Among other things, Satan is described as “the accuser of the brethren” who accuses them day and night before God (Rev. 12:10).  In the Old Testament, we find a detailed account of him accusing Job before God (Job 1:6-11) and again we find him standing before God to accuse Joshua, the high Priest (Zechariah 3:1).  Jesus revealed to Peter that Satan had asked to sift him like wheat (Luke 22:31).  I think we can safely assume that Satan had stood before God accusing Peter and wanting to unleash hell in his life.  Those accusations take place in the courts of Heaven, but Satan is even more active shouting his accusations on the earth.  

How often must the accuser whisper accusations in our ear about our spouse, about our neighbor, about our boss, about our church, or about our leaders.  He makes accusations about their motives and intent – that they are withholding what is due to us, that they are taking advantage of us, that they are liars and manipulators and want what is rightfully ours.  How often do we judge others because we presume to know their hearts and motives?

But not only does Satan accuse those around us, he also accuses us to ourselves.  He accuses us of being unworthy of love, unworthy of success, unworthy of God’s blessings, and unworthy of fulfilling a great destiny that God has already written in his book for us. He schemes to make us feel unloved and disqualified from every blessing of God…even his grace.  

Through his accusations, we can come to a place in which we believe that someone is beyond help, beyond transformation, beyond forgiveness, beyond grace, and beyond hope.  We may even believe that about ourselves.  When we get to that place, we give up on others or ourselves.  We feel so condemned that we feel hopeless and at that point we give up and give in.

A young man, we’ll call Gary, came to our church several years ago.  In a counseling session, he revealed that he had been in bondage to a homosexual life style for years.  His family, including his wife, knew nothing about his “other life.” For months he had been telling his wife he was working late but instead he had been having liaisons with other men he was meeting online.  He had grown up in a conservative church and the shame he felt for his deceit and his homosexuality was overwhelming. He despised himself and was certain that God despised him as well.  His words were,” This is my last stop.  If I can’t get help here, I’m giving in.   I’m going to leave my wife and family and give into the lifestyle.  Resisting is just too hard.”

I asked him if he had ever heard God speak.  He said that he thought he had once or twice, so I asked him if we could ask Jesus to speak to him.  He very reluctantly agreed and I simply asked Jesus to speak to him and tell Gary how he felt about him.   We sat quietly for a moment and then Gary burst into tears and began weeping.  After another minute, I asked him what Jesus had said to him.  Gary said, “He didn’t say anything, but I literally felt his arms around me.”

Gary had believed the accusations of the enemy that he had gone too far … even beyond God’s grace, but a gentle hug from the Savior ignited his hope and his faith again.  

Within four weeks, Gary had learned to treat the compulsion as a spirit that he commanded to leave whenever it pressed in on him. One afternoon, spirits of rejection, unworthiness, and homosexuality were cast out and he was free from his bondage. He fell in love with his wife and his Savior again.  Years later, he was still walking in freedom.

When our life or the life of someone we know spins out of control, Satan wants us to believe that God is through with us or them.   It is a lie.  No one is beyond God’s grace whether it is a Mary Magdalene with seven demons or a Gadarene tomb-dweller filled with a legion of demons.  We must learn to treat Satan’s accusations as lies when he whispers them about those around or when he accuses us in our own hearts.  To do less is to deny the immense love of God and the immense power of the blood of Christ.