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It’s not always necessary to disagree with the enemy’s accusation. For example, we probably do have some of the pride he’s nagging us about. What we must always reject is the way the enemy proposes we go about remedying our pride.

Shame and separation are the tools of the devil. He takes advantage of the fact that these two have great force to change our behavior for a moment. He does not tell us they have no ability to deeply an lastingly transform us at all. They only have the ability to give us spurts of human strength. Because of this, we can mistake this whole process as coming from the Holy Spirit Himself. Conviction of sin. Sudden empowerment to do good. Everything’s there, right?

Right?

He’s partly right. We do have pride. There is pretty much no doubt of that. But he’s wrong about how to go about overcoming it. Transformation is outside of human ability. The glory of sanctification belongs to God so that no man may boast in His presence. See 1 Corinthians 1:28-31.

The true remedy is relationship and drawing near. Nearness and knowing.

“No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” - 1 John 3:6

The basis for freedom from sin is not us. It is seeing and knowing God. This is why He says come to me. This is why a spirit that talks to us about sin, and motivates us to overcome it through shame, is not of God. It is a counterfeit. There is no life in disconnection from the Source of Life.

And those who continue to be transformed are those who continue to behold His glory.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Imagine overcoming those nagging sins by drawing near to God to behold His glory, the glory of what Christ accomplished for us in the way of freeing us of sin. Remember it was a simple message that first changed us. Just as there was an experience the first day we heard of Christ and saw His glory and believed that our sins were forgiven, there is more He has done, there is more to see and experience—endless things to see. We’ve received an introduction. Now we must build upon this. There is no way to stay on track without this.

Peter says taste and see that the LORD is good. In other words, do not be satisfied with anything less than an experiential understanding of God’s goodness. Don’t let it just be an idea. And don’t cave if you haven’t yet experienced it. It’s okay. Seek God from the heart. Vulnerability can make us authentic, but pretending we have experienced something by speaking knowledgeably of it makes us shallow.

We were not made to immediately enter into the experience of what God offers. We were made to first seek God. So…

Let’s ask, seek, and knock. :)