Week 3 of 4
There is already an accuser. A husband does not need to take his job.
Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies.
Romans 8:33
Paul asks who can bring a charge against God’s elect. The answer is not a husband with a better memory. It is God who justifies. Christ died, rose, and intercedes. Revelation calls Satan the accuser of the brothers, the one who accuses them day and night. Zechariah shows Joshua the high priest in filthy clothes, with Satan at his right hand, and the Lord rebukes the accuser and clothes Joshua clean. If your wife is in Christ, you are standing next to a woman God has justified. Do not volunteer for the prosecution.
Formal study reading, written for this series
Formal study reading, written for this series
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
The courtroom is already occupied by a Savior, not by you.
Joshua the high priest standing before the angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan!” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said, “Remove the filthy garments from him.”
The accuser stands there. The Lord does not hand him the robe.
The accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
Accusation is the enemy’s day-and-night work. It should not be yours.
NASB, the Amplified, and the ESV open on Bible Hub. The Legacy Standard Bible opens on its own reader. Close, Expanded, and Easy on this page are original study readings. WEB is the World English Bible, public domain.
Romans 8 is not a trick to avoid naming sin. Paul has already spent chapters on real guilt. The point of verse 33 is that the charge, once answered by the cross, does not stay open for other prosecutors. A husband is not the Holy Spirit. If she is in Christ, your ongoing condemnation fights the intercession of Christ. If she is not, you still are not her judge. You are a witness and a husband, and Christ remains the only mediator.
Zechariah keeps you from pretending the clothes were never filthy. God sees the garments and changes them. The accuser sees the garments and stays at the right hand. Those are two different ministries. Ask which one your tone belongs to. Day-and-night accusation, even when the facts are real, is Revelation’s description of the enemy, not of a mature man.
Notice the hour you accuse: the replay at night, the comment to a friend, the look that says the case is never closed. End one of those shifts this week. When the charge rises, pray Romans 8:34 instead of delivering the opening statement.
Speak one sentence that agrees with her justification if she is in Christ: not flattery, a refusal to condemn. “God has clothed you. I will not be the one who holds the dirty robe.”
Stays on this device. No account.
Father, you justify. Christ died, rose, and intercedes. The accuser has been thrown down, and I have been doing his work in my own house. Rebuke that in me. I put down the charge. Clothe us both in what Christ has done, and make my mouth agree with your verdict instead of the enemy’s. Amen.
Save a copy of your devotionals and week notes, or put a saved copy back. Nothing leaves this device until you save the file.