You know the all-too-familiar drill. You go about your day, minding your own business when all of a sudden the adversary of your soul – the devil – begins pounding you with memories of your past sin. If he is having a good time of it, he will even replay them in vivid detail – perhaps even connecting those sins to various unrelated events and accuse you until you feel depression looming over the guilt and shame you now feel. Oh, then he has you right where he wants you. When you are wallowing in self-disgust, he will begin accusing you with how God must view you. Ever hear this? “See!, he seethes, “You’ve made such a mess of things in your past. Look at how you fell. Look at you. You are worthless…certainly of no use to God. Why would He use you now?” Maybe he even uses it in the first person and you think it’s your own thoughts accusing you. Make no mistake – it’s your enemy.
I once received encouragement from a sermon of Alistair Begg, that I would like to share with you. May it strengthen the arm that holds your shield of faith.
There is hope for Christians who believe they have made a royal mess of their lives. King David was a believer. David was a friend of God. David was the choice of God. Yet, he made a royal curse of his life.
Therefore, despite the fact that you and I may have ignored God’s standards; we may have denied His Word; we may have rejected His commands; we may have suffered – and suffered terribly, as a result. Some who have repented and now are forgiven have now decided that God’s perspective on you is only some kind of grudging toleration; that you have been removed from the team; that now you are destined to live the balance of your Christian life in a a kind of junkyard of Christian experience.
But, that is not so. That CAN’T be so! As long as God is God.
Because He is a God, as David tells us, who does not treat us as our sins deserve; He puts them far from us as the east is from the west; He buries them in the sea of His forgetfulness. (Psalm 103:10-14)
Listen, Believer, who has listened to the devil’s lie of “I did this; I did that; I did the next thing; I made a hash of the whole business”. Just tell the evil one to go back to hell where he belongs, because you have taken your stand in the unguessable grace of God!
The God, who despite the fact that David was in that sorry predicament – it was still through him that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem and that the nations would hear the voice of the Word of the Lord!
Oh brothers and sisters, Paul does not lightly say in Romans 8:31-39 that NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ. Not at all to say that we can continue living in active sin, however, once that sin has been confessed and repented of (meaning, we are no longer living in it), we do not stand accused before our Great God, who has cleansed us and forgiven us. He no longer sees us stained. He sees us washed and clean and clothed with Christ’s righteousness. May I remind you of Romans 8:1-2 – there is no condemnation for you, who are in Christ Jesus; you’ve been set free.
I would encourage you to have a repertoire of scriptures, armed and ready to counter-attack when the adversary throws his fiery darts, that feel more like missiles. Answer back with who you are in Christ. Answer back with Christ’s victory won for you. Answer back with promises from your Heavenly Father who loves you. Don’t let your sword rust in the corner of the room. Pick it up. Arm yourself, Christian. You are not left without defense!
Holly Sands lives in South Carolina at the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains with her loving husband, Shane, and idiot cat, Mister Bojangles. She has been blessed to travel both nationally and internationally with her husband, sharing the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Holly is co-host of the weekly podcast, “That They May All Be One“. New episodes can be heard every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app.
Sometimes when you are reading through the Word of God, certain verses seem to be emphasized in 3D. Today was one of those mornings as I was reading in 1 John 5.