SATAN’S SPEECH-ACT OF ACCUSATION
ACT OF ACCUSATION is Satan’s favorite speech-act in character assassination. In fact, he is called “the accuser of the brethren” in Rev. 12:10. For whatever evidences or reasons he has at his disposal, he has the tenacity to accuse Christians before God in heaven, day and night. As an intelligent being, he certainly knows the justifying impact of the Cross on the believer.
Jesus is the Advocate of every Christian whom he cannot defeat at the court of heaven. For this reason, it might be that the issue of his ACT OF ACCUSATION to Christians does not point to the impact of the Cross, but to the condition of its receiver. In other words, when Satan accuses Christians before God, he focuses the accusation on their character.
Of course, Satan knows our weakness, the sins that we have committed in the past, and the sins that we cherish in the present. By these points, he accuses us before God by questioning the sincerity of our faith. As if Satan is telling you and me, “Are you truly a believer of Jesus? You say that you received Him as your Lord and Savior. But here, you have these sins. You say you love Jesus, but in reality, you still love this sin. Oh, you’re not a true Christian. If you’re a true Christian, you’ll be like Jesus, holy and perfect. But you are not perfect; therefore, you are not a true Christian.”
Jesus is the Advocate of every Christian whom he cannot defeat at the court of heaven.
In Satan’s accusation and character-assassination, he loves to confound positional justification and experiential sanctification. He corrupts the doctrine of the grace of God by adding human works. He misrepresents the truth of the Cross by showing that forgiveness automatically means earthly perfection. Such thoughts are the seeds of deception that he daily sows in our heart and mind.
Satan knows that he cannot obstruct the gracious impact of the Cross on the believer. However, he believes that he can hinder the believer in enjoying and maximizing the blessings of the Cross in his life – the joy of salvation. Some of the believers in Corinth fell into this trap. When through Paul’s rebuke their sins were exposed, some of them took the rebuke too personally and focused on their sins. They forgot the work of the Cross. Thus, St. Paul reminded them that such kind of sorrow was not godly but worldly. He said,
ACT OF ACCUSATION! Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
This is the kind of sorrow that Satan brings to the believer in the process of his accusation. This Satanic technique is very subtle because you may think you are humbly and sincerely sorry for your sins. But what you don’t know is that, Satan separates you far away from the truth of the Cross. He wants to grab the joy of your salvation by subtly and slowly tearing you down with guilt and regret. St. Paul also experienced this satanic accusation when he testified to Timothy the sinful horrors of his past as a zealous persecutor of the Church.
Experience the Power of Prophecy as a gift to open your mind to receive the Mind of Christ.