There’s a big difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the accusation of the enemy.

It’s the difference between the finger and the hand.

Let me ‘splain.

The word “devil” means slanderer. The nature of our enemy is to slander, defame and accuse.

In the Book of Revelation, Satan is called “the accuser of the brethren.”

One way he accuses is in our conscience, overwhelming us with a sense of condemnation and unworthiness to the point of despair and even hopelessness.

Standing in the virtue of the blood of Christ is the remedy for the enemy’s accusations.

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb …“

The blood was enough to satisfy a holy God, and it looms larger in His eyes than any sin you or I could ever commit.

So one of Satan’s chief weapons is the sense of accusation, which obstructs our fellowship with God. It causes us to withdraw from the throne of grace instead of “boldly coming to it” as Hebrews exhorts.

By contrast, when the Holy Spirit convicts us, He points to a specific issue in our lives from which to repent or deal with in His light.

Like the finger, the Spirit’s conviction is very specific. And it always leads us to Christ.

(In fact, the Spirit always draws us to Jesus.)

When the enemy accuses, it’s often a vague sense of guilt and condemnation.

Like the hand, it’s unspecific.

Learning to distinguish between the finger and the hand — the Spirit’s conviction and the enemy’s accusation — keeps us from being debilitated by the paralysis of self-analysis.

Keep your eyes focused ahead, on Christ, rather than on yourself. And you will make progress in the spiritual path.

Stand in the virtue of the shed blood of Jesus … the only thing that makes us worthy to come before our Father who is pure holiness and light.