Embracing Accusation

Note: To understand this post, you may need to read through the whole song first.

VERSE 1

The father of lies
Coming to steal Kill and destroy
All my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying cursed are the ones Who can’t abide
He’s right Alleluia he’s right!

CHORUS

The devil is preaching
The song of the redeemed
That I am cursed and gone astray
I cannot gain salvation
Embracing accusation

VERSE 2

Could the father of lies
Be telling the truth Of God to me tonight?
If the penalty of sin is death
Then death is mine
I hear him saying cursed are the ones Who can’t abide
He’s right Alleluia he’s right!

CHORUS

The devil is preaching
The song of the redeemed
That I am cursed and gone astray
I cannot gain salvation
Embracing accusation

BRIDGE

Oh the devil’s singing over me
An age old song
That I am cursed and gone astray
Singing the first verse so conveniently
He’s forgotten the refrain
Jesus saves!

-Embracing Accusation by Shane Bernard

Shane Bernard is a Christian Musical Artist and along with Shane Everett, they are best known as Shane & Shane. Click here to listen to some of their music and here to visit their my space page. When I discovered the dual, I could not believe my ears, they were exactly what I was looking for in Christian artists. There use of stringed instruments, there excellent guitar skills, their passion for the Lord as shown in the lyrics of there songs, their soaring vocals, ah! It was heaven on earth! I love these guys!

Anyway on their last album, theres a song entitled Embracing Accusation. I did not really like it at first until I discovered that the song's theme is based on an issue that I struggle with, probably more than any other issue in my walk with the Lord, the issue of Condemnation.

When the Apostle Paul said he was the worst/chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), well, he hadn't met me yet! I am the worst of sinners, I really am. And the devil does a good job of reminding me of it.

In the first verse, Shane says that the devil constantly reminds us that he who sins, is "cursed and gone astray". He, the devil, sees to it personally that we are reminded of the terrible sins we commit and whispers in our ear, "You will never be good enough, You love sin, You love it so much and that is why you continue to do it, You don't really love the Lord, He deserves better than you." In essence the devil "steal[s] and destroy[s] all our hope[s] of being good enough".

You know what? "He is right"!

Now listen to the voice of the defeated Christian, he says, 'you know what?"If the penalty of sin is death, then death is mine"(Romans 6:23).' He begins to listen and believe the lies of the "father of lies", He begins to torture himself by engaging in self pity. He begins to condemn his very self. The devil can even take a break from condemning him and he'll pick it up right where the devil left off.

There's a paradox here, I say the devil speaks the truth when he whispers those lies in our ears. You ask how can the devil be "telling the truth" and yet be lying at the same time?

Well its simple.

The devil speaks the truth when he sings that melody constantly in our ears saying, "cursed are the ones who cannot abide (Genesis 3:17-19, notice here the curse pronounced upon Adam because he could not abide, Romans 5:12)" the commands of our God. In fact, its "an age old song", A song "of how [we] are cursed and gone astray", he sings the verses "so conveniently BUT HE HAS FORGOTTEN THE REFRAIN!", he forgets the rest of the melody, he forgets the rest of the story, he forgets the rest of the song.

In other words, the devil tells a half truth and a half truth is a lie. He forgets the refrain which is-

"JESUS SAVES!"

Amen, Praise the Lord, Hallelujah! Jesus Saves!

No matter how many times I sin, no matter the frequency of my sin, no matter the variety or the magnitude, If Jesus has saved me, I am innocent! I have been set free, I no longer have chains around my feet, and no matter what the devil tries to say, I A-M I-N-N-O-C-E-N-T!

I have been Justified, I have been made right before the God (Romans 3:23 & 24)! I may sin but I am not condemned. That night when I asked God to forgive me and come and make a home in my heart, to change my heart of stone and give me one of flesh, that night God, not only forgave my past and present sins, but my future sins too, Jesus, that great high priest died for them all! Amen, Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!

I forget this truth so often. The opposite extreme is just as bad. That of abusing this forgiveness of future sins. For me the last few line of the chorus confused me for a while but I think I get it what Shane is trying to say here. He says," I cannot gain salvation, embaracing accusation." As Christians we cannot serve God effectively and get to heaven intact if we embrace the devils accusations. We will be wallowing in self pity if we embrace the devils accusation and sometimes we think by doing this maybe God we forgive our sin. By engaging in self pity God will see how bad we feel about how sin and forgive it, we cannot gain salvation embracing accusation. That's not how its done. We have to get on our faces every time we mess up which will be, for some of us, everyday, and repent. Salvation cannot be gained by embracing accusation, in fact it cannot be gained at all! Salvation is not do, do, do, Salvation is done, done done!

Mwindula