Being Accused and Accusations, Part I
A Reality for Everyone including Christ
Introduction: This two-part blog addressees the issue of a godly response to them. Being accused and accusations are a reality for everyone including Christ. He is the believer’s faithful High Priest who identifies with His people. Consider the passage Hebrews 4:14-16:
v.14: Therefore since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
v.15: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin.
v.16: Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
The term accused often suggests thoughts of wrongdoing – either on the part of the one accused or the accuser. Sometimes both the accused and the accuser are sinful. Being accused is unpleasant as it must have been for Jesus, Stephen, and Paul. All were charged with blasphemy against the Law, Moses, and the Temple (Matthew 26:59-61; Acts 6:11; 21:28). All three had spoken and their words were interpreted. In each case, the conclusion was blasphemy. Based on the Old Testament usage of that word, these men were accused of disrespecting, reviling, and despising God.
In the New Testament, the term literally means to injure one’s reputation. Jesus, Stephen and Paul were condemned based on their words. We know these facts because of the Biblical record. We also know from the Biblical record that the words of Jesus, Stephen, and Paul were wrongly interpreted. Moreover, Jesus was sinless. There was no blasphemy. Their words and person were not guilty. The hearers were the problem.
In a fallen world inhabited by sinners, accusations abound. Pre-fall, man was a chooser and his choice was based on God’s word from a proper relationship with God. Post-fall, people still judge and are judged according to a standard. Everyone judges and every will be judged in this life and in the next. Too often, the standard is not God’s word.
There is a tendency within a person to want to avoid accusations. They may or may not be true. Moreover, there is the tendency to judge another person that is often followed by accusations, covertly and or overtly. One’s judgment may be demonstrated so others can see. Or the person may try to keep his judgment to himself. Choice and judgment are givens. A logical question follows: What is the believer to think, desire, and do when accused? God has given us biblical principles in His word which are a guide and lamp for believers (Psalm 119:99, 105).
If you are the one who is accused and comes under judgment, you may think no one appreciates your situation. If you are a believer, there is at least one who does (Hebrews 4:14-16). Jesus, our High Priest and Savior experienced accusation on top of accusation, followed by rejection. He came to His own and they did not receive Him (John 1:4-5, 9-11). His apostles did not get it although they were with Him and were discipled by Him. Eventually the apostles were known as those that were discipled by Christ (Luke 6:30; Mark 3:13-14; 6:30; Acts 4:13). Jesus knew what it meant to be charged with sin. More than that, He knew in an intimate way His people and the Father and the Spirit. Therefore, as Messiah Jesus brought an Intratrinitarian mindset to earth. He focused on making the eternal plan of God a reality. Those facts should make all the difference to the believer. Do they, believer, to you? If not, why not?
It is not Jesus’ experience that is the key for you. It is His response in the situation and to the person(s) that were involved in the activity. God in His providence ordains all that happens. He is in charge and control of so-called little and big things. So often this is called life as if life has a life of its own! Jesus knew and acted upon the truth that this is God’s world and the Triune God brings all things to pass for His glory and the Church’s and believer’s good. Jesus by and through His perfect living and perfect death gained victory for every believer because the believer is in Christ. The Triune God approved of and accepted Christ’s perfect life and death. God accepted Jesus, not just what He did!
Jesus modeled a proper response to being sinned against: to being accused and accusations against Him. These facts help believers to live out of the truth and for the Truth, Jesus Christ (John 14:6). By living for truth, by truth, and to truth, the believer does not live the lie.
Faced with trouble and turmoil including accusations, ultimately, the believer has two choices. He will focus on the people and their accusations or the God of the situation. Jesus was not alone as He lived as the Messiah and the believer is not alone because he is in Christ. Therefore responding in any situation in a godly manner is a response to God. The crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension confirm and affirm that a proper response by the believer is a reality.
How is it possible for anyone including the believer to live the lie? Paul told us in Romans 1:18-23. In those passages, Paul teaches that everyone knows facts about God and actually themselves and their true identity. They know that God is and that He is Creator and Controller of His world. Yet they deny those facts and by inference they deny the fact that they are dependent creatures. As a result, the person resists and attempts to suppress the truth about God and himself. They become truth-exchangers and functionally exchange God’s glory for their own which is no glory. They worship themselves. They are idolaters.
When the people, problems, and circumstances are perceived as bigger than God the believer lives the lie. When the believer lives by feelings or falsehood (such as: God is not here or only here in a troubling way), he has jettisoned biblical truth about God, himself, and the situation. When that happens facts are further misinterpreted. Hopelessness, dissatisfaction, grumbling and complaining then follow (Philippians 2:14-18).
