What is the Difference between Conviction and Condemnation?

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10)

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The members of the Corinthian church were out of line.

They had participated in activities that were not in line with the salvation they professed. This included:

• Being divided over teachers (1 Cor. 1:10)
• Tolerating incest (1 Cor. 5)
• Bringing lawsuits against one another (1 Cor. 6:1-11)
• Sexual immorality (1 Cor. 6:12-20)
• Were not exercising wisdom when it came to eating from foods sacrificed by idols (1 Cor. 8)
• Abusing the poor by marginalizing them from the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11:17-34).

As a key leader within early Christianity, there was an urgent need for Paul to provide loving instruction. This is evident within the book 1 Corinthians, which records His letters to the church. He addresses the problems thoroughly.

Later, in 2 Corinthians, we see that Paul had initially regretted sending the letter of correction. It can, after all, be incredibly uncomfortable to have the courage to confront a group of people in love.

But this feeling was only temporary, for Paul stated:

“Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—” (2 Corinthians 7:8)

The letter was not sent to stir destructive despair within the hearts of the Corinthians. Rather, as a leader, Paul was writing to provide instruction to help the Corinthian people live in harmony, love, and holiness.

Although it was painful for them to listen to Paul’s words, it did indeed cause a healthy change:

“yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us” (2 Corinthians 7:9)

Not only did the Corinthian church listen to Paul and feel regret about their actions, but they aligned their actions accordingly. As a result, they changed their behaviour.

In this, Paul makes a very important distinction regarding the subject of the sorrow resulting from confrontation: Godly and worldly sorrow.

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.  See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter” (2 Corinthians 7:10-11)

Godly sorrow is often referred to as conviction. This is when correction brings a person grief for their actions, but it does not stop there. They go on to repent, which means turning away from their action and starting new. It is not marked by perfection, but there is clear evidence that they are trying. It is more than words. It is actions that align with regret.

On the other hand, worldly sorrow, otherwise known as condemnation., results in a person being in absolute despair. Rather than producing growth and change in a person’s life, the individual engages with deep sorrow, paralyzing them. It is a tool from the enemy, used to discourage us and pull us away from the God who loves us.

The Holy Spirit uses conviction to pull us toward Himself. It is a blessing to be corrected by God, even though it can feel unpleasant. God is pointing out things in our lives that keep us from living how He truly designed us to live.

Condemnation is a deception that tells us that God cannot forgive us for our faults. It seeks to pull us away from God, producing within us a sense of hopelessness that we could not possibly get rid of this sin within our lives or that God will forever be angry with us, holding our sin against us for the rest of our lives.

When that fact is, if we are believers in Christ and have surrendered our lives to Him and have turned away from our sins, Scripture says that no one can condemn us or separate us from the love of God.

The Bible states:

“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” (Rom. 8:34)

Therefore, we can see that one path is true, the other a falsehood.

The truth is God’s correction can feel uncomfortable, even though it has the potential to produce good in our lives if we yield to Him.

The enemy wants to prevent this from happening and will often use the tools of shame and pride to keep us from running to God. He will try and convince us that we are too far from grace, that the love of God is for everyone else but not us. That God can make anyone new except us.

None of us are capable of saving ourselves. Because of our state of depravity, we are in desperate of the saving grace of God. Reconciliation is only possible through Christ alone.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

We can believe the truth that just because discipline is hard to feel in the moment, it is an act of love that points us back toward the arms of the Father.

We can trust that the One who in all things “works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28) can take even our mistakes and use them to show the depth of His grace and redemptive power.

His redemption is more powerful than our feelings at the moment. Therefore, we can be encouraged to start again when the Lord reveals something in our lives that needs to change.

We can rest in the fact that His correction reveals the depth of His love for us.

God bless,