Condemned!! Or Not Guilty?

I try to be cautious these days writing a blog that may come across as attacking the views or expression of someone in particular. It's no secret that I've written angrily against SGM in particular in the past and particularly the church in Bristol - and I'm trying to address that in my own private way and make peace there. So believe me - I'm trying to learn and trying to grow! I'm even more cautious when writing against someone whom I am privilidged to count as a friend. That being said, I am so blessed to have the kind of friendship with Janelle that we do indeed disagree on many points of theology and Christian life - but know there is far more we do agree about. I've learnt a lot about SGM's way of life from Janelle and indeed she alongside Pete Greasley have probably been the most influential in softening my feelings!

So that context in place - a conversation has been happening on a post a few back entitled; "Curing the Gays" and this was prompted by the media interest in Philippa Stroud and her election campaign (incidentally I was interested to know that Mrs Stroud is now special advisor to Ian Duncan-Smith, the former Conservative leader) - to the dismay of some and the delight of others.

It was a conversation I was particularly taking seriously because a new Twitter friend of mine - a guy called Tom - has taken part and I was interested in his views and wanted to learn from his point of view. For heaven's sake - Christians are notorious among non-Christians for being obstinate and utterly inflexible. I don't want to propigate that (mostly) truth. If I am going to have any credibility with the people I want to share the good news with - then I want to know what's going on in their mind and their thoughts and learn why the good news of the gospel will be of use to them. So often the Christian world dumps the gospel out as it thinks the non-Christian world needs it - and can't understand why it's message is received as utterly irrelevant.

Janelle was involved in the conversation - but it was a comment she made that caught my attention and has had me thinking all day. She said;

"Tom, since the Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin, so Christians must do the same".

There is some other context in the comment - considering how homosexuality is a worse sin in her view than gluttony - so I do recommend a read.

The Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin. So Christians must do the same.

Let's consider that carefully - because if it's true there are some implications for me personally. It explains to me maybe why I received the treatment I did at the SGM church in Bristol. If Janelle is right then the two church leaders were simply following the Biblical mandate to "condemn homosexuality as a sin". I had confessed to them that I had same-sex feelings so therefore condemnation from the church was rightfully deserved. And actually I am the one in sin for being angry and upset with what happened. She may be right.

Alternatively Janelle may be wrong and actually what right do Christians (sinners saved by grace alone) have to condemn ANYTHING?! Well clearly I have a vested interest in finding out. It may decide whether I ever enter a church again or not.

The Word: "Condemn(ation)".

1. Defined.

1. to pass an adverse judgment on; disapprove of strongly; censure

2a. to pass judicial sentence on; inflict a penalty upon
2b. to doom

3. to declare unfit for use or service

I find 2c; "To doom" particularly striking. I should note some of the definitions actually rather accurately describe some of the attitudes portrayed by the religious church. Does that make it right however? There's only one way to find out;

2. Useage in the Word of God.

Unsurprisingly the majority of the references to the word; "Condemn" are in the Old Testament. However there are some surprising references that foreshadow the coming of the glorious New Covenant and the gospel that must be mentioned;

Psalm 34:22: "The Lord redeems the soul of His servants - and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned".

I find that tremendous comfort knowing the struggling depths of my heart. I have felt so utterly condemned time after time by Christians who seem on the face of it never to put a foot wrong and are in fact shining lights in their churches - held up as model citizens and examples. I have frequently (and still do) asked God why on earth He ever called me. This verse says that those who genuinely take refuge in Him will NEVER be condemned. That's a promise.

Here's another interesting "Old Testament anomoly";

Isaiah 50:9; "Behold the Lord God helps me - who is he who condemns me? Behold they will all wear out like a garment. The moth will eat them".

I don't quite understand that promise from the Word of God - but I would not like to be in the position of someone who condemns those that the Lord God is helping. I don't know what the promise means - but I do not want to wear out like a garment or have a moth eat me. So far - I'm not fancying condemning those who the Lord God is helping.

Another;

Isaiah 54:17: "And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn - This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me," declares the Lord".

This seems to suggest to me that in fact in His divine providence - the Lord actually reverses the tables on those religious who would condemn. "Every tongue that accuses you in judgement" - again the clear indication from the Word of God to me is that the Lord takes severe issue with those who attempt to do what only He should do.

There are of course other references in the Old Testament to condemnation - but not as many as I was expecting under an Old Covenant. Then we move into the New Covenant and the wonderful time of Jesus;

John 8:10-11: "Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either - Go From now on sin no more."

It's interesting that Jesus Christ asked the prostitute; "Did no one condemn you?". The Son of God knew that the religious community are somehow more than capable of condemning. But the key is in the answer. I do not condemn you either - on the basis of that declaration of freedom (and frankly who is going to disagree with the Son of God?) go in freedom and joy and live a life full of victory and peace and sin no more.

There are others but for now Romans 2:1 to close;

"Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things".

