I recently received a letter of condemnation, judgement, and accusations. My initial response was shock. I could not believe the hateful words that poured out on the page. I was greatly confused how someone could actually conclude the letter with the words I do not hate and “love in Christ”, but had just wrote paragraph after paragraph filled accusation, judgement, and condemnation.
I gave the letter to God and asked for his help to understand it. I asked for His help to discern the use of His Word. I asked HIm for help to understand the language used and what is His response to it. What should I do with this? Was there truth in the scripture used? How was the scripture being used?
In prayer, the word accuser came to mind. I felt like I was sitting in a court of law listening to the prosecutor accuse me. Accuser. God’s Word tells us who our accuser is. Our Heavenly Father, Savior and Holy SPirit never comes to us with accusations. God reveals and shows us who we are but not in the tone of judgement and condemnation. I have experienced Him showing bits and pieces of me in the light of loving truth, not a hateful condemnation. When God speaks and reveals it brings joy, but when the accuser speaks, it brings guilt, shame and condemnation.
The Accuser
The Hebrew word “satan” means “accuser.” God’s Word tells us he is our accuser.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Revelation 12:10
3 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Zechariah 3:1-2
Satan goes before our Heavenly Father and makes accusations about you and me. Is it not interesting, that before we are saved he speaks his powerful lies into us to encourage us to sin and live a filthy lives, but as soon as we are saved he stands before our Heavenly Father to accuse us of the things he encourages. He comes directly to us to accuse us in our thoughts. I find that a rejoicing moment. I have become an enemy to Satan. He hates me so much he takes the time to accuse me.
What does he accuse us of?
Satan stands before God and accuses His children of all manner of wrongdoing. He speaks to us and reminds us that we are no good, horrible sinners. He reminds us of our past. He reminds us of all we have done. He reminds us that no matter what we do, we will still mess up. He condemns us. He gets us to become ashamed and guilty of our past. The instant he does this, he starts to seperate us from God.
Have you experienced those moments? A subtle whisper that reminds you of how horrible you acted or the words you spoke? Man have I some awesome news for you!
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1
Amen! When we lay our offenses and sin down and truly confess them, walk away from that lifestyle and repent, we are forgiven! While Satan is up before our Heavenly Father accusing us, Jesus comes in as our defence lawyer and says, wait a minute, Father, this is your daughter and I testify on her behalf, She is mine!
How awesome and amazing is it that we are not left alone to defend ourselves against the accusation of satan! Jesus comes in and claims us as His and defends us.
2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 1 John 2:1-12
Praise be to Jesus! He is our advocate! As I opened my heart to the Holy Spirit, I could only just forgive this person. Maybe they know what they are doing, or do not know what they are doing. Only God knows the true heart of a person, and it is not my job to figure it out. I forgave that person and threw the letter into the fires of God’s altar. My heart was sad for them and I prayed for them, that truth would be revealed and His love grace and mercy be poured out.
When we experience this sort of persecution, be it from others or Satan himself, we need to remember to stand on God’s rock foundation, that we do not need to defend ourselves or who we are. Who we are is revealed by the fruit of our Spirit. We can not argue against the accusations, condemnation, or judgements of satan and others. We can not argue against the evil that speaks through them or directly to us. Instead, we can go to our Savior and let Him defend us. Let Him reveal through us who we are.
What is the difference between Judgement and Accountability?
God’s Word does teach us to be accountable to each other. When someone comes to you and speaks with love and grace, they do not bring a spirit of judgement. The spirit of judging is someone who is pinpointing, talking about, criticizing, and making assumptions about what is hidden in the heart of a person and their intentions.
Accountability comes with the intention of grace, restoration, and repentance. Accountability follows this command:
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: James 1:19
The goal of accountability and right judgement is to confess sin,
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; James 5:19
encourage, build up, and point a person back to the gospel!
15 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
God’s Word also gives us instruction for moments when we feel we are being judged. A good rule is to assume the intentions are well met unless they are otherwise proven to be ill intentions.
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Colossians 3:12-13
A good test of anything that is spoken or written (by us or from another) is to determine if the accusation or judgement is seeking reconciliation. God commands that as one body in Christ we are to seek reconciliation in all our relationships, especially our fellow brothers and sisters. So when I read this letter, was it someone who was trying to reconcile, encourage me, build me up, and bring me back to the gospel? These are three amazing tests to hold what others say or even how we speak to others.
Our response is to be:
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21
It is our human nature to want to argue and defend ourselves against being judged and condemned, but we do not have to! Jesus will defend us and reveal who we truly are but the fruit of the Spirit. One of the flavors of that fruit is self-control! We have to allow the Holy Spirit to exercise self control and to not return evil for evil, and allow Jesus to defend us. He will defend us against Satan and others.
Instead of being quick to defend, we need to be quick to seek reconciliation, quick to listen, and quick to forgive just as Christ has taught us in the way he deals with us.
3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. Luke 17:3-4
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-32
We have a choice: choose the path of Christ, or choose the path of evil. As followers of Christ, when we received Him, he gave us power to rebuke our accuser. When satan comes knocking we do not argue his accusations, instead we call upon the blood that was shed and our Savior who testifies we are forgiven. When others make accusation, judgement, or condemnation, we are called to not repay it with evil, but given an opportunity to pray for them and allow Christ to defend us.
It Starts Small 
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