The Condemned

John 8:7 “But as they continued asking Him, having lifted Himself up, also He said to them, “The one sinless among you, let him cast the first stone at her.”

Condemnation. Expressing severe blame, criticism, or moral disapproval of an action or person.

It may seem obvious but people have an aversion to being condemned. Most people try to maintain a certain view of themselves they can live with, and even the worst reprobates have a standard they feel they can live with. Even though most worldly standards are not biblically founded, morality is often based from an innate sense of right and wrong.

A common trait found among the homeless is the propensity to steal from one another. Someone who claims to be a friend will steal property and then help them look for it.

I’ve yet to meet someone on the streets that hasn’t had some type of betrayal occur in their life, but accuse someone of being a liar and a thief and you’ll get an angry response. A reprobate person will pathologically lie and steal all day without even the slightest bit of remorse, but if you condemn them, prepare for a fight.

Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you will be judged.”

A common scripture many people are familiar with is the verse in Matthew 7:1. There are those who don’t have the slightest clue of biblical doctrine but will have this verse memorized so they can accuse others of being immoral. People will attempt to bring condemnation against others when they feel accused or condemned, often striving to silence an accuser and reveal hypocrisy.

Self justification is made by people who want to make themselves of greater moral value than others, this helps them live with the sin they so readily commit.

The Condemners

Is it wrong to bring judgement against people who sin?

I think for most christians who read their Bibles know the correct answer to be no, it’s not right to judge others, but many people do it anyway.

Having been in the church most of my life I’ve witnessed many who walk in judgement of others. The less people know of God’s Word, the more they will look at others and judge them according to a standard that they’ve either heard or interpreted falsely.

“The pastor is just not teaching the whole Word of God”. “I saw the deacon at the store buying alcohol, I didn’t realize he had a drinking problem.” “I’m pretty sure that couple is sleeping together and they’re not even married, don’t they know that’s fornication?”

The gossip and condemnation within the church is disguised as a genuine concern for holiness or a desire to uphold God’s standard but all it does is destroy.

Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;”

Jesus didn’t mince words, particularly when it came to the self-righteous. It must have been very difficult for Him having come from a position of absolute purity and righteousness in Heaven to living among the world. Watching people condemn one another must have been like watching a room full of convicted murderers accuse the others of being bad people.

The Condemned

Who then are the ones that are condemned?

Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

• Those who have rejected Christ stand condemned.

You may ask, why does rejecting Christ leave a person to be condemned? It seems like there are much bigger crimes against humanity that are worthy of the title of condemnation.

To answer this question, we have to first start with what brings condemnation.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

I find it interesting how Paul describes the “unrighteous”. The list of sins that followed are often reflective of those who attempt to justify themselves before others. Paul wasn’t listing the ‘worst’ sins, he was listing the sins the people in Corinth had learned to live with.

It’s so easy to quantify sin.

People will often attribute a certain value for a particular sin and then rank themselves on their own scale. “Sure, I may have beat another person senseless, but I didn’t beat up a woman like Frank did.” “I admit I can be a bit angry when I’m drunk, but Tom injured a person while drinking and driving.”

Ask a group of convicts who the worst offenders are and they will list them based off what they deem as acceptable crimes versus other crimes against humanity.

The rationale people use to elevate themselves into a position of moral superiority is a way to make themselves feel less condemned than others.

Romans 3:19-20 “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Everyone stands condemned before God. There is not one person righteous in His sight.

The Justified

Righteousness is defined as acting in accordance with God’s divine or moral law. In other words, those who have never broken God’s laws can look at themselves and declare their own self-righteousness.

Do you know how many people hold this position?—not one.

Acts 17:30 “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,”

God’s patience with us is a reflection of His mercy and grace. Watching a world that is under condemnation try to justify themselves is one thing, watching God’s people try to justify poor behavior is another.

The world for the most part doesn’t understand God’s righteousness. They know what they’re doing is wrong, they just don’t understand why it is wrong.

God’s moral law brings understanding of sin.

Romans 7:7 “What then shall we say? Is the Law sin? Never may it be! But I have not known sin, if not by Law. And indeed, I had not been conscious of covetousness if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

The only way the world can know sin is they must know why they are sinners. The moral law (10 commandments), brings the knowledge of sin. The world doesn’t need condemnation, they need to know their position before a just and holy God.

I’ve known of many people who have left the church because the church focused on a particular sin rather than the state of sin. The church has been guilty of quantifying sin as much as the world has.

The only way for anyone to be found justified (just as if they’ve never sinned), is to receive God’s grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

The only one justified to condemn others is God. He personifies righteousness and therefore He is the only one morally positioned to condemn.

When the woman who was caught in adultery was brought before Jesus, He looked at all the self-righteous bringing condemnation against her and He bent down and wrote on the ground. What Jesus wrote no one knows for sure, personally I think He was writing out the moral law to remind them they were just as guilty. When Jesus looked up from writing He reminded the accusers that “whoever is without sin, cast the first stone”, but there were none who remained.

John 8:10-11 “When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?

”She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

The only way we can be condemned is to reject the grace of God in Christ alone. No one has the right to condemn because everyone stands guilty. When a fellow believer brings God’s standard to another, they are to do so in love.

The standard of God’s law reminds us of why we need Jesus. Believers don’t want to see others subjected to the yoke of sin and so they encourage one another toward righteousness. Unbelievers must first know the necessity for God’s grace, otherwise they will die in their sin and be cast into Hell.

Let believers share the moral law with the lost, that Jesus might be glorified. Let believers share the moral law with one another, that others might be encouraged to live in the freedom God has granted.

We all should consider our own conduct, and show love and mercy as Jesus did…lest we also be condemned.