Condemnation vs Conviction
Baby Girl,
Last Tuesday night at Bible study, you were quick to answer the question, “I feel guilty a lot. What is the difference between conviction and condemnation? How do I know if it is the conviction of God or condemnation from the enemy?”
Your answer was good, yet incomplete when you said, “Ask yourself two questions: 1) Have I asked God to forgive me for what I feel guilty about? 2) Have I stopped doing what I asked Him to forgive?”
That’s a good start and you were on the right track. The problem is you are wanting to take more advanced math and treat it like an addition or subtraction problem. You’re doing the same thing with a lot of your theology.
You are not unique. Many of My children who have been called to share the gospel are complicating it so much that walking in freedom is all but impossible. Others, like you, are trying to overly simplify it so it can be delivered in an easy-to-digest package; a catch phrase, a bumper sticker, or a t-shirt design. The truth is simple, yet multi-dimensional.
Let’s consider that first question: “What is the difference between conviction and condemnation?”
You are correct. When someone truly repents, asks My forgiveness, and turns from their sin, in theory, they should be forgiven, right?
Scripture does say that if you confess your sin, I am faithful and just and will forgive you your sins and purify you from all unrighteousness.
Don’t forget though that Jesus also said, “If you are offering your gift at the altar,” such as repentance, “and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
Making things right with Me requires that you do your part first to make things right with whomever you have harmed when possible. Repentance is not complete until you have done that.
So, you might say, “Ask yourself three questions:
1) Have I asked God to forgive me for what I feel guilty about?
2) Have I stopped doing that thing I’m feeling guilty about? and
3) Have I done my part to make things right with anyone I may have harmed?”
It would go to reason that if you could say yes to all three of those questions, any guilt you are feeling is not conviction from Me, but rather condemnation from the devil - the accuser of the brethren.
Each of those parts are important when approaching the subject of My forgiveness, but it lacks one important element: “Are you holding unforgiveness, resentment, or bitterness in your heart towards any person for any reason?”
You might think this question is completely unrelated to why a person may be living with a sense of condemnation in their lives about a completely unrelated subject, but the two are not unrelated.
When Jesus states, “If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins,” there was no caveat. There are no exceptions to that rule. The two situations may be completely unrelated in the natural world, but they are interwoven and inseparable in the spiritual world.
If you have not confessed your sin to Me and asked forgiveness, satan has full authority to throw the fiery darts of guilt and condemnation. He is within his legal right in the courtroom of Heaven to bring the accusation.
If you have not done your part to make things right with the person you have harmed, he has the authority to bring on you guilt, condemnation, and accusation.
If you are still walking in the sinful patterns of the world, despite the lip service you gave to asking forgiveness, once again, he still has every right to accuse you.
If you’ve done all you can do to correct everything in THIS situation, attempting to make things right with both God and man, yet you harbor anger, resentment, bitterness, rage, malice, or unforgiveness in your heart towards anyone - ANYONE - your act of repentance in this seemingly unrelated situation is incomplete and insufficient to remove that sense of guilt and condemnation.
The Word was not given to bring condemnation on people, but rather to shine a light in the darkness, to convict the world of sin, and offer an opportunity for redemption. Forgiveness is a free gift provided by the finished work on the cross but there is a proper way to receive it.
Remember last week at your client’s house when, in the middle of filling your mop bucket with water, the water stopped flowing? Did the city run low on water?
No. There was not a problem with the water company. My client forgot to pay the bill, so the water company turned off the water. Not one faucet in the house had water. You couldn’t wash your hands, flush a toilet, wash the dishes, or mop the floors.
Water was still coming all the way to the house but, because the water company had turned off the water, you couldn’t access it.
What needed to happen?
My client had to make a call and pay that bill so the company could restore the water to the house.
When you are feeling guilt and condemnation, it’s not that forgiveness is not available, it is that until you pay the bill (do your part to receive forgiveness), access to the water (forgiveness) is interrupted. That free-flowing access to the Spirit of God is inhibited until you pay the bill (do your part).
It sounds like you’re saying we need to work for salvation.
I’m not talking about your salvation. Your salvation is a gift that was purchased outright and with no strings attached by the finished work of My Son on the cross. When He said, “It is finished,” it is. If you get to Heaven with unforgiveness in your heart towards someone, I will not stand on the other side of the gates wagging My finger and saying, “Shame on you. You didn’t forgive your brother; you’re not getting in.”
I am talking about the freedom to come boldly before the throne of grace in time of need. I’m talking about the freedom to hold your head high, knowing that you are in right standing with Me and with people, and to have the authority to boldly tell satan that he has no legal rights to accuse you of anything!
It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, how far you’ve run, or how much the world holds your sin against you. It is possible that although, in the Kingdom, you stand completely justified, forgiven, and your record expunged, for you to still have the earthly consequences playing out from where you have missed the mark. My forgiveness does not undo earthly consequences but rather ROBS those earthly consequences of the right to hold you in shame and condemnation.
When you have truly repented - not only apologizing but seeking to make things right with someone you have harmed - their forgiveness is none of your business. They do not need to forgive you for you to stand forgiven. You only need to do your part and leave the rest in My hands.
Don’t oversimplify the truth and don’t overcomplicate it.
Back to bed, Little One.
LOVE,
Daddy
Matthew 6:14-15