“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Revelation 12:10, ESV)
Clark Howard, and I suppose other consumer advocates, commonly talks about what to do when debt collectors call. In particular, he discusses deceptive debt collectors who try to collect a debt that does not even belong to the person, or may not legally be collectable because it is too old and the statute of limitations has expired. These deceptive collectors don’t care if the debt is legitimate or not; they just want to get money out of you any way they can, even if the debt does not belong to you. He goes on to give advice about the proper legal way to notify them that the debt is not yours, and they legally cannot bother you about that debt again.
Satan is the ultimate debt collector. He is our adversary, the accuser of God’s people. He prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). He will come to you today to accuse you; he likely already has, as soon as you woke up this morning. The author of lies comes to you to tell you of your guilt, of the debt you owe. He comes to tell you that you are a worthless sinner, undeserving of God’s love, a disobedient rebel who owes a debt to God for your sin, a debt you can never repay. Well, you are a sinner who does not deserve God’s love, and so am I. But if we are Christians, in Christ we are of infinite worth to God. We are united to Christ, and every spiritual blessing is ours in Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).
So how should we respond to the accuser, to the spiritual debt collector? Thomas Watson offers this advice, from Song of Solomon, where we are presented as the bride of Christ, and He as our Husband:
Make use of this marriage relationship with Christ… when the law brings in its indictments against you. The law says, ‘Here there are so many debts to be paid’, and it demands satisfaction. Acknowledge the debt, but turn over all to your Husband, Christ. It is a maxim in the law that the suit must not go against the wife, as long as the husband is living. Tell Satan when he accuses you, ‘It is true that the debt is mine, but go to my Husband, Christ; he will discharge it.’ If we took this course, we might relieve ourselves of much trouble. By faith we turn over the debt to our Husband. Believers are not in a state of widowhood but of marriage. Satan will never go to Christ — he knows that justice is satisfied and the debt book cancelled — but he comes to us for the debt so that he may perplex us. We should send him to Christ and then all lawsuits would cease. This is a believer’s triumph. When he is guilty in himself, he is worthy in Christ. When he is spotted in himself, he is pure in his Head.
When your adversary comes today or tomorrow to accuse you, to tell you of your sin and the debt you owe, say to him, “Yes, the sin is mine, but take that debt up with my Husband, Christ. He has made full and complete payment for it. You may not bother me about it again.” Fight the flaming darts of the evil one today with the shield of faith and the sword of the Word of God.