The Rejection Strategy

One of Satan’s premier strategies has always been to make us feel as if we are disqualified from God’s love and blessings. I have heard it said on more than one occasion that the first demon to ever afflict a person is always a spirit of rejection.  Once Satan convinces us that we are universally unacceptable or that no one would love us if they really knew us, he has us at a great disadvantage.

To overcome our anticipation of rejection we may resort to all kinds of defense mechanisms.  We lie or “spin” things in order to make ourselves seem more “acceptable” or “desirable.”  Dating websites are notorious for exaggerations, filters, and all kinds of misrepresentations.  Why would that be true unless most of us feel that we really aren’t loveable or acceptable just the way we are? In addition, we may become the person who always blames others and never acknowledges any wrongs or failures on his own part.  All of that is based on the lie that if we are not perfect or near perfect, people won’t love or accept us.

That feeling of anticipated rejection convinces some that whoever they love will eventually abandon them.  That fear inevitably leads to a being a person who is very high on control or a person who never really gives their heart to another person.  Both approaches almost always damage a relationship and invites the very rejection or abandonment that was feared.

Of course, Satan amplifies our sense of defectiveness and unacceptability when it comes to our relationship with God. The good news of the gospel is that God loves us just the way we are and has covered our failings and imperfections with the blood of his Son. And yet, many find it hard to accept the message of the gospel because something in our human nature believes we still have to earn our way to heaven. Satan always whispers an objection to the good news when we hear it as if it may be true for sone but not for us.

I have talked to a number of people through the years who believed the gospel is just for relatively good people, but not for those who have participated in sinful lifestyles condemned by scripture.  Satan draws us into those lifestyles as we look for love, belonging, or something to numb the pain of feeling defective.  He then pelts us with shame so that our broken sense of self-worth spirals downward even more.  He then whispers that we are such a mess and a disappointment that even God can’t love us.  When we believe that lie, it seems that we are excluded from God’s invitation to salvation and there is no point in responding to the gospel. 

But, the Bible says, God loved us while we were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8).  Jesus himself said, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mt.9:13). In speaking to the church at Corinth, Paul declared, “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11, emphasis added).

The difference in those entering the kingdom and those not entering, was not their pre-Jesus lifestyle…that some were relatively righteous while the others were depraved.  All were sinners. In his lists of sinful acts, God places gossip in the same list of grievous sins as murder (Rom. 1:29).  The difference was that some took God at his word while others did not.  Those who took God at his word believed that Jesus died in their place as an act of love, totally washing away any record of their sins, and that God credited them with righteousness because of faith, not because of righteous living.  Not only that, but when they believed, the Holy Spirit took up residence in them and empowered them to leave a sinful lifestyle behind and live for God ... “and such were some of you, but…”

Another of Satan’s associated lies is that we are helpless to change our ways…that we are born with certain predispositions that cannot be overcome, but that can only be embraced.  That is our current cultural view.  We are certainly born with predispositions toward sin…but in Christ, we are a new creation, born again, and not a prisoner of our past.  The failing of many churches today is to believe that our brokenness is permanent and, therefore, must be embraced and even celebrated rather than overcome.  God does not call us to repent of something over which we have no control. If it is broken, God can heal it.  If it is demonic, God can deliver.

God already loves a person who has lived a very broken and sinful life.  He is ready to forgive the past and he is ready to give us strength to overcome the sin that kept us in bondage.  In Isaiah 61:1, speaking of Messiah, we are told that he (Jesus) would come to preach good news to the poor, heal broken hearts, and set captives free. We are not rejected by God, but God is rejected by us. The proverb goes, “Hell will not be filled with people God rejected, but by people who rejected God.”

Satan tries to convince people that God will not or cannot forgive them because they are too broken or too sinful.  But no sin is beyond the grace of God.  The key to disarming Satan is owning our sins and failures, confessing them instead of hiding them, and then believing God when he says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Heb. 8:12).

After his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, King David wrote, “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long…Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Ps.32:1-5).  We cannot hide our sin from God.  He knows more about our sin than we do.  What he wants is for us to acknowledge our sin and then trust him to forgive us.  Solomon declared, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,

but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Pr. 28:13).

Here is the truth.  We are not rejected by God nor will we ever be rejected if we surrender our hearts to Jesus.  God has said, “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). God already knows who we are – the good, the bad, and the ugly.  He already knew that when Jesus willingly died for each of us.  Are we imperfect?  Yes.  Have we sinned? Yes.  Does God know all the dirt in our lives?  Yes.  Does he reject us?  No.

I believe our greatest need in life is to be loved just the way we are.  Our greatest fear in life is that if you really knew me, you would reject me.  God knows you better than you know yourself and still has loved you and called you to be his child from before the foundation of the world. He leaves it up to you, but he has extended the invitation through Jesus.

Satan works feverishly to convince those not yet in Christ that they are beyond the reach of God’s grace.  However, the greater the sin that is forgiven, the greater the glory that comes to God.  Jesus said those who are forgiven much, love much and so God loves to forgive (See Lk. 7:41-48).  Those who have yet to accept Christ are not beyond his reach, no matter what.  The question is whether they will take God at his word or reject him as if he were a liar.

Next Week’s Blog:  Satan’s Rejection Strategy for Those Already in Christ.