Today, we shall conclude on our series on Freedom from Condemnation. In the last three episodes, we have considered the weight of condemnation and seen that it hinders our spiritual growth. We have seen that the Holy Spirit never condemns us but convicts us of our sins and mistakes and guides us towards repentance and growth.

And we saw in the last episode that righteousness is a free gift that we do not earn and that the most effective way to gain freedom from condemnation is to develop a righteousness consciousness. We concluded by emphasizing the need to constantly reflect on those Bible verses that emphasize our righteousness in Christ; to remind ourselves daily that we are forgiven, justified, and righteous in the eyes of God; and then go a step further to declare the Word of God against our feelings of unworthiness and negative utterances from other people.

Today, we shall consider what happens when we break free from feelings of condemnation and start walking free from condemnation.

When you break free from condemnation, you stop focusing on your failures and inadequacies and you stop living in the expectancy that God will punish you or withhold His blessings and protection from you once you miss it. This sense of freedom is liberating because it increases your joy and the excitement of having a relationship with God. It will transform your relationship with God from ordinary to a closer and loving one. It would give you the freedom and confidence to approach the presence of God at any time without a sense of guilt and unworthiness.

Freedom from condemnation sets us free to walk with the Holy Spirit. Our text for this series in Romans 8:1 states that there is now no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ. Verse 2 states further — “And because you belong to Christ, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

Like we saw in Episode 60 — the Spirit of God lives within His children and has given us the power of dominion over the flesh and sin and also the power to grow in our faith and the knowledge of God. However, the Spirit of God needs our cooperation to do this work. Living in shame and guilt deprives us of manifesting and living in the power of the Spirit of God. Breaking free from the bondage of condemnation grants the Spirit of God the permission to commence His work of transformation in our lives.

People would argue that teaching Christians that they are free from all condemnation would encourage them to live lives of sin. The opposite is actually the case. In fact, an understanding of the unconditional love of God and His grace would cause genuinely born-again Christians to live their lives to please God. Knowing that God loves us despite our mistakes and errors brings out the best in us; sets people free to reign in life and actually positions us to experience physical and emotional healing, victory, and deliverance over things that had previously kept us in bondage.

From the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8, you would notice that our Lord Jesus clearly did not think that freedom from condemnation would lead the woman to a life of sin. Jesus gave her the gift of “no condemnation” before He told her to go and sin no more.

But today, we have reversed that order. Today we require that people be sinless and perfect before we can set them free from condemnation. People are told to get their lives together first before they can be part of the church. Some churches have drawn up a list of conditions that have to be met before people can become members of the church or even enter the church building.

So, a lot of people shy away from the church because they have not been introduced to the real Jesus who gives the guilty sinner the gift of no condemnation before experiencing the power to change! Yet Jesus said to us in Matthew 9:12-13 — it is not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick. He said He did not come for the righteous but the sinners. Yet we deny those that need help access to Him because we have already judged them and condemned them.

People are introduced to Christianity as a set of rules that only judges and condemns them. But Christianity is not about rules. Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ based on His shed blood which ultimately bears the fruit of good works.

Let me ask you a question: was the woman brought before Jesus guilty? Yes, John 8:4 says she was “caught in adultery, in the very act.” But instead of condemning her according to the law of Moses, which required her to be stoned to death, Jesus showed her grace and gave her the gift of no condemnation.

Do you think that this woman would go back to continue with her previous life after she had received the gift of no condemnation? Of course not! It is obvious that Jesus believed that when someone really understands that God does not condemn him, he would receive the power to get out of the vicious cycle of sin.

In fact, the truth is that while we focus on people’s past and mistakes, God focuses on the perfect persons we could be, if we could depend on the help and power of His Spirit. Let me say it again: God is not focused on our past mistakes and our present inadequacies. He is focused on the strong and beautiful lives we could be living in the future if we could allow Him to help us.

That is why Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery. That is why He does not condemn us. And that is why we should break free from condemnation.

The condemnation consciousness rather than a righteousness consciousness is the root of the inability of most Christians to possess the promises and blessings of God because it makes us feel inadequate and undeserving of those promises. Walking free from condemnation would open the floodgate into God’s blessings and promises.

I recently heard the account of a woman who had a spine injury and had also been sickly all her life. While at a prayer conference, there was a prophecy for a person who had a spine injury to come forward. When she came out, the man of God told her that God just wanted her to know He loved her. He then laid his hand on her and prayed for her and she was healed.

The next day, the woman testified that all her life, she had believed that there was something wrong with her and, as a result, God loved everyone around her but did not love her. The minute she got the assurance that God loved her, she was set free. The feeling of condemnation had kept her in bondage all her life.

Breaking free from condemnation would allow you discover your identity as a child of God. It takes a person who is free from condemnation to believe that he is who God says he is when he has not experienced the situation.

It boils down to accepting our new identity in Christ if we want to walk in the freedom and victory of one who has been delivered from the bondage of condemnation. If you don’t accept your true identity in Christ, you will remain under the bondage of condemnation.