“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” Rom. 8:33. The world is full of accusers. One nation accuses another; one person accuses another. There is also a multitude of accusers in God’s church. Accusations bring out the malice in man; they are directed at his thoughts and his actions; they are also directed at the purest life—such as the life of Christ—as well as against the life of the most wretched sinner. Where do accusations come from? The source of accusations is the accuser. And the accuser is Satan and his angels. Can we say that Christ accuses, that the Spirit accuses? No! They convict a person of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. This conviction does not include a merciless accusation, but behind this conviction we find infinite love and mercy. An accusation is different. It is hard, brutal, malicious, and clothed in righteousness. An accusation against people has an affinity with the flesh, but it is not the flesh; it is a spirit, a spirit of accusation. The flesh wants to live in pleasure; it wants to live in comfort; it wants to gorge itself with passions and desires. But take note of the accusation. The spirit of accusation comes immediately when you bear a grudge against someone, and he holds long sermons inside of you: he sets your memory in motion, dragging out all the evil he can lay hold of. He adds everything up into one large sum total of accusations against the other person, and it is vital to him to paint his life as black as possible. This spirit of accusation is also rampant among believers. The terrible thing is that he transports people into a seemingly justified righteousness. He coldly exposes the other person’s mistakes, weakness, lack of holiness, and lack of understanding. If we listen to the spirit of accusation, we will realize that he is not finished in one day and then stops. He comes again. He drags up the matter again, puts fresh blame on the other person, comes with new suspicions, and sees everything in the worst light. The spirit of accusation will not leave you alone. His goal is to be firmly entrenched in you so that one day you have to let out what he has implanted in you. You go to other brothers and accuse your brother. You have become an instrument in the hands of the spirit of accusation. You raise your voice and you blacken your brother. You think that you are just and righteous, but bitter gall is flowing out from you. Others hear it; they cannot discern the voices, and so they are defiled. The spirit of accusation has worked so long in you that he has firmly established himself as a bitter root whose fruits are appalling. Just thinking of this person annoys you, and the accuser makes you think often, even very often about him. These thoughts are injected when your mind is empty. You don’t just get annoyed, you become angry, you become gossipy; you become the source of a great defilement wherever you are because you sow suspicion and get others to receive the same spirit. You become depressed yourself because your life is not pure, and then the spirit of accusation will also accuse you. When you pray, he will accuse you for your wretched life—he mocks your prayers; when you want to testify, he calls you a hypocrite. The aim of the spirit of accusation is manifold. His first aim is to destroy you; then to destroy your brother or brethren whom it affects; then to destroy your neighbors so they can receive the same spirit as you, the same evil roots, the same bitterness; and in the end to destroy God’s work. In how many places has not the spirit of accusation entered into assemblies and pitted the one against the other with the result that they have become separated from each other and terribly embittered, everyone thinking that he is right. Because the one who accuses must have a reason for his accusation, therefore this spirit seems to have a solid and just foundation on which to stand. Satan accused God and cast doubt on His word to Eve. Satan accused Job before God and cast doubt on Job’s righteousness, saying that it was egotistical. In these days, many people in the world accuse God, saying that He is neither loving nor righteous for letting so many things happen. The accusation against God is as follows: If He is love, as it is written about Him, He would prevent, etc. In Revelation 12:10-11 we find (among others) the following words: “For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Satan accuses the brethren before God, and he causes one brother to accuse another. He is busy everywhere to get support for his judgments. We notice that the essence of his being is evident in those who are apprehended by this spirit, for they are busy everywhere backbiting and spreading suspicious thoughts and other evil thoughts to garner support for their judgments. And once they have gained support from many others, they are greatly strengthened in this spirit! This spirit is truly a tormenting spirit to those who are possessed by it. He continuously preaches his old and new spicy sermons into the heart. As a result, the person’s relationship to other people and to God is flawed. The only thing that can comfort such a person is more nourishment from the same spirit and from those who are in agreement with him, but this kind of comfort is a source of more annoyance, more pain, and more agony. There are scores of people who live under the influence of this spirit, together with its deep, bitter roots. Read about Esau. Heb. 12:15-17. He sought the