Claim. God cannot unilaterally punish Satan because He bears partial moral responsibility for not having fully loved the archangel before the Fall — this self-incriminating constraint means Satan’s removal requires a human mediator who formally accuses him before God.
Elaboration. The claim is direct: “God cannot come down hard on Satan for killing millions of His beloved sons and daughters over the past six thousand years, because God is responsible for not having fully loved the archangel” (4.2.-god-abides-by-the-law, 35-95, 1970.10.4).
The mechanism of release is therefore accusation by proxy: “If someone comes forward charging and accusing Satan, the devil, God can judge Satan” (ibid, 54-60, 1972.3.11). God alone cannot self-initiate the judgment — to do so would be to act as both judge and party in a case where He has an acknowledged interest. The just procedure requires an innocent third party, one who has no share in the original failure, to stand before God and formally indict Satan.
This is the structural basis for the Messiah’s role in SMM’s soteriology: not primarily to save humans from sin but to formally accuse Satan before God so that the judgment God has long wanted to render becomes procedurally possible. See csg-liberation-of-god-is-human-task for the extension of this to all believers.
The claim has significant theodicy implications: God’s failure to punish evil throughout history is not indifference or inability but a principled refusal to violate just procedure, even at immense cost.
See also. csg-satan-accusation-rights-basis, csg-god-bound-by-own-law, csg-liberation-of-god-is-human-task