Threefold Innocence

Threefold Innocence

The scale and extent of Satan’s attacks and afflictions against God’s elect is staggering, even more so than we are aware of or suspect. He accuses them day and night. Rev. 12:10.

A certain amount of a desire for self-preservation, vain ambition, pride, and hypocrisy causes a person not to have the right impression of the terrible extent to which Satan afflicts, accuses, and drives people around in a circle. One doesn’t make it known because one is ashamed to acknowledge that one is being driven around by Satan to such an extent.

In addition, other people also accuse us to a greater or lesser degree, partly out of malice, but for the most part with good intentions. People are often unknowingly in Satan’s service. All accusing spirits are from Satan, whereas Jesus Christ is our Mediator, that is, our Advocate, our Defender.

We can ask: “What are we being accused of?” We are being accused of all kinds of things, a little bit of everything; we are being accused for what we are doing and for what we are not doing.

All these persistent accusations can be divided into three main groups:

1) We are accused of being tempted to something so disgusting that it is unimaginable. Satan says, “You must be a terrible person that you can actually be tempted to something like that. You must be worse than all the others. If they knew about it, they would have nothing to do with you at all. You might as well give up right away. You are a big hypocrite, that’s what you are.” This is how the liar speaks. His only interest is in discouraging all of us in order to get us to give up, to destroy us.

But what does Truth say? It says that we shall count it all joy when we fall into various temptations. Jas. 1:2. The Scriptures cannot possibly exhort me to rejoice over my wickedness! Since it says “various,” the worst of temptations is not the least amount of proof that there is something especially bad about me; it does not even prove that there is anything bad about me at all. For sin and wickedness is not something to rejoice over, and far less something that God’s children are exhorted to rejoice over!

It is therefore entirely unjustified to accuse someone for being tempted to do something evil. We have not become guilty of anything by being tempted to do something wrong.

We are innocent! God be praised! He is a righteous Judge! Glory to His name!

What is the real explanation for our absolute innocence? Is it possible to gain some understanding of it? Yes! If all of us had been in the Garden of Eden and had had the opportunity that Adam and Eve had, and had fallen as they did, then we would be guilty. However, none of us have been in the same state of innocence as they were and thus incurred guilt. But we have inherited an inclination to sin down through the generations from Adam and Eve. In this respect we are obviously totally innocent, just as we are innocent for having been born into this world at all! That is really not our fault.

We are so infinitely far away from having committed a crime by being tempted to do evil that we will even receive a great reward for enduring in temptation! Besides, we become very happy for enduring in temptation: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” V. 12.