Who then will condemn us? No one.
For Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us,
and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand,
pleading for us.
Romans 8:34

Read: Romans 8
Pilgrim’s Progress Stage 4 Part 2

Relate: Apollyon’s opening move is a legal argument. He tells Christian that he belongs to him. He points out that Christian was born in his territory, grew up eating his food, and served him for years before this pilgrimage began. And the enemy has been watching his journey. He reminds Christian that even since the pilgrimage began, Christian has been far from a consistent servant of the King. He slept in the arbor when he should have kept walking. He fell into Despondency in the Slough. He nearly went to Legality’s village because a stranger told him it would be easier. He considered turning back when the lions appeared. Apollyon asks, “How can a king be served so poorly by a man who claims to be his subject?” And if the service has been this bad, maybe the subject was never really his to begin with. This argument is precise, and it is personal, and it knows where the bruises are.

The genius of Bunyan here is that all of Apollyon’s accusations are true. Christian did do all of those things. The Slough was real. The arbor was real. The consideration of retreat at the lions was real. Apollyon did not make any of this up. He is weaponizing a partial presentation of the truth and strategically leaves off the larger context. The part of the context he is carefully not mentioning is the cross. He does not mention the new clothes. He does not mention the sealed roll. He does not mention the King’s declaration of forgiveness, the mark on Christian’s forehead, or the promises that were pressed into Christian’s hand by Shining Ones. The accuser’s favorite tactic is a selective presentation of the evidence, stripped of the most important fact in the universe.

React: This is where the theology of justification needs to become not just an abstract doctrine but much more a survival skill. When the enemy comes at you with your past record, you have to know what to do with that record. You cannot deny it. You cannot explain it away, minimize it, or pretend the failures were smaller than they were. What you can do, and what Christian eventually does, is appeal to a righteousness that is not yours and a forgiveness that is not dependent on your performance. It is the righteousness of Christ, received at the cross, sealed with His blood, declared by the Father, and immune to the accusations of any being in any valley that really matters. Paul understood this in Romans 8. There is therefore now no condemnation. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. No accusation can stand. Apollyon knows the law. He does not like the gospel. Reach for it.

Respond:

Dear God,
I am thankful for Your grace. I am thankful for Your forgiveness. I am thankful that on that cross You declared me justified. Not it is just as if I’d never sinned. When the enemy, or my own memories, tries to dredge up the past that has been washed in the blood, help me to remember that they have been nailed to a cross. I have no ownership over them, and they have no hold on me. I am now and always Yours.
Amen