The word translated here as agree is eunoia (yoo-noy-ah) meaning to reconcile or to be well-minded toward your adversary. In life, we will have opposition both in human relationships and in our daily battles with Satan. The term adversary (adidikos) used here speaks of one who is an opponent (as in a lawsuit).
The daily Christian life is one of walking in the grace and favor of God, but along the way, we may come into opposition with another person; sometimes even another believer. This is when we see the true condition of our hearts in relation to the character of Jesus.
If we are the type of person who always has to win, we cannot understand this principle. Sometimes obedience to God requires us to yield in humility in order to create harmony. If we are too eager to prove the issues of right and wrong in this life, we will spend much of our time in opposition to other men. We must choose whether to make the Kingdom of God our priority or if our life will only be about right and wrong (the Law).
When we choose grace and mercy over right and wrong, we can get on with the business of the Kingdom without leaving bodies in our wake. If we depend upon the Law as the primary basis of our dealings with others, we may become entangled in the affairs of this life and find ourselves unable to bring our offerings to the Lord. Law by its nature always tries to uproot grace, and grace reveals the Law.
Many years back a young associate pastor invited me to lunch to speak with me about a topic God had put on his heart for an upcoming sermon to his congregation. Since we had never had such a meeting before, I knew it was a matter of some importance to him, so I wanted to do my best to offer any information that might be of assistance. The question was simple: “What are your thoughts on Christian liberty?”
When he asked me the question, immediately these words came to my mouth: “Liberty is the power of God to live a holy life.”
As we sat through the rest of the lunch, I tried my best to explain to him what I thought it meant, but to be honest, it was as new to me as it was to him. In the end, I think he considered the meeting to be of little or no value, though I thoroughly enjoyed both the fellowship and the steak.
Over the years, I have given much thought to that meeting and the words that came so quickly to my mind in answer to his question: “Liberty is the power of God to live a holy life.” It is, in fact, clear to me now that God spoke to and through me that day, though neither of us was really sure of what it meant at the time.
God has called each of us to a holy life of obedience. It is not the religious aspect of Christianity that makes a life holy, it is obedience and the application of God’s Word and Way that does so. (Isaiah 30:21; 1 John 2:6) Nevertheless, obedience is a choice. God will not make you obey. You must do it as an act of your will. We need only surrender to obtain the righteousness (holiness) that God has imputed to us through the work of Christ, but imparted righteousness comes from a life of obedience.
As we yield to the will of God in our lives, that which was once in rebellion against him becomes converted and transformed through brokenness and obedience, eventually becoming a part of our character. It is by our obedience to the Word of God, and through the promises of God, that we become “partakers of the Divine nature. . .” (2 Peter 1:4b) This is a two-step process:
1. We are given the Divine Nature (Holy Spirit) at rebirth.
2. As we obey God, the Holy Spirit works within us, the transformation process of remaking us into the image of Christ.
Isaiah once spoke of our righteousness going before us. (Isaiah 58:8) This righteousness becomes our testimony as the Holy Spirit transforms us and our lives become useful tools of witness to Christ. Therefore, liberty is the power that God has given us to obey Him as an act of our will, thus gaining rewards and crowns to lay at the feet of Jesus.
When we make an effort to reconcile, regardless of our position as the offender or the one offended, we show that we prefer relationship to rules and regulations. Obviously, you can only have rapport with someone who wants to respond in kind, but your fellowship with God is not hindered if you initiate the effort to resolve conflict and do your part to reconcile with your adversary. Once you have done so, you release the Holy Spirit to work on the heart of the other person and, you no longer stand in the way of his working to bring conviction and possible reconciliation. If you depend strictly upon the Law or the courts to decide right and wrong for you, you had better be right, if not, the judgment could be swift and thorough.
The second aspect of this command has to do with the action of Satan to accuse us before the Father. Too often, we come under accusation and think it strange or become fearful of the words, thoughts or ideas he is using in the attack. There are two things to keep in mind when we are under such an assault.
1. Since Satan is the accuser of the brethren, the fact that Satan is accusing us assures us that we are in the fold. (Rev. 12:10) In other words, if he is accusing you, he is only doing his job, and since he accuses only the brethren, you must be one of the brethren. It is the Law, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God who accuse the unbeliever, not Satan. (John 16:8)
2. God may allow Satan to attack (or even tempt) us to reveal the true condition of our lives, or to show us where we are in our spiritual development. If we give in to the temptation, it reveals an area where we need growth to take place. If we resist him and he flees, we can see that we have grown and are becoming more Christ-like in that area of our lives.
Some would be offended at the idea of ‘agreeing’ with the adversary in this manner but, in fact, it is possible to see the attacks and accusations of Satan as an indicator of where we are in our faith. If we recognize that he is accusing or attacking us where we are weak, we can then see the areas of our spiritual growth, moral behavior, or understanding that need to be corrected or developed. Most likely, we already know what those areas are but may have been considering them as just weaknesses of the flesh rather than sinful behavior. Sometimes seeing that the adversary is involved in the process can shock us back to how serious these things are to God.