Conviction vs. Condemnation
Josh Mulvihill, in his book titled, Preparing Children for Marriage described a great method for discerning on whether one is being condemned or convicted.
If you feel agitated while reading this chapter, determine whether you are being condemned or convicted. One way to recognize the difference between the two is to consider where each leads. Condemnation proclaims you are a failure and points out a problem without providing a solution. It leads to shame and often causes a person to inflict self-punishment. Conviction from the Holy Spirit causes godly sorrow and invites you to repent of sin. It leads to Christ, who offers to take your punishment and declare you free from guilt. Satan condemns, so a feeling of condemnation is not of the Lord (John 3:17). But God’s moral standards are convicting. If God’s Spirit convicts your heart, recognize this and respond appropriately. (Mulvihill 2017)
Condemnation comes from Satan. It starts with a proclamation of failure in the mind, it emphasizes the problem without providing a solution. It produces shame and causes me to punish my self for the wrong done.
Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit. It produces godly sorrow which includes an invitation to repent of my sin. This work leads me to Christ, the one who bore my sin and shame in his body and offers to take the guilt and shame of all who come to him.
These two realities are often hard to tell apart in the moment. But, standing in the gospel, I am to reject condemnation and embrace conviction. Romans 8:1 tells me that there is now no more condemnation. I am to exercise faith and believe that truth, repent of my sin and trust in the finished work of my Savior.