Pssst . . . Remember When You . . . .” - Romans 8:1

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” - Romans 8:1.

    There may be times when we sense the presence of an ominous dark cloud gathering on the edges of our consciences. Please don’t misconstrue my words. It is not that we doubt our assurance of salvation in the Lord, Jesus Christ; it’s just that old feelings of guilt sometime arise when carnal memories peek in from the past. There are two primary reasons this occurs and both of them come about with sulfurous breath: 1) to encourage us to fondly ‘revisit’ old sins or (2) to convince us of our condemnation for these past iniquities. In either case it is of the devil’s doing.
    Charles Spurgeon once said, “The devil says there is condemnation and, therefore, he accuses us day and night. He was a liar from the beginning and the father of lies! Conscience sometimes censures us, even conscience, itself, needs to be enlightened and to be purged from dead works.” - Charles Spurgeon: Sermon # 1917. Accusations amount to nothing for those of us who are “in Christ.” We must but remember Paul’s words of strength in times of Satan’s accusations - “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” - Galatians 5:16.
    Because Satan’s attack is often twofold we must deal with it in a twofold manner. In the first place we must never recall our previous sins allowing for a wistful or prurient memory to take the rightful place of the Holy Spirit in our hearts . . . never! Secondly, we must never allow the devil to weaken our assurance of salvation that we have in Christ. Our walk in the Spirit demands we not give deference to any sin, present or past. “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” - Romans 6:12. Nor should we ever fear the accusations of the Liar! “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” - Romans 8:33-35.
    It will be Satan who sidles up to us in our moments of weakness with a leer on his wicked face and the question - “Remember when you . . . .?” There is no greater advice for the justified than to heed the words of James. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” - James 4:7.
    We need never fear for our salvation in spite of Satan’s accusations. He is a liar! And just as he lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden he lies to us. If we walk with the Spirit we need never fear anything he has to say. The next time the devil sneaks up and asks , “Hey, remember when you . . .” Stop him in mid sentence and turn to the Holy Spirit for strength and protection from the accusations of the liar. May God keep us and strengthen our desire for holiness.