"He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment." John 16:8
". . . the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down . . . ." Revelation 12:10
How can I tell the difference between the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and the accusing attacks of Satan? Some thoughts:
1. The Holy Spirit puts his finger on a specific sin I have committed, something concrete I can own and confess, but the accusations of Satan are vague and simply demoralizing.
2. The Holy Spirit shows me Christ, the mighty Friend of sinners, but the devil wants me spiraling down into negative self-focus.
3. The Holy Spirit leads me to a threshold of new life, but the devil wants to paralyze me where I am.
4. The Holy Spirit brings peace of heart along with a new hatred of sin, so that I bow before Jesus in reconsecration, but the devil offers peace of mind with smug relief, so that I fold my arms and say, "There, that's over with."
5. The Holy Spirit helps me to be so open to God that I allow him to control the conversation, but the devil tempts me to take off the table certain questions I just don't want God to talk to me about.
We are thankful for our dear Friend, the Holy Spirit.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
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16 comments:
Very important distinctions. Thank you for this. I have often pondered whether my repentance is true conviction or fear of condemnation. I want true repentance and the freedom that it brings.
The first 3 are so often where my fight is -- only usually it's not much of a fight on my part. But it should be. I hadn't thought of the last 2. Thanks for the help.
I enjoyed the U2 video. Have you seen "Majestic" from the Letterman show a month or so ago?
Gary, thanks for the tip. As you can see, I took you up on it.
This is a helpful post; I've often wondered about the topic. Thanks.
Thanks so much for posting this. So often we focus on the fact that we are "just sinners" that we make that our general identity and never move past that to dealing with specific, individual sins. There's nothing we can do about our sin nature, but Christ put to death our sins, if we will only allow the Holy Spirit to deal with them one by one. Just like He deals with the individual in salvation, He deals with our individual sins when we truly seek sanctification.
Very helpful post!
Ray,
I have enjoyed this post. Can you offer some scriptures to meditate on in reference to the five points?
Paul
Brilliant help in this area, thanks
Thanks a million for this. I'm going to share it with others.
Thank you so much, Dr. Ortlund.
Excellent, thanks so much.
This post is extraordinarily helpful, Ray. Thanks so much for taking the time to address the distinctions.
This is a thoughtful and interesting blog, but I have a question. Don't some of these have more to do with my reaction to the revelation of guilt than with who actually revealed that guilt? For example, what if I become aware of a sin in my life, but my reaction to that is to spiral down into negative self-focus (number 2)? These points are presented as ways of discerning whether my awareness of sin is coming from the Holy Spirit or the devil, but does my reaction of negative self-focus in this case necessarily prove that the devil is accusing me? Isn't it possible that the Holy Spirit has convicted me and I have reacted in the wrong way? If so, then it seems to me that I can't really use these to help me "tell the difference between the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and the accusing attacks of Satan." Any thoughts?
Thanks.
It seems to me that, while I may resist the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit, still, he will act in ways consistent with his just and good character. And Satan will act in ways consistent with his dark character. However I myself may react one way or another, what I am reacting to is a separate question. My post is meant to alert us to the nature and tendency of that which we are reacting to.
Moreover, Satan can insinuate wrong thoughts into our minds, as we see in Matthew 16:23, where Jesus, speaking to Peter, rebukes Satan, whose thoughts have become mixed into Peter's thoughts. So, we should not be surprised to detect in our own thoughts seeds of falsehood sown there by Satan. The fact that they are our thoughts does not rule out the possibility that they may also be Satan's thoughts. In fact, Jesus does not say in that verse that Peter was thinking Satan's thoughts but that he was thinking man's thoughts, like concerns about survival. But those "normal" human concerns open the door to Satan. Our only safety is think Christ's thoughts, like the cross. You'll see all this in the context there.
We all need to step outside ourselves, as it were, and consider ourselves biblically and demand of ourselves that we think "in Christ." Veer off that path one inch, and we're soon in trouble. But it is also a strange comfort, in a way, to know that not all our dark thoughts spring up from our own hearts. The Lord calls us to discern what is going on and unmask the devil and run to Christ and his thoughts for peace and safety as every need arises.
Thank you for this response, I appreciate it. It still seems to me that it can be very hard sometimes to distinguish where our thoughts are coming from, particularly if we're also confronting an issue where we're not sure what is the right or wrong thing to do, or if we're struggling with a sin that we have not been able to overcome. But I agree with everything you said and I do find your ideas helpful. Thanks again.
I've been wondering about how to discern what the Holy Spirit is doing in my life. It seems easy to know when you are having fleshly desires and thoughts but doubt creeps in when the Holy Spirit is giving a thought or desire to act in a certain way.
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