Disarming Satan

 August 28, 2022

Guilt. It plagues many, drives much of both the good and the evil in this world. It can be justified, or it may be self-induced and unnecessary. Even those who have been Christ-followers for years can be plagued with the guilt of past sins and present omissions. “I should be doing more,” is not an uncommon refrain playing through our minds.

No one knew this better than St. Paul, who was guilty of persecuting the early Christians, sending them to prison and death. Memories like that seldom disappear; every so often, what we have done rises from the ashes of a “used-to-be” life to bite like a serpent, injecting the venom of guilt into our veins. Perhaps he was speaking as much to himself as to the Colossian Christians when he wrote:

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” —Colossians 2:13-15 

Notice the order of things. It was when we were yet dead in our sins that we were forgiven. The forgiveness doesn’t depend on our repentance. Dead people can’t repent. The forgiveness came first; it is forgiveness that breathes life into us, enabling us to repent. God doesn’t mete out forgiveness in proportion to our ability to repent. It is as complete right now as it will ever be.

We are not only forgiven; God has cancelled the charges against us. Today we call it a pardon. The record is erased, condemnation is gone. This is important. Too many live under this cloud of condemnation which never bears the fingerprints of God. Jesus was very clear about this: “God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17). “There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). God convicts, never condemns. The difference is stark: Condemnation is a dead end in which there is no hope and from which one cannot escape. Conviction always has as its goal the redemption of the sinner. There is always hope with conviction. Condemnation needs to be rejected, conviction received.

It’s the condemnation that imprisons us in despair. The forgiveness we receive in Christ is what disarms the principalities and powers that hold us in their grip. The Enemy of our souls has no weapon effective against forgiveness. He is disarmed and powerless against those who know they are forgiven. Suddenly, the attacker is empty-handed. His power to hurt has been removed. So whenever I feel the weight of guilt, I know I’m under demonic attack, and I stand in the power of the Holy Spirit against it. If however, I’m feeling conviction, I surrender to the Holy Spirit and receive the benefit of the forgiveness offered way back when Jesus died on the cross in my place.