Silencing the Accuser

Coming up today on Renewing Your Mind is been paid in full payment, God, twice, demand, demanding payments of the cross and I mean when you get to having demanded of you would then be unjust, so the cross says sin is been paid for in full. It can never be reckoned to my account ever again.

The book of humans is a complete gospel presentation. We learned that we've all seen them fall short of the glory of God.

But while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We read that were justified by faith that were made alive in Christ that we are no water slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness.

And if we should ever doubt these great truths one comes Romans chapter 8, we find the most glorious description of the believers assurance through the finished work of Christ, we come to verses 33 and 34 which reads like this, who shall bring any charge against God's elect.

It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

I'm four times in these closing verses, Paul asks the question, beginning with the interrogative who who can lay any charge against God's elect and behind this question is Satan. The other factors but it's Satan. Satan, the accuser, the damage that he does to the lives and hearts and souls of Christians by his constant accusations. He is called in Scripture, the accuser Satan means the accuser of the accuser of the brethren is a very graphic picture painted forests and bunions, Pilgrim's progress, and Christian has lost his burden and it is rolled down the hillside and disappeared into the tomb and he is gone through Hill difficulties and onto palace beautiful and then comes the valley of humiliation and Satan tempts him and more than tempts him and makes an accusation against Christian you have been unfaithful in your service to him and to which Christian says yes, and more, which you left out and that some marvelous insights on bunions part that when Satan accuses Cindy accuses us as Christians that were not good enough Christians where I'm not obeying God's law, as we should. The answer is and you don't even know the half of it. Much worse than your accusations make me out to be, and my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. Spurgeon in a sermon on one of these verses in Romans eight, put it like this. Christ did not love you for your good works, they were not the cause of his beginning to love you. So he does not love you for your good works. Even now they're not the cause of his continuing to love you he loves you because he loves you and some marvelous words from Charles Haddon Spurgeon because we have a tendency to be sound about justification and then think the justification gets us of the over the first lien on the to the first step and then it's all up to us as justification. And then there's sanctification. Sanctification is all costs and our work. Send God made love us and bring us over the line, but the rest of it all is up to us and we constantly fail and we he loves me he loves me and he loves me he loves me not. Who is the accuser of the brethren here in the accuser of course is Satan. There are two possible problems.

According to John Nolan done on the Puritan journal in the 17th century Puritan Vice Chancellor of Oxford University.

Those two possible problems of these that Christians tend to forget that they are not under the law. One possible problem is to convict non-Christians that they are under the law to convict them but the sinners, another pastoral problem is to convict Christians that the no longer under the law that they are forgiven that they have peace with God because they revert constantly to thinking well. Yes God loved me when I was saved but now that I mean such a mess of my sanctification and not sure that you loves me anymore, who shall bring any charge against God's elect who is to condemn one answer to that question would be conscience conscience condemns that's what it does. It's what it's good at this inner voice.

This voice that says where sinners were not good enough were constantly falling short. Some who have said, than psychologists especially have said this is the problem of the Western world. In Western society, and ever since the Reformation… Martin Luther on words, there is the introspective conscience of the West to quote a famous lecture that was given in the 1960s by Krista Stendhal and he was lecturing to a group of American psychologists that was music. Of course, to their ears that the problem with mankind. Is this condemning conscience and if only they could get rid of it and ignore it and just be themselves and I'm finding themselves everything would be well with Christians are troubled this way condemning conscience.

God has justified us. He has declared this to be right in his sight by virtue of the finished work of Jesus Christ. We come to Jesus and we say nothing in my hands. I bring simply to thy cross I cling naked look to the foot rest, helpless look to the full grace found alive to the fountain fly wash me Savior or I die and then it's all about us. It's all about effort. It's all about striving and we come short and we backsides and refined our conscience condemning us so our view of the gospel becomes distorted, the Jesus saves, and then it's all your effort he does 50% to 50% door. He does 75% and then the next 25% is all yours saw or he does 99% but there's not 1% that you must do, and conscience will condemn you every single time we remember the prodigal son parable Jesus told and the older brother and in a previous lesson we refer to this can remind ourselves of it again here because it's pertinent here.

Who is it that condemns and sometimes it's you. You condemn yourself, or worse, you condemn God because like the older brother who was all put out because the father made such a fuss of the prodigal son gave him the fatted car from the token the ring in an lots of other things. Perhaps the end result without you never dealt with me this way all these years I've slaved for you she says in one translation, and perhaps that's how we begun to think about our relationship with God.

