ACCUSER AND ADVERSARY
The devil is sometimes called the accuser and adversary. These titles reflect the fact that the Hebrew word “satan” is also translated as accuser and adversary. A slight variation on this Hebrew word emphasizes the adversarial role that satan plays in the lives of Old/First Covenant religionists.

These terms are hard to understand until we recognize that religion is the enemy and that religious leaders and their faithful followers (i.e. Satans) are always at work to enforce obedience to religious rules. These enforcers (i.e. Satans) of religious rules  set very high standards of righteousness that keep followers in a more-or-less constant state of guilt and fear on several accounts:

God contrasts this kind of pressure on Old/First Covenant religionists with the peace that exists in the hearts of New Covenant disciples. Because these Satans cause fear and guilt, God calls them the enemy and oppressors who oppress and enslave people who submit to their authority.

The only way to escape the deathly influence of these religious leaders is to come out of religion and learn how to hear God’s spoken voice.