This post has been in my drafts for quite some time. I didn’t intend to spend any time on it today, but I think it’s pretty appropriate since it’s Yom Kippur today, and I also think I can more effectively say what I would like to say about another scripture in Hebrews by expounding upon Revelation 12:10-11 first.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Revelation 12)
When God gives us direction, he is giving us the means to encounter the best possible outcomes. That inherently means that he is also giving us the means to avoid all outcomes that are less-than-best. How sincerely we align ourselves to our current and increasing understanding of the existence and value of those outcomes, of the reasons why we value them, and of the importance of honestly basing our decisions upon those reasons determines the quantity and quality of peace and joy we will experience here and hereafter.
This is because God’s just. There is an “accuser,” and there is also this thing called accountability. In affording us agency, God also grants us responsibility for the choices we make, with all of the consequences that come with them, whether positive or negative. He’s not in the business of waiving negative consequences away when we find ourselves in a tight spot after we have made a decision that we know is not best, anymore than he is in the business of arbitrarily withholding just rewards when we have made decisions that are the best.1
Ultimately, this leaves us to ourselves in the Day of Judgment. Having provided a means of escape from the negative consequences of decisions made in ignorance, God grants us the ability to stand on the merit of our alignment to him or to fall on the basis of our own willful disobedience.
Joseph Smith said:
A man is his own tormentor, and his own condemner; hence the saying, they shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone— I say so is the torment of man. (History of the Church, Vol. E-1, pg. 1976)
The lake of fire and brimstone is regret. Joseph Smith was not the least bit inaccurate in the above quote. God sets a standard of righteousness. Our understanding of that standard sets the bar for what we must choose in every decision we make. Any decision to choose anything less makes us unable to quench the “fiery darts of the adversary.” Those “fiery darts” are not just temptations. They are accusations. How do you expect to stand against “the accuser” when you absolutely know in your heart that you made decisions that were less than the best God made available to you through your conscience? You can’t. You cannot lie to God. You will not be able to believe the lies you presently believe when you enter his presence. You will shrink. Your own beliefs, desires, and decisions—your character—will stand as a witness against you. It will torment and condemn you, and there will be nothing, on your own, that you can do about it. (see Alma 5:14-25)
Even those who repent and then constantly do what they believe to be best and who, therefore, maintain a state of sinlessness will, at some point, be brought to stand before God, and they will be subjected to the same accusations of wrong-doing. I cannot accurately describe what this is like. The description of those accusations being made “day and night” is spot on. They are unrelenting. They are, in function and form, an attack on and rejection of the truth, and the pain that accompanies that is like having whips laid across your back or having your heart pierced with a blade. What you experience in coming up against them is gaslighting that is orders of magnitude more intense than one could possibly imagine without experiencing it. It is being subjected to so many lies that the only truth that remains is the peace of conscience that comes from knowing you have made every decision in accordance with your best understanding of God’s character. And this is precisely why it is SO important to intentionally discover and live according to what you understand about God and his purposes.
Because we do not yet understand everything about God, the accuser will use this to his advantage and accuse you of not doing things that you could have, and there are only two honest defenses against that—your own ignorance in not knowing what would have been better or the honest reasons you had to believe that what you did what best. Being diligent in your pursuit of a better understanding of God’s character gradually eliminates the ignorance, and intentional living supplies all of the reasons required to defend your decisions. This is the only way you can grow to become surrounded in the everlasting burnings of reality and remain unscathed.
How is the accuser cast down? He is cast down when one quenches his fiery darts through sincere repentance (“the blood of the Lamb”) and through one’s diligence in following Jesus Christ (“the word of their testimony”). He is cast down when his darts have no ability to overcome because “they loved not their lives unto the death.” He is cast down as one lives in complete accordance to his understanding of God in all things. He is cast down when he shrinks, and not you.
When does this happen? Has it happened already? What happens when it does? Has it happened in your life? Can it? What effect would you expect it to have in your life and in the last days, in general?
Good questions, all.
1. See Psalm 62:12, Proverbs 24:12, Matthew 16:27, 2 Corinthians 11:15, Revelation 20:12-13, 2 Nephi 29:11, Mosiah 3:24, Mosiah 16:10-12; Alma 33:22, Alma 41:3, Helaman 12:23-24; D&C 19:3, D&C 137:9, and others that clearly state that God judges us according to our works.