Don’t Let Yourself Be Accused!

“For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down . . . . Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Rev. 12:10, 12.

From these Scriptures we understand that the devil had access to heaven and could freely accuse people before God day and night. With His own hand God wrote the law that was given to Moses and by it Satan held a “trump card.” God had to agree with him. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ . . . Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’” Gal. 3:10, 12. Before Christ came no one was able to live according to the law and thus all flesh was relegated to death. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Gal. 3:13-14.

“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and pow­ers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Col. 2:13-15.

Because Christ died for us, He would have had the right to accuse us for killing an innocent person—we killed God’s holy Son. But instead of accusing us He took our “guilty ver­dict,” the handwriting of requirements against us and nailed it to the cross. So when He died on the cross of Calvary, all ac­cusations against us—we who take refuge in Him—also died! He thereby disarmed principalities and powers. He also dis­armed the accuser, triumphing over him on the cross! In the midst of great weakness, experiencing the sufferings of the cross, Christ conquered those tremendous powers that had ruled the earth until He came. When Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, we received an Advocate—a Defender—in heaven, Jesus Christ our Lord. We who were so wretched and deceived have now received limitless grace and goodness over our lives. Just listen to what Paul writes to Titus: “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serv­ing various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:3-5.

Michael and his angels fought, casting Satan and his an­gels out of heaven so that there was no longer any place for them there. Rev. 12:7-8. Now Jesus has taken Satan’s place in heaven and He is our Defender and Advocate before the Fa­ther. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1. Now we can rejoice and be glad—when we are seated with Him in heaven. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kind­ness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:4-7.

As long as our mind is turned toward heaven, the spirit of accusation has no power over us. That is why we read about the God of peace crushing Satan under our feet shortly. Rom. 16:20. The instant we are born again, receiving a new mind and a pure heart, the spirit of accusation loses its power. Sa­tan is, after all, the Accuser. God will make anyone who over­comes a pillar in His temple. Rev. 3:12. What are we supposed to overcome? Sin! Yes. But first of all, we must overcome the Accuser, so that he no longer has power over us! Then we are free indeed and we are seated in heaven with Jesus Christ!

Even in the church we have often seen how Satan can clothe himself as an angel of light. He gladly clothes himself in a cloak of love and righteousness. Then he says: “Yes, but everything must be totally righteous! Righteous to the small­est detail!” In this way he tries to keep many people in doubt that they have been freed through Jesus’ victory from all this accusation. If you listen to the Accuser, you will become weighed down and oppressed. The only people who can prop­erly explain righteousness are those who, in spirit and truth, are pure in heart.

If there is unrest, uncertainty and insecurity, it is a sure sign that the Accuser is at work. The Scriptures exhort us to test all things and to hold fast to what is good. 1 Thess. 5:21. People who submit to the spirit of accusation doubt every­thing; they cannot hold fast to anything. Nothing I know of can make a person as totally hollow and empty as the spirit of accusation. That is why we must be on guard—as you would for the fires of hell—from allowing any of this spirit into our hearts. The Accuser can only plague earthly people. If we are seated in heaven with Jesus Christ, we are free indeed from this sinister spirit. The spirit of accusation is incredibly bra­zen. It can talk about even the most holy life with contempt and derision. Not even the Master escaped this. Judas made Jesus out as someone extravagant, someone who squandered the things that were meant for the poor. Imagine spending so much on yourself! Judas thought it was righteous to sell the Master Himself for thirty pieces of silver. The spirit of accusa­tion had come into his heart. Afterward, he went away and it was night. The prince of darkness can only operate in dark­ness. In the glorious sunlight of God, he has no power. If we are raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places, we are forever free from this spirit that has tormented the children of men for thousands of years.

James calls the activity of the Accuser “the wisdom from below.” It is earthly, sensual and demonic. In the light we can exhort and correct each other, and if we wonder about some­thing, we can take to heart Jesus’ guidelines in Matthew 18:15: “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.”

We must also take Jesus’ parable about the unmerciful ser­vant deeply to heart. The man who had been forgiven his in­surmountable debt met his fellow servant in the dreadful spirit of accusation. “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’” Matt. 18:28. We see clearly what Jesus thought: “And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Matt. 18:34-35.

Paul exhorted Timothy to pursue faith, love and the other virtues of Christ. He did not blame or accuse him for having too little of some virtue. He was content with Timothy just as he was, and he urged him to continue in his good develop­ment. Paul was a master when it came to never blaming or scolding. He had tremendous hope for people, even though he saw that there were many lacks. He believed in their good desire and he had faith that if he could continue to work with them, he could present them together with himself in glory. The spirit of accusation, on the other hand, will always cast doubt on other people’s good intentions. “Well, that may be true, but. . .” Wherever the spirit of accusation appears, there will be unrest and suspicion.

One of the main reasons things are so good in the church today is that the spirit of accusation is crushed under our feet. Because of that, we have the joy of salvation and a fervent fellowship with one another. If you get a whiff of the spirit of accusation, always stand firmly against it. Then the church will continue to be raised with Him and seated in heaven, high above the powers of darkness.

Paul asks, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” Rom. 8:33. Who would dare do that if they considered that Jesus died for them, is raised up together with them and ever lives to make intercession for them? How far, then, should we be from daring to accuse such a brother? If someone accuses you, you can ask, “What sin have I committed that Jesus did not die for?” If you tend to accuse yourself, ask yourself the same question. Then the Accuser will be cast out of the heaven of your heart. Michael and his angels and all the hosts of heaven are with you in this battle to cast the Accuser out of your own heart.

Satan does not only come to condemn others, he also comes to condemn our conscience and thereby make our life very difficult and oppressive. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom. 8:1. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. In Christ our conscience is also cleansed from dead works so that we can serve the living God. Heb. 9:14.

When we live according to the Spirit, we have victory and the righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us. So we are not in debt to the flesh. We are liberated from sin in the flesh and we can be used as a weapon of righteousness for God. We have power to crush Satan’s head wherever he is at work. Where we are, he has no power and must flee.

Many people have very little content in their life and thus do not have many positive things to say. Then it is easy to come into a negative thought process. Here we have a won­derful opportunity to be “switchmen”! We must not scold or accuse, but instead help people to “switch tracks” in their thoughts to things of heavenly value. Love and care will act as an outstretched hand, helping people forward into a life with God. In our work in the church, we will need to give exhorta­tion and correction, but we must never criticize or blame any­one. All criticism comes from the Accuser and it creates only unrest and despair.

When a person is freed from the spirit of accusation, it is as though the eternal doors open and the Lord of glory enters into his heart and mind. Life becomes incredibly wonderful and good! I remember how my heart began to burn when Sigurd Bratlie instructed us about this in one of his Bible stud­ies. It became so living—a fantastic light! I remember well how faith began to burn in my heart, faith that I could be eter­nally free from this spirit of accusation. This caused me to become very active in my faith. I remember that several of us young brothers stayed up all night talking about these things. It was so living and our hearts were so filled with joy that we felt like we could break through armored steel with these glo­rious truths. When you are free from the spirit of accusation, you can rejoice every single day. It’s as if the world has just been created. And you can believe in God’s love in Christ Jesus. Goodness is behind everything God does, even though we don’t understand everything in His great and manifold stewardship!