He he saved us, and then he left us to ourselves. He saved us, then he didn't treat us like he seems to treat others and we begin to look around him we see Christians and they seem so much better off than we are not just financially better off for materially better off, but spiritually better often then we begin to say to ourselves.

Maybe I don't deserve to be loved. Maybe I don't deserve to be cherished. Maybe God has favorites and I'm just not one of his favorites and you see what's happening.

Who is to condemn you to do-it-yourself you take your eyes off the gospel you take your eyes off Romans 832 and 30 3 PM did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how shall he not also, along with him freely give us all things you shall bring any charge against God's elect will you do and I do conscience doesn't because we have a distorted view of God, and we have a distorted view of the gospel because part of what Paul wants us to understand and share in Romans eight is that the gospel brings you all the way home the justification when you probably understand it brings you all the way home and everything that follows after justification, including our progressive sanctification, which we are most certainly involved in where to mortify the deeds of the flesh in order that we might live and where to put on the fruits of the spirit so as to adorn the Lord Jesus around us and display our changed character by the power of God and yet it's not that those acts in themselves, make us any more lovable to God or make us any more justified than we already are. And that's why back in verses 30 and 31 and maybe back to verse 29 and 30. Paul had said those whom he justifies and glorifies soup wants you to get that when you have justification you really doing one sentence have everything but is not just conscience and it's not just ourselves as a manipulator here that someone who's pulling the strings a little and he Satan is the accuser Zechariah 31. These called Satan in Revelation 1210 is called the accuser of the brethren in Job dear member does Job fear God for naught. That was the accusation he made. The only reason Job loves you and follows you is because you been good to him that you you take some of those things away and you'll see the Job is all out for himself, is calling into question the purposes of Almighty God, because that's what he does. He accuses the dinner sermon on this passage Dr. Spruill made this quite outstanding points in the midst of the sermon that the devil yes he tempts, but what we fear of the devil. More than his temptations are his accusations and slanderous where my mother used to say when I was a little boy and was bullied at school until my older brother would come in, sorted out and he was four years old or new understanding of 13 and your older brothers 17 meds well-being 48 and he sorted those things out for me but but I remember my mother saying to me sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you, and I didn't believe it then and I don't believe it now because it's not true because words hurt so they tend to stick when a friend makes an accusation or somebody calls you out in public and says something mean to you it's very difficult to forget it and this is what Sigmund us. This is his best best trick that he plays.

It's one of the while some of the devils that were to be aware of.

Then look at the end so that is given in this passage.

Who is to condemn Christ Jesus is the one who die so the first thing in the four things here that he points to number one is points to the death of Jesus, not just the fact of his death, not just a Calvary not just to a crucifixion, but what did the death of Jesus mean it was a death for us because otherwise his death makes no sense. Why did Jesus die. He was perfect he was sinless. Death is the wages of sin. So unless the universe is in fairness, God isn't fair. The only answer to that question is. He died because it was an act of substitution and he died in our room and he died in our place. And when he died, it was the just thing to do. John puts that in this epistle, that God may be just and merciful. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all on righteousness to forgive us and cleanse us is the just thing because the penalties been paid. We don't have to pay it can never be called to our account. It can never be brought uncharged and leveled against us, not yesterday. Since today's sins tomorrow since because Jesus died, he didn't just die for yesterday students for the sins up to the point of your justification and then it's all about your effort he died for all your sins and Jim committed it is another one does not astonishment sins that to come in tomorrow and Jesus has already died and you're single. If I really believed that wouldn't wouldn't that make me say, shall I sin, that grace may abound.

Yes, that's what Paul lasts unless you are tempted to think like that you have understood justification you have understood the cross. It does bring you to that point where you say about doesn't matter what I do. Of course it matters what I do because when you love someone that matters what you do when you know that you loved it matters what you do, but it doesn't matter what you do if what you're doing is trying to win God's favor because she's already shown in his favor is a poem written by Augustus top lady and it's sometimes referred to as a him but I've never actually heard it sung in a service and it contains it's called faith revived and it contains the line payment.

