Vindicated Part 1 – Freeing Ourselves!

In life no one escapes the pain of being accused of wrongdoing. It is a level playing ground and is always painful. When the accusation is false, it is particularly hurtful. 

How do we get over a false accusation? How do we get over true guilt when the accusation is true? What about when we feel guilty, but the accusation is false? We need help, and happily, we get all the help we need. In Part 1 of this series, I will focus on what this means for ourselves. As we explore, I suggest you think of some wrongdoing you have done or been falsely accused of. The extent of your freedom will be proportional to how thoroughly you feel God has you covered in all the facets of your pain. 

With that in mind, I will dive into nuances of what it means to be vindicated. Let each nuance of meaning minister to all the ways that you have felt burdened. 

God is a God of vindication. What does that mean? According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, vindication means:

• to free from allegation or blame (confirm or substantiate)
• to provide justification or defense for (justify)
• to protect from attack or encroachment (defend)
• to avenge (to maintain a right to)
• obsolete: to set free (deliver)

Synonyms for vindicate include exculpate, absolve, exonerate, and acquit. All of these carry the meaning of being free from a charge.

Exculpate implies a clearing from blame or fault, often in a matter of small importance.

Absolve implies a release either from an obligation that binds the conscience or from the consequences of disobeying the law or committing a sin.

Exonerate implies a complete clearance from an accusation or charge and from any attendant suspicion of blame or guilt.

Acquit implies a formal decision in one’s favor with respect to a definite charge.

Vindicate implies a clearing effected by proving the unfairness of such criticism or blame.

Vindicate is related to justify, and both hold the meaning of being upheld as true, right, just, valid, or reasonable.

OK, think of some wrongdoing you have been charged with, regardless of who is charging you. Let’s talk terms. I will define sin as missing the mark of who God created you to be and violating love toward others or ourselves. 

Sin, if it is really sin, is worse than we know. It brings death (Rom. 6:23). Nobody panic—this is no beat-up message. God’s got this and lovingly has you! However, we need to look the beast in the eye (that’s neither you nor others) to get the help we need. 

Romans 5:20b in the J.B. Phillips New Testament (Phillips) says:

…Yet, though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still!…

Romans 6:1-2 (Phillips) continues:

Now what is our response to be? Shall we sin to our heart’s content and see how far we can exploit the grace of God? What a ghastly thought! 

If we are to be healed, we need to own where we have fallen short.  

For grins I looked up many translations for the response to the sociopathic idea that since God forgives and grace is greater than all sin for all time, we are therefore free to sin recklessly without conscience. Here’s the line-up:

What a ghastly thought! 

What a terrible thought!

God forbid!

Certainly not!

Heaven forbid!

Far be the thought. 

May it never be!

Of course not!

By no means!

That’s unthinkable! 

No!

No, in no wise.

Far from it!

Let it not be!

My personal translation is: Hell no! You can pray for me or use it yourself as you feel led. I believe in saying no to anything that brings hell into your own life or the lives of others, especially when it ultimately thumbs its nose at the God Who adores us. 

God will convict us of not being who we are, and the evidence of that (sinful behavior/attitudes) is what becomes plain. But He does that for the express purpose of what Romans 6:2 says: If we are to be healed, we need to own where we have fallen short. 

So where we do fall short, the admonition is to run to God with it—not hiding, denying, or justifying it. We run to Him to receive the grace of total forgiveness, cleansing from shame/defilement, healing, and ultimate justification (or vindication). As we receive this gift that has no surcharge (it is truly free), we can partner with God as a son/daughter to facilitate His redemptive purposes in those we have harmed/others who have been harmed. 

Romans 8:1-2, 31-34 says:

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit[a] of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 

New Revised Standard Version (NRSVUE, emphasis added)

Note: to condemn means to declare to be reprehensible, wrong, or evil without reservation after weighing evidence. It carries a sense of doom. Being in Christ means that condemnation is illegal—you have already been freed, and God wants you to know and experience it. When God’s kids are charged, God does not take it kindly. The spirit of accusation ultimately comes from the satanic—the accuser of God’s kids (Rev. 12:10).   Our justification (to be considered righteous and worthy of salvation) is based on the value of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection—not our track record. We have been vindicated!

OK, that addresses where we have truly sinned or missed the mark of who God created us to be, which results in our violating love toward others/ourselves. What about where we have NOT truly sinned according to God, but we are falsely accused of sin—either by others or ourselves? The good news is God is still our vindicator.

Let’s go back to Romans 8:31-35, which says:

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?

NRSVUE (emphasis added)

So when there is a false accusation, we need to remind ourselves Who is for us. Because God is the Person Who is for us, anyone or anything that is against us is subsumed in His Love.

Romans 8 goes on to say in verses 37-39:

37 No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. NRSVUE (emphasis added)

What are we more than victorious through? Christ! 

And what is subsumed in Him as Love? Meditate on this lineup:

• anyone
• affliction
• distress
• persecution
• famine
• nakedness
• peril
• sword
• death
• life
• angels
• rulers
• things present
• things to come
• powers
• height
• depth
• anything else in all creation

So, let me ask you, like Jesus did with the woman caught in adultery (not a false accusation; John 8:10)—where are your accusers now?

Are they greater than God?

Are you greater than God, which is what you are believing when you insist on accusing yourself?

Let God’s forgiveness and the blood He shed to provide, it cleanse you of all shame and consciousness of sin. Spend time here as long as you need. Let the perfection of God as Love bathe you in His love and cast out all fear. You are vindicated!

I trust this has been a huge blessing for you. Spend as much time as you need to let God, the one Who is Truth, bathe you in revelation of His truth.

I’d love to hear from you!

Multiplied grace, peace, and Love,

Catherine