Conquering the Con of Condemnation (Part 3 of 5)

3)    Confronting the enemy: During the battle of condemnation the enemy of our souls will assault our position in Christ.  The Word is clear:  we are sons and daughters in the family of God through the blood of Jesus.  Romans 8 elaborates this idea revealing to us the full force of who we are; we are heirs and co-heirs, recipients of the Spirit, dearly loved, free from sin, adopted into His family, etc…   This is all related to our new position in Christ once we are born again.  Many believers don’t realize who they really are in Christ, but every now and again we get a glimpse.  It’s so transforming and so liberating when these concepts go from our head to our heart.  Transformational Christianity is a threat to the devil. So he retaliates with condemnation.  “You’re not a son. You’re no heir.  You have no inheritance in the promises.  You are a failure. You are a looser.  Give up.” 

Instead of believing these lies and submitting to this barrage, I’ve learned a different approach: confrontation. This involves getting aggressive.   The best way to do this is to replace the lies of hell with truth.  Obviously, this means you need to have a few clear promises in your spiritual armory that you can pull out in the thick of battle.  Do you remember when Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness?  He didn’t fire back at the enemy by asserting his authority.  Rather, he knew the word and would respond, “It is written.”  Similarly, I’ve learned to throw the truth of the Word back in the enemy’s face when he assaults me.   I’ve had many conversations with myself that people would probably label as craziness.  However, I’ve found that the real power of the Word is when it’s spoken, not just quietly read.  We must be intentional about speaking it out loud.  I sometimes will look at myself in the mirror and speak forth the promises in God’s Word substituting my name for the generic “you”.   For example, I often quote 2 Corinthians 5:21 saying, “Stephen Kuert, you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus” when the enemy is hounding me. 

Remember that this is spiritual warfare! And the victory belongs to the person with the strongest weapons.  I’m grateful that Christ’s voice of truth found in His Word always triumphs over the enemy’s voice of condemnation.  So use the Word as your weapon in this battle!

Another key element of confrontation is turning the accusations of the enemy around.  The Bible shows the enemy in several different places accusing the saints of past sins, failures, and short-comings.  This is his specialty—dragging up the past so that we forget our present status in Jesus, and in so doing we get our eyes off of our future.  Obviously, his lies of accusation are quite effective.  So I like to turn the tables on his little con, by reminding him of his future when he tries to bring up my past.  This has been really effective in my life.  It’s funny how quickly the lies of darkness evaporate when you start talking about the future judgment of wickedness.   Whether there’s really an element of spiritual warfare involved in reminding the devil of his future judgment or if it just reminds me of my ultimate destiny in Christ and therefore, causes my faith to be jumpstarted, I don’t really know.  What I can tell you is that it’s an effective means of overcoming condemnation.  Accuse the accuser with the truth of God’s word.  Turn the tables on this trick!

4) Recognizing the reason for  condemnation: Here’s another quick thought that has always helped me with this idea of condemnation.  The enemy knows our real destiny and Kingdom identity in Christ Jesus.  That is why he tries to stop  us cold in our tracks.  He fears the revelation of the sons and daughters of God in this hour—people who know who they are and what they are called to do in the Kingdom.  So out comes condemnation.  It occurred to me one day that the enemy only messes with people who he fears.  Mark this well: If Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is really living in your heart by his Holy Spirit, then you are a THREAT to purpose and plan of the kingdom of darkness.  So here are some questions to ask the next time the big con comes your way.  Why am I feeling so condemned right now?  Why is the enemy going to all the trouble to confuse me?  What is it in my life right now that he is trying to stop? 

 I remember when I used to play basketball.  My coach would often assign me to the best offensive player on the opposing team.  I was really fast and had sheer tenacity.  Other players often got frustrated from my defense. I followed them around like a dog on a scent.  Offensively, I was pretty weak, but that didn’t matter.  My assignment was to keep the other team from scoring not be a superstar.  It’s funny to see a really good basketball player who isn’t used to being hounded.  Psychologically, they often check out and even though they are the best player out there they soon take themselves out of the game because they aren’t used to being hounded.   Listen, if you have attracted some really tough condemnation defense, it’s because you are a genuine threat. So be encouraged and keep your head in the game!