Application:
1. Write down your view of accusations and your response to being accused or accusing?
2. Accusations in themselves may not be wrong. How will you tell?
3. When accused what is the tendency of even the believer according to Romans 1:18-23?
Being Accused and Accusations, Part II
A Reality for Everyone including Christ
v.14: Therefore since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
v.15: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin.
v.16: Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
The second part of our discussion: being accused and accusations focuses on the person of Christ and proper knowledge of Him. Knowing that Jesus has gained victory for every believer is and should be a source of hope and encouragement for every believer. This is true for any and all times but especially when accused. The fact that Jesus was accused tells us that everyone at some time also will be accused, rightly or wrongly. Believers cannot, and must not, expect God to treat them differently than He did His Son.
However, Hebrews 4:14-16 moves the bar higher. It wasn’t that Jesus, the Sinless One, was accused by men, including religious authorities, of sin and sinning that entitled Jesus to be the faithful High Priest and the great Sympathizer and Experienced One. The term in the original translated as sympathize carries the idea of a similar experience. Yes, Jesus was fully man when He was accused. In that sense Jesus is one of us and He experienced wrong accusations. Therefore, Jesus was able to stand in the place of every believer before God. Man was the problem – he sinned in Adam and was guilty of his own sins!
All of the above facts help believers to live by truth and avoid living the lie. Faced with trouble and turmoil including accusations, the believer has a choice: to focus on the people and their accusations or the God of the situation. Jesus was not alone as He lived as the Messiah. He had the indwelling Holy Spirit and a relationship with the Father. Similarly, the believer is not alone. Therefore responding in a godly manner in and to any situation and accusation is a response to God. A proper response is a reality for the believer.
But there is still more. It is not Jesus’ experience that is the believer’s hope and joy. As wonderful as that is, consider these thoughts. Jesus demonstrated what it means to be a child of God. He knew that His response in the situations and to the person(s) that were involved in them was a response to God and His providence. By using His circumstances to please the Father, Jesus gained victory for the Trinity, Himself and all believers. He functioned as the perfect Sacrifice which was the only sacrifice acceptable to the Father. Jesus gained victory for every believer because every believer is in Christ. Jesus modeled a proper response to being sinned against.
There is still more! At the cross, God forsook His Son, every believer’s representative and substitute. The Father accused Jesus of utter wretchedness as He hung on the cross in the place of every believer. Jesus was criticized, accused, and treated as scum by the Father no less! God sent Him to hell on the cross. All of this seems so surreal, mystical, and make-believe. How can that be? Some deny the goodness of God and the wisdom of Christ based on the cross. However, every believer agrees with God’s judgment about Jesus and as a corollary they should agree with God’s judgment about himself since every believer is in Christ. Those who deny that God is good and that Jesus is truth and wisdom also deny God’s judgment on themselves.
These facts being the case, being accused and accusations, even criticism, whether true or not, can and must be understood and responded to in a God-pleasing manner. The accuser is God’s agent whether the accuser acknowledges it or not. Every being, including Satan, is God’s agent (see Job 1-2; 2 Samuel 24:1; 1 Chronicles 21:1; Isaiah 44:25-45:3; Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6; 43:10). The overriding purpose of any event is for God to be glorified. This is one lesson of the cross and of Jesus’ life. The event itself is not the key. It is the context by which God’s purposes will be realized. Others had been crucified but none were the Godman and none lived and died perfectly or were resurrected! When the believer uses the unpleasantness (or pleasantness) to become more like Christ, God is glorified and the lesson of the cross is played out for all to see. Such is our good God’s plan, power, purpose, presence, and control.
How do you respond to being accused and accusations? Unlike Jesus, believers must do a spiritual inventory according to Hebrews 4:12 and Matthew 7:1-6. What should follow is an honest appraisal before God. Be sure to consider how you may have made it easy for the other person to accuse you. Is there any validity to the accusation? Always consider the status of the relationship between you and the accuser. Next proceed with courageous humility and humble courage. If repentance is needed on your part, do so. If not then clarify the other person’s frame of reference.
You may have to apply Matthew 18:15-18 in an effort to reconcile one to another. God’s people are not to be divided. Jesus said so in John 13:34-35. The world and other believers knew that Jesus loved the Father because He went to the cross (John 14:30-31). The world knows who Jesus’ disciples are by their love for each other which is actually a reflection of God’s love poured out on them at the cross (John 13:34-35; Romans 5:5; 1 John 4:7-12).
Application:
1. The Christian life is relational: vertical – to God, and horizontal – to man: Matthew 22:37-40. Study this passage in its relational context.
2. Define love.
3. Which one of your relationships are lacking in love?
4. Do your spiritual inventory in order to outline a plan to proceed to reconcile one to another. Rejoice that on earth all Christians are to close ranks preparing for fellowship in heaven.