Ray Ortlund suggests four ways that the devil seeks to defeat Christians. Here’s number three:
A spirit of accusation. In Revelation 12:10 the devil is exposed as “the accuser.” Another of his designs is to pierce our hearts with accusing thoughts about our sins – or even sins we haven’t necessarily committed, but we fear we have, or others say we have. He spreads a mist of vague anxiety within ourselves and dark suspicion of others. How to defeat this defeat? Run to the cross for all our sins, and refuse to counter-accuse against our accusers. A calm explanation might help at the interpersonal level. But if the negative emotions are really intense, the only thing to do is not make the feeding-frenzy worse. Wait on God to vindicate you.
Also Worth Reading:
Life and Grace: The Root Of All Sin
School: Vote for Mark Lamphrecht to win a blogging scholarship.
Ministry: Preaching Texts You Do Not Understand
Contest: Logos is giving away $250 of store credit—five winners will be selected, so enter now.
In Case You Missed It
Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:
Book Review: Earthen Vessels by Matthew Lee Anderson
Christmas Shopping for the Bible Guy (and Gal)!
Three Things You Can Do When You’re Reading a Bad Book
The Gift Before the Demand—my sermon notes from November 20th’s message at Tree of Life Church in Smithville, Ontario.
Richard Sibbes: “Nothing So Little as Grace at First”
Peter Jensen: “The Bible is a Strange Book”
Dave Jenkins on Inerrancy, the Church and the Cults
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