blessing, but was rejected because he found no room for repentance. There was no room in him for repentance. There was a bitter root in his heart (v. 15); therefore there was no room for a blessing, which is why he was rejected. Many believers are rejected from receiving a blessing for the same reason, even though they seek it with tears as Esau did! When we acknowledge that the accusation comes from a spirit, we will also understand James when he says, “The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” We realize where the spirit of accusation comes from. You who bitterly accuse your brother—your tongue is set on fire by hell and its spirits. James says further: “With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men [accuse and judge their life as something evil—that is what we curse]. . . . My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” Paul asks, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” God be praised! There is a Judge who is above all the spirits of accusation both in heaven, on earth, and in hell. If someone with the spirit of accusation comes to you, fear not! God is the One who justifies. You should not give account to this accusing spirit. He will heap scorn on your evidence. He refutes you with fresh accusations. The spirit of accusation is arrogant and proud; his whole desire is for you to confess and acknowledge that he is right. Then he can claim to be the spirit of truth; then this spirit is honored. Refer your case to God. Who is the one who condemns? Christ is the One who died (for my sins)—even more than that—He is also risen (for my justification)—in order to defend my righteousness (which was purchased with His death), who also sits at the right hand of God, and who also intercedes for us. Rom. 8. Paul calls out: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution . . . ?” If the spirit of accusation may have a case, but the person has been convicted by the Spirit of God about some wrong doing which has been cleansed away by Jesus’ death and vindicated by His resurrection and for which Christ also intercedes for him, then he can safely reject the accusing spirit whether he approaches the person directly or through people. Observe the contrast between the spirit of accusation and the Spirit of Christ! The spirit of accusation is bitter and judgmental without salvation; the Spirit of God convicts, judging the thoughts and intents of the heart for salvation. The Spirit of God is forgiving; love does not become bitter and does not remember the evil, whereas the spirit of accusation remembers and heaps up the evil. The Spirit of Christ is a Spirit of intercession; the accuser rightly bears his name. The Spirit of intercessions goes to God with the brothers’ mistakes and deficiencies, whereas the spirit of accusation spreads out judgment before God and in all directions. The Spirit is our Mediator, our Defender (Advocate) before the Father; Satan is our accuser. If someone has opened himself up to a bitter spirit of accusation, how can he get rid of this tormenting spirit? A person has to investigate where it is lodged and the reason for having received it. As long as this spirit is present in a person, he will not experience any cleansing. He must utterly deny this spirit. He must curse him out of his life. Refuse to listen to his accusations when he paints everything as black as possible; he has to be willing to forgive as Christ forgave. He must be willing to remember the evil no longer. Only then can all the sins he has committed be cleansed away in Jesus’ blood. However, this will become a fight for your life. You must acknowledge that it is in fact a spirit of accusation, and then you must take up the battle against him. Begin by praying to God against this spirit. It is a matter of life and death. You know that whoever does not forgive his brother from his heart can also not expect forgiveness. If you begin to pray against this spirit, he will begin to rage more than ever. If possible, get someone who is pure from this spirit to support you in prayer and endure until the victory has been won. The person who associates much with believers ought to be careful and discern the spirits whether they are of God, because it is easy to agree with someone who has been defiled by this spirit. Even though his words may be correct, his spirit is still bitter. Believers who are under the influence of this spirit must be treated with love, even though their accusation may pertain to you. They are to be pitied in spite of their bitterness, for they do not know that Satan has deceived them. You can pray them free by praying against the spirit that has laid hold of them, or if you are strong and sufficiently pure, drive him out. These signs shall follow those who believe: they shall drive out evil spirits, etc. Satan will possibly attack you with accusations when you pray for these souls, such as: just watch yourself; you are not praying hard enough; you will never be heard; this is too hard; you may just as well give up, etc. This is how Satan’s voices will mock your prayers. God doesn’t do that. Just look at the value your prayers have. You can use that against Satan’s mockery. “Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.” Rev. 8:3-4. See, God attaches so much value to your prayers that they ascend to the golden altar before His throne. Therefore we must not let Satan rob us of any of these treasures of faith. Let us resist him in all areas, and He will flee from us.Aksel Smith