God cannot twice demand once at my bleeding, sureties, hand, and then again that morning and top lady is making an argument from a view of the atonement that centers on the theme of justice, since a confession, for example, inmates chapter 1 it talks about the atonement, speaks about satisfying the demands of divine justice. If the penalty for sin is being paid paid in full bloom of the time when when bills came on pieces of paper and and you take it into page and then they would write on it paid in full or suggestive of the stamp paid in full never signed and dated and sold to members or that's what the trust us hands us a piece of paper and says paid in full. Those transgressions which was like a bill that was held against us some Paul talks about that in Colossians using that very image. It's been paid in full payment, God, twice, demand, demand payment of the cross and then when you get to heaven and before the judgment seat demanded of you again that would be unjust. So the cross says sin is been paid for in full.

It can never be reckoned to my account ever again. Not only Christ died needs, but also more than that was raised. Verse 34. He was raised, the resurrection Easter morning when Mary is in the garden and she sees someone and she thinks it's a gardener and John is having a little joke with you. You know I think John has a sense of humor when he was doing this because he was tickled pink at the thought that Jesus had risen from the dead, and in one sense he was the gardener come to restore into income to make a new creation.

So in one sense he was the gardener with the G is the re-creator and is going to fashion us to something beautiful and bring forth fruits of the spirits to display his glory. But it was Jesus a bony master. She sent she recognized. I think his voice and perhaps the sun at first was was at the back of him or something and she didn't recognize his face initially, but when he spoke, she recognized him.

What is the resurrection was not of conjuring trick with bones. It is a public testimony on the part of the father. The all that was required of the mediator has been accomplished and once once that work of atonement is done one start work of atonement is over. Nothing can keep him down. You cannot keep a good man down to the rice from the dead, and his resurrection was a public demonstration that justification had been accomplished. Atonement had been one redemption price had been paid. It was vindicating his righteousness it was vindicating his obedience and at the same time vindicating us who are in Christ communion with him. He dilated at his risen and then he sits who is at the right hand of God where is Jesus right now the incarnate Jesus. The resurrected body of Jesus the Jesus that ascended and disappeared into a cloud and was coming again. Where is he, because he's flesh and blood.

Jesus is somewhere near your garden in the 1960s went up in space you remember and he looked types of the window and he said according to the words of his masters no doubt that he looks for God and couldn't find him and communism was happy at another assertion of complete folly, because she wanted to shout out and say you didn't go far enough body because the body of Jesus is somewhere in space and time is a created thing under this resurrected and ascended form.

It is a created thing, and he's coming again. The way the New Testament speaks of it is is sitting at the right hand of God, which is a euphemism for is in control. He has a finger on the button is in charge.

When Paul has been saying in this passage that God works all things together for the good of those who love him, but God is none other than the incarnate Jesus. He is working all things together for good sits enthroned one more thing. He intercedes is praying for you. He has you on his heart.

He knows where you are right now. He knows the steps and progressive sanctification that you need to make. He knows about your backsliding's in the spring for you. He knows your hearts. He hears the accusation Satan is making these praying for you and he saying to the father. I died for this.

I died for that I shed my blood for the sins of the Holy Spirit to say and I'm applying the effects of all of that and I will bring them home bring them all away to glory who relay any charge against God's elect will certainly try to just put your fingers in your ears and say Jesus is dying and has risen and is sitting at the right hand of God is praying for me.

So there is one more lesson Romans eight. This chapter in the Bible. That's Dr. Derek Thomas from his series on Romans chapter 8 you're listening to Renewing Your Mind. I'm Lee Webb unreservedly. Dr. Thomas calls Romans eight, the greatest chapter in the Bible is not alone that it describes the assurance the confidence and the privilege that all Christians enjoy in Christ. We commend this series to you. There are 12 messages onto DVDs and you can request them with your gift of any amount when you call us at 800-435-4343.

You can also make a request and give your gift online and Renewing Your Mind.org this chapter in the middle of Paul's letter to the Romans that begins with these words, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and the chapter in his with a long list of things that will not separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

It really has a glorious chapter and worth the investment of time to study so damn we invite you to request Dr. Thomas's series on Romans eight. Our number again is 800-435-4343 and her web address is Renewing Your Mind.org and do in advance, let me thank you for your generous donation tomorrow. Dr. Thomas will show us how complete are assurances in Christ. When the divorce separately from the love of Christ, the loss of a loved one separately from the love of Christ and you can fill in the blanks applies to you and the answers. Nothing can separate us. We hope you'll join us tomorrow for Renewing Your Mind