E38: Victory over Satan the accuser!

Do you want to be free from Satan the accuser in your life?

“I’m convinced that our Christian life should have nothing to do with the accuser. He has no place in the heart or the mind of a believer!” In this episode, Harald Kronstad is back as a guest and joins Milenko and Eunice in a conversation about how we can get the accuser under our feet from early in our Christian life!

Watch the video version of this episode here:

Transcript: “Living the Gospel” podcast, Episode 38: Victory over Satan the accuser

This is ActiveChristianity’s “Living the Gospel” podcast. Join us as we explore different aspects of the gospel according to the Bible, and how we can put this into practice in daily life.

Milenko: Hi, welcome to “Living the Gospel.” I’m Milenko and in the studio with me today, I’ve got Eunice and we’ve got Harald from Norway. Welcome back to the studio, Harald.

Harald: Thank you.

Milenko: And today we’re going to be talking about the topic that I think is very close to your heart that you really have something to say.

Harald: Yeah, I hope so. So, the topic you’ve been thinking about is about the accuser. And I have to say that speaking with a lot of people through the years, I’m amazed how many people, also so-called believers of course, are plagued by the accuser and that’s really a pity to me. And I’m convinced that our Christian life should have nothing to do with the accuser, really. That’s my longing also for this podcast, that people can get the help to get the accuser under their feet and understand out of the word of God that he has no place in the heart or the mind of a believer.

Milenko: That we can really be armed to meet him as well, if he tries.

Harald: Yeah, fully armed. What can really arm us is the word of God. And we have to stick to that no matter what our feelings or own thoughts may tell us.

Eunice: Satan works in many ways, doesn’t he? He quite often attacks in our thoughts and comes with thoughts of discouragement, hopelessness, especially when I make a mistake and then I feel like that’s when he comes really strong and says, you know, “Look, you did it again. There is no hope, you’ve tried so many times.” In those moments then what should one do?

Harald: Yeah, I think the best thing to do with the accuser is never to listen to him! Never open your ear to listen to what he says. You know, what he says could in action, in reality, when you think about what has happened in your life and you did a mistake or a stupid thing, it could be true, but nevertheless, he always comes in a spirit that will lead to discouragement. You come away from God and it becomes hopeless, and that will never be in the spirit of Christ. It ends always with hope and something bright and good.

Milenko: Yeah, he comes with facts that might be traceable to real facts. But then he uses it in a way that it becomes to lie.

Harald: Absolutely, he does.

Eunice: So, if you mix lie with truth, then that whole thing is a lie, right?

Harald: You mix that together and … Because many people they don’t know the word of God that well, so they don’t stick to what Jesus says, God says, about the matter. We live in our time, but from God’s side – that has spoken to me many times – from God’s side, He comes from eternity, and is to eternity. And we live in a very special, interesting period of time that we call a time, and we have days and nights and years and months and you know, we can separate and we speak about how old we are and so on. But for God, everything is about eternity. He deals with us with eternity in mind. And when we read the word of God, there is absolutely no doubt how it will end with us. For example, we read about John, the apostle John, when he writes about the new heaven and new earth, he speaks about how he sees himself actually already placed in heaven. He’s one of the chief stones and pillars in the new temple in the New Jerusalem. He had the boldness to say that. He saw the names of the twelve apostles. John was written there you know, and he had that boldness and I think that’s fantastic!

Milenko: That’s fantastic, that you have boldness to see yourself there and to believe it! Just as a practical example, the accuser comes, maybe you’ve fallen, something you’ve done many times before, an area you know about, maybe you’re working on it and you’ve fallen again. And then the accuser comes and tells you, “See, you’ve fallen again.” And that’s a fact, you can’t deny that, that’s happened. But what’s the lie he comes with?

Harald: Yeah, often he comes with, “There, you see?” as you said, “There you see, it’s hopeless, it won’t work out, it can succeed for others but not for you.” But the fact is, he tells that to everyone who wants to listen to him. It is a lie and God has made it in such a way that we are called to a growth and growth takes time. If it just happened, magic, and all of a sudden, you’re full of everything that belongs to God, I think another enemy called pride will overtake us. So, God has planned our salvation perfectly.

