No Condemnation

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shared these thoughts with a young friend yesterday. I know a lot of us struggle with the same thing, so I thought I’d blog about it today. Romans 8:1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Later in that same chapter, Paul says, What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.

Elsewhere in scripture, Satan is called, “the accuser of the brethren.” Most often, the fiery darts that the enemy sends are thoughts of condemnation. Don’t confuse condemnation, which comes from the enemy, with conviction, which comes from the Holy Spirit. Conviction points us to a specific sin, and forces us to deal with that sin according to biblical principles. Condemnation is that sense of being totally useless to our Lord, a “good for nothing loser.” The enemy uses this tool as a “demotivator,” crippling us in our fulfillment of the “good works He has foreordained for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).

Here are a couple of music videos that will remind you to listen to the voice of the Shepherd; that same voice that told Peter, the one who failed Him miserably, to “feed my sheep.” He tells us to forget what is behind and press on. May you be encouraged today to remember that the voice of condemnation is not the voice of the Shepherd speaking to you!