Saint, do you feel
condemned with oppression today for your sin and shortcomings by voices of
demonic condemnation? The only cure is gospel truth! Read the fantastic quote below, look up the verses, and sing this song – drowning out the serpent’s
words with that final and authoritative Word from God to you: "Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom.
8.1).
On
the basis of the description of in Rev. 12:9-21 and the description of Satan in
Job 1:6-11; 2:1-6; Zech. 3:1-2, it can be concluded that the devil was
permitted by God to have a place in the heavenly court as a [lawyer] to
“accuse” God’s people of sin. The OT texts portray Satan accusing saints of
unfaithfulness, with the implication that they did not deserve God’s salvation
and gracious blessings (Zech. 3:1-5, 9). Implicit also in the accusations was
the charge that God’s own character was corrupt.
In
light of Rev. 12:11 (“they overcame him [the devil] because of the blood of the
Lamb”), the accusations mentioned in verse 10 appear to be directed against the
illegitimacy of the saints’ participation in salvation. The devil’s accusation
is based on the correct presupposition that the penalty of sin necessitates a
judgment of spiritual death and not salvific reward. The charges are aimed
against all saints who do not receive the deserved punishment. Until the death
of Christ, it could appear that the devil had a good case, since God ushered
all deceased OT saints into his saving presence without exacting the penalty of
their sin. Satan was allowed to lodge these complaints because there was some
degree of truth in the accusations. However, the devil’s case was unjust even
before the death of Christ, since in part the sins about which he was accusing
and for which he wanted to punish people were instigated by his deceptions.
The
death and resurrection of Christ have banished the devil from this privileged
place and prosecutorial role formerly granted him by God. This is because
Christ’s death was the penalty that God exacted for the sins of all those who
were saved by faith. The sinless Christ vicariously took on himself the wrath
that was threatening saints so that they might be delivered from the final
wrath to come. This meant that the devil no longer had any basis for his
accusations against the saints, since the penalty that they deserved and for
which he pleaded had at last been exacted in Christ’s death (see also Rom.
3:21-26). G.K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New (217)
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