Milenko: If the Holy Spirit comes, the Holy Spirit also convicts us of sin for example and it shows us you have fallen, the same fact, but the Holy Spirit comes with a different message.

Harald: It’s a totally different message. It’s full of hope and brightness and a hope for victory. Just endure, just endure and learn from your mistakes. Be more alert next time. And He convinces, “I will be with you, I’ll pray for you, I live here in heaven to intercede for you.” And that’s so fantastic. We need to get contact in our mind and our heart with the unseen, and eternal world. Otherwise, if you look just around us on the daily circumstances without really this hope in our heart, it can easily be hopeless, and I think that’s the reason why many people are plagued with the accuser. They look into everyday situations and maybe in that moment, when they made a mistake, they don’t really believe in forgiveness of sins, even.

Milenko: That’s actually a really important point that the forgiveness of sins, if I don’t believe in that, it does become hopeless.

Eunice: There’s no hope.

Milenko: It’s something that I think all Christians agree on, absolutely all Christians, that we have forgiveness and we received forgiveness without deserving it. We can do nothing for it, it’s something that’s been given to us. But then it’s really hard to actually accept that gift. It’s a bit strange actually, but I don’t think it’s unknown for any of us.

Harald: Yeah, absolutely and it is like that with both forgiveness of sins and when the accuser speaks, that when you listen to people who have been overcome by this accusing spirit, discouragement, and depression and whatever it is that weighs us down, when they tell you their story and if you try to turn this around and say, “Well, now I come to you with the same problems as you have. I’m so and so and so, and done this mistake, and can it succeed for me?” Then they can really speak to me, have a sermon to me about forgiveness of sins. “Yes! Of course, there’s hope for you!” But it’s so hard to twist that around and make the same encouraging speech to yourself, and that’s a deceit that Satan uses. So, coming with discouragement, just listen to yourself holding a sermon to another person, encouraging another person and exactly the same applies to you of course.

Eunice: So, you need to preach faith to yourself.

Harald: That’s an interesting speech.

Milenko: Speak faith to yourself. The thing is that we all see our own nature, like I don’t see the others’ nature, so they come to me with something and I will say of course there’s hope for you, you know. In one way, that’s easy to see. But I see my own nature and I’ve got my past and I know where I’ve fallen, I know where I’m weak, and that’s exactly what the accuser tries to use against me.

The thing is that what is so much more powerful than the word of the accuser is the word of God. And there, we hear about Jesus, who died for us while we were sinners as we were, because He loved us as a sinner and He wanted to save us. As we hear now, that’s He’s in heaven praying for us, He’s a mediator for us, He’s an advocate for our salvation and that’s what we need to fight to lay hold of.

Harald: So Jesus, in all His love and goodness and kindness, He decided to come down on earth to take a full revenge over Satan and the result, I think we should read that in Revelation 12 because that’s a crucial verse. “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.’” He had that access it’s amazing to think about that. And then it’s written about us “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

And then it comes another verse again that’s also very important, “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” So, Satan, the accuser is not in heaven anymore, and what does that mean? That actually means that if I am, as it’s written in Colossians 3 from the beginning, placed in heavenly places with God and I seek the things above, is Satan there? Is the accuser there? Not at all! If I keep my vision and my interest and my mind in the things that belong to heaven, the accuser has no access to my thoughts and mind anymore. So, it’s actually when I seek the things here on earth, then I am in the territory of Satan there. (11:16)

Milenko: In this all, I have to identify myself with that decision I’ve made, that I now serve God. I’ve got my interest in the heavenly things and that’s something I can hold on to. That’s a real anchor and when I do that, then I can also overcome the accuser. He does try, he will try, and he’ll try for a long time, but he has to know every time he comes to me, that he gets the door slammed in his face. He actually gets crushed. Satan is the accuser, so that’s our promise too that he will be crushed beneath our feet shortly. It shouldn’t take long. I am in heaven with Christ, I’ve been raised with Him, and then I have to seek those things. And that’s the weapon I have against Satan.

