Free from guilt and condemnation

Satan is called “the accuser of our brethren” because he tries to remind us of everything we’ve done wrong. Why? So that all our emotional energy is spent on the past, and we have nothing left over to dream God-sized dreams or fulfill our God-given assignment in life. The irony of his accusations is this: he leaves our unconfessed sins alone. Why wake a sleeping dog? He’d rather you don’t deal with unconfessed sin at all. His accusations pinpoint confessed sin – sins that have already been forgiven. That is why they are false accusations; the sins have already been acquitted. Now let’s stop and make a critical distinction. Condemnation is feeling guilty over confessed sin, whereas conviction is feeling guilty over unconfessed sin. Conviction is the way we get right with God and get on with our lives. So learn to tune in the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit and tune out the condemning voice of the enemy. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NKJV). If we plead innocent, we’re guilty as charged. Even Jesus our advocate can’t come to our defense. But if we plead guilty as charged, we’re found innocent, and we come under God’s protective custody. Our record of wrong is completely expunged. And there is no double jeopardy – you cannot be tried twice for the same sin. Once confessed, your sins are forgiven once and for all. The sinless Son of God took the blame, took the hit, and took the fall for you (see 1 John 3:5).