The Charges Were Dropped
Thankfully, I've only received one SPEEDING TICKET in my life. It was a while ago, but I remember feeling a sense of guilt when the officer got out of his police car and walked up to my window. I was guilty of speeding, so it makes sense that I'd feel that way. But even more, the officer was a RULING AUTHORITY of our municipality. And though speeding was a minor infraction, I still felt the weight of having broken the law, and paying the consequence (the ticket).
Now, first of all, I love that we have policemen and policewomen who honor civil authority. They lay their lives on the line to defend freedom and to protect citizens, and I honor them as law-keepers. But for the purposes of making a point, I'm using the illustration of police and authority, so stick with me . . .
Recently, a particular Scripture has been highlighted. It's about feelings of GUILT we Christians tend to feel because of breaking God's law.
Our minds KNOW what the Bible says: that we're forgiven, and no longer condemned. But there's MORE! It gets better!
Not only are we NOT condemned . . . we have no lawful accuser!
We DO have an accuser, but his accusations are not lawful! Satan is called our accuser, and he accuses us before God day and night (Rev. 12:10). The point is, he can go on accusing, and accusing, and accusing...but he has NO AUTHORITY to STAND ON.
Think about it. You are alive with Jesus. ALL your sins have been forgiven. Forever.
Satan is like a (corrupt) police officer on the Earth. It's true, he DOES have authority in Earth's realm, as the "god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). He can hand out tickets to the guilty for sin-infractions and make humans pay consequences.
BUT NOT TO CHRISTIANS.
CHECK OUT THIS SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 2:13-15: You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross....So don’t let anyone condemn you...
DISARM. (literally, it means to strip away).
God STRIPPED AWAY the SPIRITUAL AUTHORITIES of this world from your life. God disarmed Satan (and all his demons) in your life. He removed their authority in your life FOREVER.
How did He do that? By CANCELLING the CHARGES against you.
Satan lost his authority to accuse YOU, Christian, because there is no charge against you. The charges were nailed to the cross 2000+ years ago.
And even MORE, you were raised to life WITH JESUS.
Satan's bluffing.
He had power and authority, and he wants you to think he still has the same authority.
The power of the enemy's accusations is that we think there's still a ticket out there that we have to pay. But they've all been taken away. They don't exist. Gone.
We LIVE from heaven now. Our spirit is JOINED with God's SPIRIT, forever pure, forever holy (1 Cor. 6:17).
So, when Satan comes to accuse you for speeding (sinning)—even if you were speeding (sinning)—you and Jesus simply have a conversation about that, and let it rest in Jesus' hands. He instantly washes it away from our souls. We're the ones who need to receive forgiveness and forgive ourselves.
Learn to receive forgiveness quickly. Learn to forgive yourself quickly. And remind the enemy of the truth. That there IS no CHARGE. Read him the verses from Colossians. Out loud, if you need to, until it sinks into your soul.
That false police officer in your life will continue to try and accuse and make you feel guilty. Resist him. And after a while, you'll find that the peace and grace has increased, and the accuser has lost his power.
The truth is, in Jesus, YOU now have the authority.
This post is the author's understanding and opinion. It is not intended to counsel in any way. Please talk to a Christian counselor, pastoral leader, or another wise saint if you desire counseling.