And another big part with the accusation is that, one thing is to be accused myself, to let myself be accused, but with that Spirit also comes this accusation of other people. I know my own weaknesses, and I transfer those to other people, and the accusation starts. And Satan’s working there as well, and that’s really damaging. I think that spirit of accusation, that has caused so much grief in this world. So, this is something we really have to be aware of as well.

Harald: Personally, we know that if we get Satan crushed under our feet, as it’s written there in Romans 16, that’s first and foremost as an accuser. He should be crushed under our feet. But we need grace to do that, and when I have personally received grace that Satan is crushed under my feet, as I can say as a personal testimony, you know you cannot do that by yourself. And that grace you have received; it’s also very well-pleasing to God that the same grace applies to my fellow man. Because it’s not by my strength and my character or my personality that I can crush Satan.

Milenko: It’s the only thing that’s fitting, isn’t it, to show mercy where I’ve been shown mercy.

Harald: Absolutely. I think when Jesus was in heaven and He saw that God’s good creation actually started to fight and the fellowship not only to God but also to one another was destroyed, I think that was a real sorrow in his heart. And then to accuse someone that Christ has died for, we have to see that as real evil.

Milenko: It is evil.

Harald: It is.

Milenko: Who do I think I am?

Harald: And Jesus exhorts very strongly also not to judge the others. Judge not. And that should go deep into our hearts, and the apostles also speak about not meddling in other people’s affairs. If I do that, accusation will come quite soon. And Jesus speaks also about this forgiven man who was in debt with no chance to make things right again, and he was given freedom, you know, he came out of prison, but right away he almost choked his fellow man! It was just a little amount of money that he owed him. So, there we see the nature of mankind, and we really have to be awake not to fall into the same tendency.

Milenko: And Satan, he has no part in me, but that means that he has no part in the accusing of the others either. I will not be a part of that. That decision I have to make. And that’s also seeking the things that are above, then I have to learn to see how God looks at things, and God’s created all these people. He’s full of love for them and he also wants them to be saved, and I should be in that same spirit, that same attitude of mind.

Harald: And Paul, he writes in Romans 8:33, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Think about that picture. Accusing a person that Christ intercedes for. It’s stupidity to think that! And of course, Christ Himself will not accuse a person. He is full of hope and faith for them, so when praying for them, day and night, it says, interceding and accusation don’t come together. And I think that also with our fellow man, if you pray for a person, you will not accuse the same person. So, if that’s a challenge, you know, you should start to pray. That softens our own heart and brings hope and faith and a bright future ahead of every person that Christ has died for. And that’s everyone!

Milenko: So, this attitude of mind, it changes everything. I think our whole life gets turned upside down. The accuser comes to kill and to destroy, to murder, you know? He wants to rob …

Eunice: Also, relationships between people. Everything.

Milenko: Yeah, exactly! He really damages, tries to rob us of those good relationships. And where Christ is instead, He comes with life and light and a future and fellowship.

Harald: And for every person, young or old, who has taken that stand, “I want to live for Him, I want to live my life for Christ. I’ve given my heart to Jesus and I’m in the process, I’ve become a disciple.” And a disciple is like an apprentice, like a person who knows nothing in the beginning, but he has an interest to learn and he is a part of that education, you know? It’s also about making mistakes, but a good master, he will not accuse a disciple, an apprentice, who has this mind to learn. So, it’s very hopeful when I’ve taken that stand. And it’s just a matter of time before it succeeds!

Eunice: And it doesn’t have to take a long time.

Harald: Not to get the accuser under my feet, that is a decision I can take in faith in the word of God. Because it’s written so clearly in the word of God. To grow in Christ and partake more and more in the virtues of Christ, that has to take circumstances, and that takes time. But to get the accuser under my feet, that can happen early in your Christian life.

Milenko: And it should happen early in your Christian life.

Harald: Absolutely.

Eunice: We need it.

Milenko: And this is what you said at the start too, really that this should be a help for people listening and I think that’s the thing, that this is something that’s not just a theory, but this is from the start of our Christian life, that should be actually the first thing, that the accuser is locked out of our life. I no longer have anything to do with Satan. Now my master is Jesus, He’s the One I’m serving, He’s the One who died for me and that’s my future now.

