Accuser of the Brethren

Of course, we know that Satan likes to accuse us. Sometimes when we least expect it, a thought will pop into our heads, “Remember that time you totally failed God. You’re still just a big failure and disappointment.” When such thoughts come, we battle them with truth. “My sins are under the blood, moved as far as the east is from the west, behind God’s back, remembered no more.”

Allison, however, made another interesting observation. She suggested that sometimes Satan gets us to do his dirty work and we become the accusers of our brethren, sometimes even while we are standing in the presence of God.

At first, this seemed impossible, but as I tested the truth of her assertion, I realized not only that she was correct, but also that I was guilty of having committed this very act.

How? Whenever we refer to a brother or sister in the Lord by any name other than “righteous,” we have

 become an accuser. For instance, I can recall saying in prayer, “She is such a gossip, God.” Yes, the woman in question knew how to gossip with flare, but she is NOT a gossip. Gossiping describes what she does, not who she is.

Jesus has very accurately described for all of us who we are. Neil Anderson has a terrific list in his book, Victory Over the Darkness. We are salt and light and heirs with Christ. We are ambassadors for Christ and part of a royal priesthood, but nowhere did Jesus call us gossips or liars or adulterers or murders or any of the names by which unregenerated sinners are called.

Paul wrote in I Cor. 6:9-11, “You were these once, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Does that mean that Christians don’t commit sins such as lying, cheating, gossiping, prideful, even adulterers and murderers? We know better, don’t we?

So why aren’t we called by these names if we can be engaged in these activities? Because our sin is UNDER THE BLOOD. Someone who has not believed on Christ for pardon is still condemned by that sin, but we are not condemned and we cannot be called by condemning names, because such names are lies. (See Romans 8:1)

In Zechariah 3:1-7, Joshua comes before God and the Accuser of the Brethren points out the sinful nature of Joshua’s robe, but God calls for a robe of righteousness to be placed upon him. This is all God will see from now on, because God sees us as we will be, and we will be the righteousness of God through Christ our savior.

When I refer to my brothers and sisters by any name that doesn’t reflect Christ, I have essentially picked up the enemy’s weapon and I’m using it for him to try to destroy the body of Christ

I saw a television advertisement recently. A woman had rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The commercial was relaying the fact that the body will attack the joints where RA exists, trying to get rid of the RA, but instead destroying the body, creating an even worse situation than the RA had created. The advertisement was for a product that would keep the body from destroying itself.

I WANT THIS MEDICINE for our spiritual life, don’t you? I want whatever we can take as the Body of Christ to keep us from attacking one another because of sin that has been discovered in our lives. We think we are helping to make things better by spiritually beating up someone who has sinned, but like the body’s reaction to RA, we are only making things worse!

AND SATAN is OVERJOYED!. We have picked up his weapon and are using it effectively for his purposes.

I put together a little folder called, “Target on My Back.” This folder is available to anyone who wants it. (See my Web site for contact information.) The folder discusses the fact that Satan doesn’t like the righteous. He has put a target on the back of every Christian. His goal is to nullify our witness, making us ineffective for the Kingdom.

He sends temptation in various forms, creating a barrage of arrows. Because we are not perfect, we will fall prey to at least one of his schemes. We may speak a word out of turn on a very bad day that he can blossom into a rift in our congregation. We may be tempted into dependence upon something other than Christ, an addiction of one form or another. We may just decide that we could be happier doing our own thing and we walk out on family or church or even just our morals for one night.

Whatever it is, Satan’s plan will work if the body reacts in the way Satan expects, that is, we attack the sin as well as the person who committed the sin. We become the accusers of the brethren and possibly even the executioners.

We think are doing “justice for God,” but God hasn’t ordered justice for his children. Justice says that the wages of sin is death. However, God purchased the gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of his son on the cross. This gift also purchased mercy and grace for us.

This is the medicine which keeps us from crippling the body of Christ in places where sin has already done damage. Instead of judgment, we offer grace, and rather than increasing the devastation that naturally comes with the explosion of sin, we help minimize its affects on the body of our Lord, that is, the church.

There are many men and women who can testify to God’s ability to bring restoration to the places where sin had tried to destroy everything. Their testimonies are not nullified, as Satan hoped, because they are not called by names associated with their failures, but rather with God’s victories over their sins.

As for me, I am left with a decision. Will I spend my breath and the life given to me by God in support of the efforts of our enemy or in support of the work Christ did on the cross?