There’s A BIG Difference Between Conviction And Condemnation
Dr. Charles Stanley’s TV broadcast yesterday morning provided an excellent explanation of the difference between conviction and condemnation, which is something I’ve been meaning to write about, because a VERY important step in our stand for marriage restoration is examining our own faults instead of spending so much time focusing on everything our husbands have done (or do) wrong. This can be a major hurdle for women whose husbands have left them, especially when adultery is involved, and many times when we are finally able to do it, the challenge then becomes to understand the difference between conviction and condemnation. I usually explain it this way. Conviction is something the Lord brings to lead us to repentance and change, and condemnation is something Satan uses to deceive, discourage and destroy us. So I often remind women that we examine our behavior to learn a better way to do it the next time; that our goal is conviction that leads to repentance and change, and not condemnation for Satan to use against us.
For many of us, there’s a great deal of pain, and even grief, associated with finally understanding and acknowledging the harm we did to our husbands and our marriages, but we must not allow that to become strongholds of guilt, shame or condemnation. It also often answers the questions a lot of women have, which is “Why?…What happened?” So we can use conviction concerning our mistakes, and the resulting repentance and changes, as well as a better understanding of what went wrong, to help us learn from our mistakes, which we can then use to help other women avoid making the same mistakes.
John 10:10 really spells out the difference between condemnation and conviction, because it says The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. The life that Jesus came to give us comes through the conviction of our sins and repentance, which leads to changes in us that bring forth fruit for the Lord’s glory. It’s very often the changes made as the result of conviction that tend to draw husbands back to their wives, resulting in marriage restoration, and that certainly glorifies the Lord! The following verses further illustrate the difference between condemnation and conviction:
Romans 5:16
Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
Romans 5:18
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
Romans 8:1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8 gives us a better understanding of how we can live without condemnation through the spirit, which enables us to overcome our sin nature. And the following verses teach us more about the purpose, necessity and results of conviction leading to repentance:
Acts 5:31
God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.
Romans 2:4
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
Matthew 3:8
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Timothy 2:24-26
And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
2 Corinthians 7:9-10
yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
Acts 26:20
First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
Isaiah 30:15
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
The condemnation of mankind began with Satan’s deception in the garden, which doomed us to spiritual death and eternity in hell, but by the grace and love of our Lord and Savior, we can respond to the conviction of our sins by repenting and be saved from spiritual death. However, once we’re born again Christians, failure to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, by refusing to repent and change, keeps the Lord from blessing and protecting us, and could even put us in danger of physical death. God is VERY patient with us, but He will NOT allow us to bring shame or disgrace to the name of Jesus, as we see in the following verses, which were addressed to born again believers and followers of Jesus:
2 Peter 3:8
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Hebrews 6:4-8
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
So when the Lord brings conviction through the power of the Holy spirit, it is very important for us to respond to that conviction by repenting and changing our ways, or as Jesus told the woman caught in adultery in John 8:11, …go and sin no more. Of course, it’s not always that easy to change, but Romans 8 assures us that we CAN, because as Philippians 4:13 tells us, we can do ALL things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us! And when Satan tries to destroy us through a sense of guilt, shame or condemnation, designed to keep us from repentance and the changes needed in us for the glory of the Lord, We need to reject it and tell him out loud that we have NO CONDEMNATION BECAUSE WE’RE IN CHRIST JESUS! And we see in John 15:5 why that’s so important, because it says “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. So, instead of allowing our mistakes to bury us in guilt, shame or condemnation, we need to praise and glorify the Lord for the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the fruit and blessings it will produce in our lives.
Here’s a link to Charles Stanley’s message, Conviction vs Condemnation, from Sunday, June 11, 2006.