When the Accuser Speaks

For a long time, I struggled with the voice of condemnation. I desperately wanted to please God, but never felt like I could do enough to please Him. The voice of accusation and condemnation would speak, and I would fall into the trap of introspection. 

To this day, there are still times when I fall for that voice.

But God has been over the years teaching me to recognize when He is convicting and when the enemy, the accuser, is condemning. Because there is a difference. They are not the same.

Characteristics of the Accuser’s voice:

1. When Satan comes, he tempts us to despair of our relationship with God. He takes his accusations and puts them between us and God, tempting us to believe that whatever we have done or have failed to do has become a reason for God not to want us anymore. He lies to us and says that our sin has separated us from the love of God.

Have you ever felt driven away from God because of guilt and shame? That is not God doing that. God does not drive us away. Nothing can separate us from His love!

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? …I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: 35, 38-39)

2. When he speaks, he draws attention to ourselves, leaving us defenseless. The reason we are defenseless is because if we look long enough at ourselves we will find something wrong. We have to understand that our righteousness only comes from one place, and that is Jesus Christ!

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (Romans 8:33-34)

3. When he speaks, it brings a cloud of confusion. A Christian who truly wants to be right with God and others will ask as a result of accusation, “Oh, God, what do I do?” and the accuser’s answer comes in a flood of confusing thoughts that don’t make sense or really answer the question at all. That is not God speaking.

Characteristics of God's conviction

1. When God convicts, it is clear. There is no confusion. I can remember around the time when He first showed me that, the confusing voice of the enemy spoke. I made the decision right then and told God that I would not even bother to do anything about it until God made it clear what I should do. Immediately, the confusion was gone, and I understood in experience what God had been telling me through His word: 

“God is not the Author of confusion, but of peace…” (1 Corinthians 14:33

2. Another characteristic of God’s conviction is that He is the focus. What do I mean by that? When He points out our sin, He points it out as something that isn’t like Him, that goes against His desires and commands and takes away from His glory. He points it out as something that has kept us from knowing Him, and then He gives us the opportunity to be right with Him. If we truly want to be right with God, we will agree with Him that what we have done or failed to do is wrong, and receive His forgiveness. (1 John 1:9)

God intends for Christ to be our focus every time He convicts us of sin: “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)

What happens when we are in denial about His conviction?

If we don’t want to be right with Him, we will disagree with His conviction and proceed to feel a darkness come over our spiritual life and will ourselves choose to walk away from Him into the influence of the enemy, who will then have every opportunity to rip us to shreds with his lies and accusations.

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth…. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:6, 8, 10)

“…The devil… was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

The beautiful thing is, for every single person on the planet, the solution is still the same.

If I were to put it into one word, it would be a name. That name being Jesus.

1. For the person who has no relationship with God through Christ alone, your sin does condemn you. The enemy doesn’t need to. But your solution is to place your trust in Jesus, and realize that by dying on the cross and rising again, He paid for your sin and is able to set you free from it forever. He can be your righteousness, which means by accepting Him, you become acceptable to God.

2. For the Christian who is hearing the voice of the accuser, your answer is Christ too. The song, “Before the Throne of God,” worded it well: “When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me!”

Stop looking within and look up. Choose to put all your hope in Christ. Choose to only obey Christ, and do it when you know He is speaking. His voice will clearly match His word, because He is the Word (John 1:1). Say no to the confusing voice of the accuser! When God convicts you, He will do it in peace and with the goal of reconciliation.

3. For the Christian who has ignored the conviction of God and opened himself up to the accuser, the answer is still the same! Go to God, confess what He has convicted you of, and receive His forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Realize that Christ is still your only Righteousness. God is satisfied to look on Christ, who is in you, and be pleased with you because of Him. Place all your hope in Christ and realize there is no other way to be pleasing to God but through Him!

4. For the Christian who is hearing the conviction of God and you know it is God, just obey. Your answer is still the same. Jesus is still your righteousness. Agree with Him about your sin, and choose to do whatever He leads you to do to make it right. Realize He is wise and means to refine you as a vessel made of pure gold so the righteousness of Christ can be apparent in you.

He only purges and cleanses those branches that are bearing fruit (John 15), so you can rejoice when He convicts you of sin! He wants to make you fit for the Master’s use!

Isn't Jesus amazing? He is the focus, the solution, and the goal of everything we face in this life. Let's look upward to Him! 

"Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:2)