As soon as you repent, Satan will attack you. He hates grace and forgiveness. He wants you to think these things are for weak and gullible people.

That person who keeps reminding you of your sins even after you’ve repented–that’s a Satanic attack. Some people are even waiting, lying-in-wait for you to sin so they can use it as an excuse to remind you of your failures. These are the people who are secretly happy when you sin, it gives them something they can use against you, or something they can use to compare themselves with to make themselves feel better, but usually these people only recognize sin in other people, not themselves. The New Testament calls these people “a brood of vipers.” They may talk religious talk and think they’re doing the right thing, but they are very wrong–their motives are wrong. It is they themselves who are in need of repentance. You see my Bible says “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Rom 8:1 You can listen to these people or you can listen to the One who really knows you–the One who tells you he loves you and leaves the ninety-nine to come looking for you.

Satan is also called the accuser, he will accuse you day and night before God. But there is a profound difference between the voice of the Accuser and the voice of the Savior. When God forgives a sin, He casts it into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). He remembers it no more. Satan, however, loves to go deep-sea fishing, dragging up what God has already buried just to throw it in your face.

If people are standing over your past, waiting to condemn you, remember that they don’t hold the keys to your grace. The enemy wants shame to silence you, but Christ’s forgiveness frees you to move forward. The next time the Accuser reminds you of your past, gently remind him—and the vipers around you—of their tragic future.