do this since they are spirits. So when thoughts of accusation come to us, we don't have to accept them all the time thinking that it is our conscience convicting us. For example, the devil may place a blasphemous or dirty thought into our mind and then try to accuse us for having such thoughts. We can learn to throw away such accusations straightaway!
However, some of the accusations are true. The devil may bring to our mind sins that we have committed. If we have already confessed them to God, we can reject these accusations as some more lies from the devil, because God is faithful to forgive our sins once we have confessed them (1Jn.1:9). Once God has forgiven us, the devil has no grounds on which he can accuse us. If we have not already settled the issue with God, now is the time for us to do it and then tell the devil that it has been done.
This is really a battle between us and the devil, and we can only win by faith (1Jn.5:4). We can't beat the devil by claiming to be righteous, because he knows all our history and can easily bring up countless number of things against us. But when we stand claiming the death that Jesus has died in our place and by which all our sins have already been paid for, he has no answer left.
The devil is a schemer and also very devious in his ways. He has the habit of bringing up accusations again and again, even after we have told him about our forgiveness. He is hoping that we may start wondering if it is true, or that he may be able to trip us up in a weak moment. But if we continue to hold the ground against him, he will flee from us (Jas.4:7).
If we are weak, and are not able to withstand these repeated attacks, it might be helpful for us to take a decisive position against such accusations. Many have found help in writing down the list of the sins they are convicted about, and then writing over that list, "The blood of Jesus Christ has washed me from all these sins." You could burn up or bury that list to indicate that it is now a thing of the past, never to trouble you again.
Praise God we can break completely free from these accusations, and go forward in life in victory and boldness.