Have you every noticed how quickly trash accumulates around the house? My wife and I are always amazed at how much trash just the two of us can produce in a week’s time. Maybe we are just trashy folks, but the dumpsters in our neighborhood suggest we are not alone. Spiritual trash can accumulate as well, but since it is invisible, we are much less likely to notice. However, the enemy notices.
In the book of Revelation, Satan is identified as, “the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God, day and night” (Rev. 12:10). In his book, Operating in the Courts of Heaven, Robert Henderson makes his case that Satan relentlessly brings accusations against the people of God in the courts of heaven, seeking a legal right to afflict them. The scene in the first chapter of Job is representative of that activity.
In the Book of Job, God set limits on how seriously Satan could afflict Job. I think he does the same with us, depending on where we are in relationship to him. In Deuteronomy 28, God established the precedent that if His people were careful to keep all of his commands, then blessings would be the consequence of their obedience. if, however, they were not careful and rebelled against God, dire curses would be the consequence.
Paul echoed that same principle when he wrote, ” Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8).
It seems that most often, a persistent refusal to confess and repent of sin in our lives will eventually cause God to begin to remove his hand of protection from us or a nation. Satan’s complaint to God about Job was that God had established a hedge of protection around him that Satan could not penetrate…until he got permission from God. When we look at the Old Testament, we see how God’s discipline (consequences of sin), played out. God would allow bad things to happen to Israel that manifested as partial judgments…three years of drought, failed crops, illness, minor defeats by the enemy, etc.. which were intended to call Israel back to God. If they persisted in their sin, the consequences grew, until finally disaster overwhelmed them.
It was as if the more their sin accumulated, the greater Satan’s legal rights increased to afflict God’s people. The remedy was always true repentance and seeking God once more. When Israel repented, renounced their ways, and turned back to obedience, God’s blessings returned. Godly sorrow, confession, and repentance revoked Satan’s legal right to afflict God’s people. It is the same today.
Satan is always looking for ways to accuse us so that he might gain some legal right to afflict or oppress us. The cure is genuine repentance followed by renewed obedience. Sometimes we fail to repent because Satan convinces us that what we are doing is hidden from God or is approved by God or that we somehow have gained an exemption from his discipline…when, in fact, he is just being patient and merciful toward us. The other hiccup in the process is when we are simply unaware of the sin in our lives.
It is amazing how we so often fail to identify pride , unbelief, bigotry, a judgmental spirit, or unforgiveness in our own lives. As Jesus said, we are quick to identify the splinter in someone else’s eye, but fail to see the plank in our own eye. We may also fail to identify sin because we compare ourselves to people around us and feel righteous, rather than comparing ourselves to God’s righteousness. Sometimes, a certain sin has been part of our lives for so long, it seems normal and, therefore, acceptable. David was wise when he prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:23-24). Sometimes, we need someone else to make us aware of a sin that is actually making us vulnerable to the enemy.
The other hiccup in this process is that we may be experiencing the consequence of unrepented sin in our family line. Exodus 20:5-6 states, ” for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Frequently, in scripture, you will find men who are seeking God for themselves or the nation, confessing and repenting for the sins of their fathers on behalf of their bloodlines. We may need to become more acquainted with family history to know how to pray about generational sins, or we may need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what may be giving Satan a right to afflict us from the sins of our fathers.
As followers of Jesus, we may feel that all of our sin and the sins of our fathers are automatically covered by the blood of Christ. When we are talking about salvation that is absolutely true. However, when talking about reaping and sowing in this life, we may face affliction or oppression, because we have not taken out the trash on a regular basis. After David’s sin with Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet confronted him. David repented and Nathan declared he was forgiven. In other words, he was reconciled to God after his sin, bur he was also told he would have to walk through some of the consequences of his actions in this life. His salvation was not the issue, but the principle of sowing and reaping still applied.
In John 1:9, John is writing to believers, but he says, “If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It is not as though the blood of Christ does not atone for our sin until we have confessed each and every one, but confession (with repentance) keeps the enemy from gaining access to us in the courts of heaven and keeps our relationship with the Father unhindered. That should be a regular practice in the prayer life of every believer.
Let me encourage you, to ask the Spirit and the people who know you best to inform you if they see any patterns of sin displayed in your life or if they know of any generational sin you need to submit to the cross. Taking the trash out on a regular basis keeps rot, stink, and critters from invading your home. That is true with spiritual trash as well. I am not advocating an obsession about our sin, but a standing invitation for the Holy Spirit or those we trust to make us aware, so the enemy can gain no legal right to come after us. Blessings in Him.