Harald: Yeah, I’ve turned from darkness to light: I’ve turned from the power of Satan to God! And that takes place in a moment when I make that decision and take my refuge to Jesus my Savior and my Master.

I think, to me anyway, it’s been good to read about the testimonies and the letters of the first disciples. They knew how wretched they were. If you think about Peter for example, he knew that. But when they got to know Jesus and experienced His love and His care, His compassion with them and the promise of receiving the Holy Spirit – I mean that’s absolutely a needed tool in this battle of course. But when they got that and they came out to testify about the kingdom of God, about the risen Jesus Christ, their life was so full of conviction, and they use that expression which I love – full assurance of faith. I mean, there is no doubt. Doubt was eradicated. Nothing left of that.

So, in the midst of their trials – and that were really some trials, we know they were beheaded, and they were killed in different ways – this full conviction of faith was there to the very end. And we should take them as our examples. Satan had no say in them. What Jesus had promised them, that took place. And we can also read in the Bible and we can read in what’s prophesied about our time, what’s prophesied about Jesus, and we see what’s written comes through. And also, what’s written about the accuser. In Revelation 12 in Colossians 2 and so on, Ephesians 2, you know, there’re many verses that speak about this and it is absolutely 100 percent true. It will take place for those who believe.

Milenko: And as it says there, He who has begun this work in you will complete it, and everyone who has this longing, he has begun a work in. He has begun it by placing that longing there and now I have to complete it. And as you said, if you see how they had, the apostles, and that you read about them and you see that unwavering faith and we can get strength from it, I can be one of those too! I can be a letter of faith to all those around me in the middle of my situations. I know what’s going on inside, I know the battles I’m going through, but that shouldn’t be what’s reflected out. What’s reflected out is this spirit of faith and victory and overcoming, fellowship with God, fellowship with Jesus. I’m a disciple.

And if you read in Hebrews what it says there, that Jesus, He is not ashamed to call us brethren and that I can stand there and say “I am His brother; He’s not ashamed of me and I’m not ashamed of Him,” and that radiates from me. Where is the accuser in this? Where is unbelief? And I can really be help for those around me, my colleagues, my family, the younger ones that I’m together with, that they can see me as this pillar of faith and get hope for the future also through me.

Harald: And Paul, he writes to the Romans that those who are the children of God, they obey the Holy Spirit. And then it’s written that you are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Where is the accuser? And that is a hope that Jesus has for us, so there is no reason to listen to the accuser anymore. As you said, slam the door in his face, you know, and stop arguing with Satan, because he will speak as long as he finds a listening ear. So, stop doing that. That’s really my exhortation.

Milenko: He’s like one of those annoying salesmen at the door. If you try to argue, they’ll never go away. You just have to close the door.

Harald: “Didn’t you hear what I said, Satan?” No say in me, you know?

Eunice: “I know your end, I know, it’s written in the Bible!”

Milenko: “You heard what I said: No!” and that’s it, there’s no more discussion. And we don’t need to discuss. Then we can go and start praying; we can pray for the others and we can get help for our own lives. And that’s, you know, the opposite direction.

Milenko: Would you have one last exhortation for a young person sitting, listening to this? You said at the start that you really had this on your heart that they can get help

Harald: Read the word of God and believe it. There is no doubt whatsoever in the word of God, the end result of your lives. And start as a young person, listen to the word of God, read the word of God, and don’t listen to your own feelings and emotions. They will not tell you the truth. But the word of God remains forever. So, make that a weapon in your hand in your daily situations and it will succeed for you.

Milenko: It will succeed.

Harald: You will get Satan under your feet. He has no right and he has no possibility to accuse you when you seek the things above. He doesn’t live there anymore. God cast him out when Jesus returned. Everything is paid, everything is in the right order from God’s side, so believe in that.

Milenko: So that’s something we can take with us: If you seek the things above, Satan has no right. The debt has been paid, now we have only to do with God, with Jesus, our Brother. So, I think we’ll finish here and thank you all for listening. Remember to tune in next week and go to our website, follow us on Facebook, on YouTube, there are plenty of places to get edification, so all the best and thanks! Goodbye!

Harald: Goodbye.

Eunice: Bye.