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No Condemnation
Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
It is not the will of God for any Christian to walk in condemnation! If we battle with an area in our lives we do no need to be condemned. But if it is an area that we know must change, then we must pray and seek deliverance, healing or change. God will help all who seek Him, and is willing to bring us through everything, into a life of freedom. If we concentrate on the problem too much then we will not focus on Christ. Our focus must be on Him first, and then He will help us overcome. But if we totally ignore the problem for the sake of avoiding condemnation we will never overcome or become fruitful. Condemnation is the natural result of being guilty. Many Christians tried to avoid guilt, saying that it is not of God, when god is trying to use it to bring a person to repentance. This is conviction by the Holy Spirit. If a person is feeling condemned; then the first thing to ask is “why?” Is this condemnation guilt for sin that has already been forgiven? If so, then they need to understand that such sin is washed away and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Or is this condemnation guilt fir sin that is presently a part of that persons life? If so, then they need to understand that the reason for their condemnation is because of their sin, and the fact that they are guilty. The problem we have with many today is that they want to label all guilt as condemnation that should be shunned. Since Calvinists teach, “Once saved, always saved”, even the backslider should not be condemned in their sin, since they are still saved by grace. While in grace there can be no condemnation or guilt, because Christ took it all upon Himself. But this is completely opposite of what scripture teaches us. The first thing to note here is that there is no condemnation to them who are “in” Christ Jesus. Those who are not “in” Christ will have the natural result of their sin, which is condemnation. It is sin that condemns! If we live a life that is free from sin, as God has intended through the shed blood of Jesus, then there will never be any condemnation, because sin no longer has a grip on our lives. Because we are free from sin, we are not condemned, as long as we are “in” Christ. But those who choose to serve sin rather than God, including the backslider, are condemned already, which is the natural result of sin. Calvinists teach that once you have given your life to Christ that there is no condemnation, meaning that you cannot be condemned for sin. But this scripture is clearly talking about those who are in Christ. The power of sin is not broken in their lives if they continue to sin, because they have given themselves to sin. Again: If condemnation comes to a person they should consider “why”. Is it the guilt of past sins or of present sins? If of past sins then we should not give in to the lie of the enemy, knowing that we are forgiven. But if of present sins then we must receive it not as condemnation, but as conviction by the Holy Spirit, and not from the enemy. The lie of the enemy would be to convince us that all is okay because all present and future sins are automatically forgiven. Many people have confused conviction for condemnation, and therefore refuse salvation through repentance. If they refuse the conviction of God, there is condemnation, because they are not in Christ Jesus. According to Jesus they are condemned already, because their lifestyle shows that they do not truly believe on Him. John 3:18-20 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” I have worked with a lot of people who have shared a belief in Eternal Security who have had many problems with sin. These same people do not like to hear that they are sinning, and that their sin displeases God. They want to be justified in their sin so they do not have to feel condemned. They do not like to hear the truth because it shines light into their darkness and they do not want to change. They like their sin! They want to be saved and have their sin also. Calvinist doctrine allows such a lifestyle; therefore many people have gladly received such so-called “good news” (that they cannot lose their salvation no matter what). But this is a dangerous place to be, as many people will be so convinced that this doctrine is true that they will never change. They will never change their belief in this doctrine, because if they did they would have to change their lifestyles as well. And while they refuse to change their lifestyles, they are in danger of having their conscience seared so that they will never be saved. One woman that came to my Church for a period of time believed very strongly in Eternal Security. She knows that she knows she has been born again, because of the experience she had in Christ upon salvation. When asked if she would go to heaven if she would die she would answer, absolutely yes! While claiming to have salvation, she struggled with many sins because she simply refused to accept they were sin at all. Those thing that were sin she dogmatically insisted she was saved regardless her serious issues. It wasn’t an issue of not seeing things correctly, but of refusing to accept that what she was doing was sin in which the Bible shows that she could not be saved through partaking in. She liked her sin and wanted to justify her actions, no matter what others would tell her. Any true Christian that would meet this woman could see the clear bondage that she was in, but she refused to accept that these things were her problem. She wanted help in any other way, but not in the way it was given to her, because it would require a change of lifestyle. She wanted a quick fix, so she could keep her sin and still walk in the blessings of God. Both her and her husband were heavily involved in advanced versions of Dungeons and Dragons, an online video game that could be played with others on the Internet. The game is full of demons, witchcraft, sorcery, and a lot of bloody violence. They would choose demonic names for their characters and spend hours upon hours playing this game. They would often have things happen in their house, such as the kitchen stove burners being turned on when nobody was in the kitchen; sudden sicknesses that would instantly go away after being prayed for -- but would shortly return, demonic manifestations in the home, physical attacks from demons, and many other demonic experiences. She would use many cuss words, always attempting to justify their sin. She had gotten very upset whenever someone would mention that her sin would separate her from salvation. Because she had been taught, “Once saved, always saved” by her parents and other ministries, she absolutely refused to accept anything different. In one instant she wanted to completely renounce Christ after I had shown her many scriptures on the issue, saying, “If God will take away my salvation over a few sins, then I don’t want to serve a God like that!” Because of her belief in Eternal Security, after I had spoken on the subject of the tribulation period, she explained that she felt that if she had to go through the tribulation period that she could take the mark of the beast and still be saved, because once saved always saved, and because God knows that she would have to eat. This almost sounds like simple ignorance of scripture, but one belief after another just like this one comes from her, without any willingness to change or listen to the advice of a man or woman of God. I do not believe there is any reason to believe that she did not get saved when she first came to Christ, as she had shared in tears and praise to God of all that He did for her. There had once been evidence of true salvation. All these demonic experiences happened in their home when they were faithful to Church, growing in areas, but yet refusing other areas. But after a period of time of refusing to change they eventually stopped coming to Church, got more involves in their worldly and demonic things, and the demonic activity stopped. Once the enemy got them to listen to him long enough, he got them to choose sin over God, and he no longer needed to bother them with demons. Now they would appear to have peace in their home, while still claiming to be saved.
So if we are feeling condemned, we should be sure to check and see why.
If it is something that we have given to God already, then we have been
forgiven and do not need to be condemned. If it is over something that
is presently in out lives and we know it is sin, then we need to be careful
not to confuse guilt and condemnation for conviction and dealing by the
Holy Spirit. If we say that all sin is covered by the righteousness of
Christ and ignore the sin, calling it condemnation, then we can deceive
ourselves, and fall into a trap of the enemy to destroy us through sin.
If we are in Christ there is no condemnation because there is nothing
left to be condemned about. But if we are condemned over sin, we must
take heed to Gods dealings before it may be too late. If we do not walk
after the flesh, but after the Spirit, we will not walk in condemnation 
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Calvinism