translated
from Hebrew as
Adversary.
In the New
Testament: the Devil;
translated
from Greek as
the Accuser.
His greatest
accomplishment: bringing death to God’s creation.
His greatest
defeat: losing it all in Christ’s victory over death at the moment of His
resurrection and through His blood the reconciliation of all things back to God.
All things;
including the world.
All things have been reconciled back to
God.
The
Adversary has been disarmed.
He has
nothing.
Except…
Accusation.
If you
listen to his accusations,
if you allow his accusations;
his false accusations,
to get to
you
he still has
a chance to keep you off balance,
unsure,
doubtful,
abandoned,
unacceptable,
unforgiven.
How?
With the
Law.
The Accuser loves the Law
and will do
all that he can
to keep you
under it.
Jesus
fulfilled the Law.
He paid the
price of the Law,
death.
No one can
keep the Law completely. God knows this. It’s why He set up the ritual of blood
sacrifice.
We transgress;
we kill an innocent animal spilling its blood on the altar of sacrifice.
The Law was
given to show us what it would take to be righteous before God.
First the
Ten Commands.
Then the 613
other laws.
Each one is
an opportunity for the Adversary to those
who keep the Law.
Each one is
a door that the Enemy can open
to mess with
you.
Tempt you.
Harass you.
A rock put
in your path to stumble over.
Resistance
is hard work.
Resistance
can seem futile.
No one can
keep the Law completely.
However,
Jesus did.
He was, and
remains,
the only One
who did.
When Jesus
died taking all of our sins upon Him and paid the just price—Death, He took all
Sin to the grave with Him.
When Jesus
was raised from death back to life—eternal life—Sin was left in the grave.
Sin is no
longer an issue. It is no longer a thing that stands between you and the
Father.
If there was
even one single law left that needed to be kept, there would be an opportunity
for Sin.
But the opportunity
for Sin was taken away when Jesus fulfilled the obligation of the Law—Death.
The Law,
having been fulfilled, was then put away. Not abolished, but fulfilled.
Fulfilled =
Finished.
Done. No
more.
Where there
is no Law, there is no transgression.
There is
also
no
opportunity for
accusation.
Oh, you can
be accused;
and you will
be.
But it will
only work
if
you let the
Accuser put you back under the Law.
Or, if
you put yourself back under the Law.
The Law that
you are no longer under because you are now in
Christ.
The Law that
Jesus fulfilled.
The Law that
has been put away,
replaced by God’s
Grace:
His
undeserved mercy and kindness towards us;
His complete
forgiveness;
His
unceasing, steadfast love;
His adoption of us as His sons and daughters.
His adoption of us as His sons and daughters.
Being in Christ, you are a new creation;
the old things
passed away;
behold, new
things have come.
The Accuser
will try everything he can to bring you back under the Law so that you may
stand accused at any time.
He will keep
you busy worrying about sin,
examining yourself for sins,
confessing sins,
bothering God with them and begging forgiveness when all of that junk has been put away forever.
examining yourself for sins,
confessing sins,
bothering God with them and begging forgiveness when all of that junk has been put away forever.
It also
keeps you from understanding who you really are in the Father’s eyes:
His child,
with nothing between the two of you except
complete acceptance and
unending love.
with nothing between the two of you except
complete acceptance and
unending love.
The
accusations are false.
Don’t
believe them.
Trust God.
