Conviction or condemnation one brings shame the other brings change, which one are you operating in? Condemnation is shame based. Condemnation says “you are a dirty no good sinner and you will never change”. Satan loves to keep us in shame because it causes us to separate ourselves from God. When we feel shame and self-condemned we want to hide from God just like Adam and Eve. In Genesis Adam and Eve hid from God because of their sin, they were naked and felt exposed. Genesis 3:7 says they felt ashamed because of their nakedness. God judged them but didn’t completely condemn them. They died spiritually and were cursed, but God gave them a promise of a savior.
Conviction says ” we have a problem but we can fix it with the help of the Holy spirit”. Conviction sees the need for change, leads to repentance, a turning away. John 16:8 says the Holy Spirit will come and bring conviction. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says the sorrow God wants us to have leads us away from sin. It results in salvation. Some translations say it leaves no regret. so conviction is a sorrow for what we have done but it results in salvation. The salvation Jesus paid for brings sanctification. So conviction brings sanctification. Sanctification is the act of making something holy. We were sanctified when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we are being sanctified. Sanctification starts with conviction which leads to repentance. This is what God desires for us. The Holy Spirit can’t do his sanctification process without conviction.
I once walked in self-condemnation. I had to learn the difference from condemnation and conviction. The lie the enemy whispered to me was “your past is so bad God will never use you”. This kept me distant from God. At one time I had a vibrant relationship with God and then I went through a divorce. I had a hard time forgiving myself. This led to more sin and more condemnation. It took the Holy Spirit to reveal to me I was living in condemnation. I had to learn the difference between condemnation and conviction. This is when I discovered Romans 8:1. It says there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. This verse is talking about any condemnation whether it is by Satan, yourself or anyone else. Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise. He came to set us free from sin and the shame that comes with it. Romans chapter 8 explains that the Holy Spirit has freed us from the power of sin. It also states that Jesus’ work on the cross freed us from the control of sin. That is because God doesn’t want us to walk in shame and condemnation but in conviction.
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