So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also! (Martin Luther)
One of the greatest weapons that the enemy of our souls has in his arsenal is the knowledge of our history. We can be so quickly taken out mentally when suddenly a memory from our past life comes to mind, or when we relive some past trauma in our emotions. The very word "satan" means "accuser." The very essence of who he is, above his other wicked traits, is one who constantly levels accusations. We see in Revelation a fuller title and description:
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. (Revelation 12:10, emphasis added)
Constantly trying to tear down what God is redeeming, Satan hopes to discourage us into giving up through accusation. This ministry of his is even more deadly when he finds a willing human voice (the Rabbis refer to this as the "evil tongue") to air these accusations, and it is even more deadly when he manages to use the mouth of one of the people of God. Yet, deadlier still are his quiet whispers in our minds—driving us to the brink of discouragement.
As you face pruning from God and challenges in this life, the first thing I want to say to you in light of all this is that you are not your past. And in Christ, you are not your sins. The Good News is very good news:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)
Remember to live out of the New Creation found in the Spirit and not from who the devil tells you that you are.
Essene Press Team
