Conviction verses Condemnation
Conviction drives you to God while condemnation will drive you away from God. The
agent of conviction is the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11) verse 8 says “and when He is
come, He will reprove (convict) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment”. The idea of conviction is a major theme in Scripture. Once David was
convicted of his sin, he turned to God and prayed for forgiveness (Psalms 32:1-5, 51:1-
15). The means of conviction is either the Word of God (Acts 2:37-38) “now when they
heard this they were pricked in their heart, and said to Peter and to the rest of the
apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, repent, and
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”, or God’s general revelation of His demands
through nature and people’s inborn consciousness of a sense of right and wrong
(Romans 1:18-20, and 2:15 which says “which show the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean which
accusing or else excusing one another”). The purpose of conviction is to lead people
to repent of their sins and turn to God for salvation and eternal life. Romans 2:4 says
“that the goodness of God leads you to repentance”. Conviction makes you aware of
sin and leads you to repent.
Condemnation makes you run from God, thinking that you are unfit, this comes from
the devil. Once a person gets tempted into sin, the devil will tell them that God doesn’t
love them any more, and that God can’t use them, but the devil is a liar. I John 1:9
says “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness”. Turn back to God. Remember Israel turned away many
times and God took them back when they cried out to Him. Isn’t it ironic the devil will
encourage you to sin, then will condemn you when you do. Condemnation declares a
person guilty and worthy of punishment. The opposite is of justify and justification.
Romans 5:16,18) “therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation, even so by the righteousness on One (Jesus) the free gift came upon
all men to justification of life”. Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 “for by your words you shall
be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” The mission of Jesus was
not to condemn the world but to save it by bearing on the cross the sin that belonged
to His people (John 3:17-18) “for God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believes in Him is not
condemned, but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God”. There is no condemnation for
sinners who repent and believe in Him. Jesus not only bore the consequences of sin,
but also condemned (destroyed) sin itself so that believers are released from its power
(Roman 8:1-3) “therefore is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh”. Since they have experienced a
gracious pardon, believers are directed to practice forgiveness and to avoid
vindictiveness: “Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned” (Luke 6:37).
Your past is just that, it’s past, gone forever. Paul said “Brethren, I count not myself to
have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth to those things which are before”. He also said “we have wronged
no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man” (II Corinthians 7:2) he
said this, even though we know that Paul persecuted believers before his conversion.
Your past doesn’t determine your future, “you are a new creation in Christ” (II
Corinthians 5:17).
Remember the devil is “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10) and he will
enlist even your best friend or family members to help him do this. Ephesians 6:12 “for
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places”, verse 10-11 warns us to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil”. James says “submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee
from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8a). Remember
that the devil is a bully, trying to scare you to believe that he has power over you, but
just as when you try a bully, he will leave when you stand up for yourself.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: Sept 26, 2006