Once a person feels distant from God, for some reason or another, their interests are often directed elsewhere because they are discouraged in their relationship with God. This often leads to depression, addictions, obsessions (crafts, movies, sex, sports, etc.), spending binges, and unbalanced priorities. After a while, the person loses more and more interest in their relationship with God, until they simply don’t even bother to pick up their Bibles and spend time with Him. This is how Satan will use discouragement to destroy a person’s relationship with God. The whole reason that Satan (who works
through evil spirits) wants us to feel discouraged is because he wants to get us to a place where we will give up. He wants our relationship with God to just seem “impossible” and too hard to maintain. This leads a person to lukewarmness, and deflates their faith in God, because they have no confidence in their relationship with God. The Bible tells us to draw near to God with assurance, having our heart’s sprinkled clean from an evil conscience!
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22
The reason that Satan tries to attack is with guilt and shame, is for the very purpose of destroying our confidence in our relationship with God. Satan uses past failures as “excuses”…Satan will also work diligently to convince a person that because of a certain failure(s) in their past, that they cannot be restored in right standing before God. This often involves one sin in particular, such as abortion or fornication. Even though the sin has been repented of (confessed as sin and turned from), the enemy will continue to badger the person with guilt and shame over what they have done, as if they never repented of it! This is known as false guilt, because once a sin is repented of, that failure is washed away by the Blood of Christ. In other words, Satan is pointing at something that is no longer on your account! God’s Word tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. This is a promise!
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.1 John 1:9
In the above verse, we also find that he won’t just cleanse us of certain sins and not others, but we find that He is prepared to cleanse us of ALL unrighteousness! It’s those sins which we fail to confess, which are not covered by this promise.
Jesus’ attitude towards the woman caught in adultery…We know that Jesus is an exact representation of the Father (John 10:30 & John 14:9), that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and also that God is not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). Therefore, the way that Jesus handled this woman caught in adultery, is the same way that He would handle you or I, if we were in that same situation. Just look at the compassion, love, and forgiveness that flowed out of Jesus’ heart for this woman who was caught sleeping with other women’s husbands!
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. John 8:3-11
If you want to learn more about the true nature of the Jesus of the Bible, then I encourage you to read my teaching entitled, “The Jesus of the Bible.” It is quite a different Jesus than many churches today will have you believe!
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