"There is therefore now NO condemnation…”

According to a study intrinsically religious participants (those whose faith is central to their lives) scored higher on a guilt-proneness scale than extrinsically religious participants (those who evaluate their religious faith in light of their other needs). Basically people of faith tend to carry around more guilt than those who are not (McMinn, 1996).

All I can say to that study is WOW! Sad but true! Guilt is the enemy’s number one scheme for holding down The Christian!

A few weeks ago I blogged about being more Christ conscious vs. sin conscious, but I know first-hand how religiosity has made Christians so sin conscious until it has become a way of life. Seeing this, Christian’s need to be reminded daily that according to Romans 8:1, “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.”

Before we begin I know some of you may be saying, yes, what you are saying is right, but don’t leave out what it says about “there being no condemnation if you walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.” Well, if you read further along this scripture it also says, in verse 9 of this same scripture, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you…And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Without getting to deep into this, are you saved? Do you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life? If you can truly answer yes to these questions, then you are not of the flesh any longer, you are dead to the flesh, and alive to the Spirit; therefore now, there should be NO CONDEMNATION IN YOUR LIFE!

Condemnation is in my belief one of satan’s biggest schemes for getting Christians to focus on their sins and not on Christ and His gift of righteousness and grace! The definition of condemnation is, “blame, criticism, attack, disapproval” (to name a few).

Condemnation is a deep rooted attack of the enemy and from this attack springs many other self-defeating sin conscious schemes, and once these schemes and tactics take root, without proper Biblical understanding, knowledge and prayer, it could take a lifetime to uproot the harm and get on track to being Christ conscious!

You see the minute a Christian feels condemned for sinning, he then feels God has criticized him for that sin, that God blames him for that sin, or that He is disappointed in him because of that sin. Once this happens fears begins to set in and once fear sets in, stress begins to take over because you now feel you have disappointed God. Once you feel you have disappointed God several consequences take place; some people feel they won’t be rewarded once they get to heaven, some feel they will be judged by God for committing the sin, some people feel they have already committed so many sins what good would changing them now do, some Christians feel shame and don’t even bother with accepting Christ, and unfortunately some people feel so condemned by their sin until they feel they won’t even make it into Heaven.

The root of condemnation is so deep that it doesn’t just stop at stress, once stress sets in your body, sickness can then take over, once sickness becomes a part of your life and by now a part of your vocabulary, then comes the cycle of a destructive life style; financial lack, mental attacks, physical attacks, hanging with the wrong crowd, believing the wrong thoughts about yourself and your family and thus you are on the road to a destructive lifestyle.

This is not the life God desires for His children to live, and the destructive cycle I just explained is real. But here is the HOPE, God knows it’s real, and He knows the cycle of attack satan attempts to put on His children. Do you really believe God wants His heirs to go through life this way? Of course not, and if God is all knowing as we claim He is in our testimonies when we talk to people, then wouldn’t you think He already knows that condemnation will cause this type of effect on our lives? God doesn’t want you to be condemned; no He doesn’t desire sin either, BUT THAT’S WHY HE GAVE US CHRIST!

In Hebrew, the name satan is ha-satan, (I don’t even like typing it) which literally means “the accuser”. He is a prosecutor, an expert at condemning you, pointing out your shortcomings, faults and yes of course your sins. Condemning is his gift so to speak, it is the thing he does best. Condemnation is a cunning and sly tactic of the enemy because most Christian’s know the law, they know they shouldn’t do this or do that, so once they know this, they try not to do it, (their focus turns to trying not to sin instead of living in acceptance of their righteousness) but here comes that devil once again, now he will try and make them feel condemned once they fall back on what they know they shouldn’t do! Well I’m here to tell you to stop it! If you are a child of Jesus Christ, know that God knows you, know that He even knew you were going to sin before you did it, but also know that He still loves you in spite of that sin!

Many Christians believe that the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sins, He condemns you when you disappoint God. The Holy Spirit does not convict you of your sins. As a true Christian, do you really need to be reminded when you have sinned? I think not, most of us know when we have done something wrong, even nonbelievers. The HOLY SPIRT never points out your faults, He only reminds you of your righteousness, of God’s inexhaustible GRACE in your life, and that you are eternally cleansed by the blood of Jesus!    

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube