If you’re serious about walking with Jesus, it will often emotionally disturb you when you realize that you’ve sinned.
That emotional disturbance is often labeled as guilt, shame, or fear. (For more on that topic, especially as it relates to cross-cultural ministry, please look at my review of Jayson Georges’ excellent book “The 3D Gospel”.)
You’ll often also feel a heaviness in your heart. That heaviness can either be conviction or condemnation.
Both conviction and condemnation involve a heavy conscience and an emotional weight. These can feel similar, but are significantly different.
This article will explore the distinctions between conviction and condemnation, as well as why it matters for Christians to rightly understand this topic.
We’ll do this by first establishing some foundational tenets of Christian doctrine. This will be the basis through which we’ll compare and contrast conviction and condemnation, noting five key distinctions between these concepts. Then, we’ll conclude with a few questions for consideration.
Foundational Christian Doctrine Relevant to this Topic
To begin, let’s establish five basic tenets of Christian doctrine pertaining to this discussion. These are:
- Salvation has everything to do with Christ’s merit.
- This reception of Christ’s merit happens by receiving it in faith.
- God’s desire is to extend forgiveness to sinners.
- God is willing to forgive, over and over, a struggling Christian.
- God’s opinion of a person is of far greater importance than anyone else’s.
For each of these tenets, I’ll give one or two additional thoughts and list a few corroborating Bible passages. (My emphasis added to these passages.)
**For the sake of brevity, I’ll be going quickly through these. In the coming weeks, I will try to write a short article on each of these, linked back into this article**
1. Salvation has everything to do with Christ’s merit. It is about Him being sufficiently good on our behalf to restore us to relationship with God. This is the only way to be right with God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
John 14:6-7: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you really know Me, you will know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”
2. This reception of Christ’s merit happens by receiving it in faith. It is never a matter of us somehow earning it.
Ephesians 2:1-10: As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Romans 3:21-28: But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
Galatians 2:15-16: “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
3. God’s desire is to extend forgiveness to sinners. When people come to God through Christ in faith, God’s response is grace and forgiveness.
Mark 1:14-15: After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” He said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Luke 15:7: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
John 3:16-18: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
(This last one isn’t a passage of Scripture, but I really wanted to include this quote, because it summarizes this so well.)
“The cumulative testimony of the four Gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about him, his deepest impulse, his most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it.”
― Dane C. Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
4. God is willing to forgive, over and over, a struggling Christian. Sin is a serious issue that needs to be addressed, but God remains committed to relationship with struggling Christians and sanctifying struggling Christians.
Luke 17:3b-4: “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
1 John 1:6-10: If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us.
Hebrews 4:14-16: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
5. God’s opinion of a person is of far greater importance than anyone else’s. Both our hearts and the Enemy can and do accuse us of failure. This testimony doesn’t get to outweigh what Jesus has done and said. What God thinks of a person is the true definition of a person; all other opinions are immaterial.
1 John 2: 19-20: This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
Zechariah 3:1: Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.
Revelation 12:10-12: Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
So, to recap: God desires to save sinners, but the only path to salvation is through faith in Christ Jesus. When someone comes to faith in Christ, they enter into a lasting relationship with God, and God continues in relationship with them throughout their life and any subsequent struggles. This continuing commitment by God to the Christian is definitional, the “real truth” about a person’s standing with God.
With all of this in mind, we’re ready to present five key distinctions between conviction and condemnation.
5 Distinctions Between Conviction and Condemnation
1. Conviction is appropriate for Christians. Condemnation is not.
Conviction is a gift of God, given by the Holy Spirit to people seeking to walk with God. It is the sensation that accompanies God identifying sin in our life, so that we can “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1).
Meanwhile, condemnation is a sense that your sin has broken your relationship with God. Now, it’s important to note that this is valid, but only for those who haven’t come to faith in Christ. Consider the words in John 3:18:
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
So, condemnation is a valid sense of guilt before God, but only for those who haven’t come to faith in Christ. For the people who do have faith in Christ?
Romans 8:1-2: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
So, condemnation is simply not true or appropriate for Christians. The is no need to “fix” something in order to have relationship with God; rather, God fixes Christians (sanctification) within the context of the relationship into which God has already brought the Christian.
The emotional pull of condemnation points believers away from Christ.
Thus, we see that conviction builds our relationship with God, leading us towards Jesus, while condemnation hinders a Christian’s relationship with God, leading us away from Jesus.
2. Conviction says “Bring this to God.” Condemnation says “Clean yourself up, and prove yourself to God.”
Conviction and condemnation both let us know that we aren’t in right alignment with God, but the direction they take us is very different.
Conviction urges you to bring a struggle or sin to God, letting Him restore you into right relationship with Him (Hebrews 4:14-16). Condemnation points us away from God; it’s the sense of shame that made Adam and Eve hide in fear from a God that had only shown them kindness (Genesis 3:6-10).
3. Conviction will invite you into relationship with other Christians. Condemnation will isolate you from relationship with other Christians.
Conviction will often be sourced and resolved in the context of Christian community. The New Testament is full of instructions and exhortations on how Christians are to deal with sin in one another. To list just a few of the many passages:
- Matthew 18:15-17 – Confront each other privately, only making it public if private confrontation doesn’t work.
- Luke 17:3-4 – If a brother sins, rebuke them. Forgive them when they repent. (Even if that happens over and over again!)
- Galatians 6:1 – Restore believers caught in sin gently.
- James 5:16 – Confess sins to each other, pray for each other.
- James 5:20 – Turn sinners back from error.
In each of these passages, the implication is clear; Christians are to deal with sin in the context of relationship with God and relationship with each other.
Meanwhile, condemnation isolates. Consider how both Peter and Judas failed Jesus, very publicly, during His arrest and crucifixion. Peter remained in relationship with the other disciples, while Judas didn’t. (For more on this, please read Peter and Judas: A Case Study in Repentance.)
4. Conviction says “This sin isn’t who you are.” Condemnation say “This sin is exactly who you are.”
Conviction says: “This sin isn’t who you are. You’re a child of God; let’s get back to walking with Him. This issue (unforgiveness, selfish ambition, porn, whatever it is) needs to go because that isn’t who He has made you to be! Time to get back to reality.”
Condemnation says: “This sin is exactly who you are. You might paint a good picture of who you are as a Christian, but this struggle; that’s who you really are.”
Understood in this way, conviction confirms a Christian’s identity as a child of God, while condemnation undermines the identity.
5. Conviction ends unrepentance. Condemnation can perpetuate unrepentance.
Conviction will keep you running towards Jesus as long as it’s present. It will push you towards repentance, and getting back to right relationship with God, as long as it’s present. Condemnation will prevent you from running to Jesus as long as it’s present.
Because of this, we can also say that conviction leads to joy (for joy is found in His presence), and condemnation is joyless.
Conclusion: Why This Matters and Questions for Reflection
When we misunderstand our relationship with God, we misunderstand both who God is towards us, and also misunderstand what we ought to do to be in right relationship with God. Rather than living our life with God, abiding in Him, we seek to earn our place with Him in a way that is completely contradictory to the entire Christian gospel and message.
This is a topic that, if understood correctly, could greatly help your relationship with God. Prayerfully consider these questions:
- Think through times that you’ve mistaken condemnation for conviction. What was the result of that mistaken understanding?
- Are there any areas of your life where you’re carrying condemnation?
- What does God want you to do with those areas? How will you pivot from trying to fix yourself so that you can go back to God (which doesn’t work), to bringing your brokenness to Him in trusting repentance?
- Lastly, what else separates conviction and condemnation? I think there’s a lot of wisdom out there on this topic. Please add any additional insights you have to the comments below.
Other Related Articles
I’ve written a number of articles that are connected to this topic, and have several more articles currently being written. Here is a compilation of these articles, in a series I’ve titled “Rightly Relating to God.”
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