I would be extremely nervous of indulging in the discussion of "which is the greater sin - gluttony or homosexuality" that Janelle touched on. The Word of God is clear; "There is no impartiality with God". Sin is sin. And for that sin - there is a glorious solution. The Son of God went willingly to the Cross of Calvary and died for the sins of ALL Mankind. It is finished - meant it is finished. Every sin that offends and grieves God from time past to time present to the end of time was more than covered by the precious blood of the Son of God. Therefore;

Romans 8:1: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus".

2 Corinthians 5:19: "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation".

Our one and only message (as Julie said in her response comment) is the message of reconciliation. Terry Virgo said of condemnation;

"Condemnation is a WORK OF DARKNESS! It doesn't work! It has no power to change!".


Again - I would not relish indulging in activity that is entitled a "work of darkness with no power to change". Rather I choose to continue reaching out to the multitude of those who have not heard the full glory of the gospel - and far from condemn - make a full honest confession of my struggles and my journey. I am not going to pretend to be a "perfect, devout" Christian. I'd rather share with them my struggles, my journey - and how "this Jesus" has met me and loved me despite all I am and all I would be. THAT'S the miracle of the gospel!


Janelle - in all love and respect for you as a sister in Christ - condemn homosexuality if you feel you must and you should. Maybe you are confident of your sanctification to feel you can do that. But I remember again C J Mahaney's sermon; "Extravagant Devotion". And this quote in particular;


"He who has been forgiven much - loves much".


I used to wish that I really was a "perfect" Christian - whose worse sin was a bit of envy or a bit of pride. Or maybe a small bit of lust (because we're all men). But certainly not anything "bigger". Now actually I am beginning to appreciate what C J Mahaney was getting at. When you have experienced the depths of sin and struggle - you don't find much room in your heart for pride and arrogance. Me? I say again -

"The Cross does not have to be centred around me and be sustained by reflecting on my own personal failure! ... To insist on still calling myself a sinner could not add value to the Cross for me. Indeed, to call myself essentially a sinner actually dishonours the wonder of the gospel".

For Those Whom the Traffic Lights are Red ...

I've been texting Pete Day a bit about this - so I do hope it will make sense. If anyone reads it and am not sure quite what I am on about then do feel free to ignore and move on! Essentially the thought for this blog was prompted by a comment that Rob Rufus made in one of his more recent sermons - "The Struggle For The Authentic Part 3 - Qualifications For The Blessings - Faith or Works?" - about how things have been very tough for the Rufus family and for City Church International but recently;

"When I woke up this morning I felt that the air was clear again and the pollution of darkness and oppression had evaporated and lifted off us. I don't want to be weirdly spiritual but the very natural atmosphere has had the pollution blown off it. Then every traffic light driving here was green and God was saying; "It's a green light - it's a go-ahead! ... Sometimes in God things aren't a coincidence - there is a prophetic significance".

Just after listening to that portion of the sermon, I had to drive to a night shift and was thinking absently about what Rob said until I came to realise that every traffic light I was coming upto (and there are a lot in Birmingham) was RED. Every light! Rob said that some things aren't a coincidence - I couldn't help but think each and everyone of my red lights weren't a coincidence because they were changing so frequently just as I drove upto them - and then staying red for what seemed like an obscene amount of time! If that wasn't bad enough, my car proceeded to break down on my way home from a night shift and needed water in the radiator.

So what I found myself thinking was that if God was saying to Rob Rufus through his green lights - "It's a green light - it's a go-ahead!" - what was He saying to me through every light being red?! Initially I was quite down-cast and found myself unhelpfully drawing comparisons between myself and Rob and Hong Kong and feeling that all-too familiar sense once again of condemnation creeping over me and that all-too familar voice; "Rob is a great man of faith - you'll never be like him! What?! You reckon you can even stand in the same room as Rob!? You're pathetic" - and so on and so on. I think most will know what I am talking about.

But as I waited on God I actually began to find a quieter but more insistent voice speaking and it was speaking words of hope and words of comfort. And He was saying things like; "The light is red just before it turns green. The night is blackest just before the dawn" and the sense that I was receiving was not that the red lights were condemning lights telling me that I was useless and my life was never going to go anywhere - but rather that this was a time to wait on the Lord and renew my strength and mount up with wings as eagles because the lights were about to change.

So if anyone else feels like me that their life is in a "red zone" at the moment, I hope this will be something of a comfort to you. God is absolutely and utterly 100% sovereign and each portion of our lives are carefully planned out and approved and set by Him. Nothing happens without His say-so. Even a sparrow cannot fall from it's nest without our Father knowing about it - how much more will He care for and love those He has appointed, predestined, called, justified AND made righteous?! Those traffic lights will turn green soon ... and when they do we will speed off all the faster because of that time of waiting on God! It's never a waste!

Joseph Prince on the Danger of Condemnation

I saw this video clip on Lydia's blog and watched it out of pure interest. I've heard Joseph Prince mentioned a couple of times and am increasingly growing grateful for his ministry. This video clip sounds so alike Rob Rufus and his sermon; ! The title? "When you are under condemnation - Gods favour cannot flow". Here it is;



I insist again that we visit and re-visit this issue of condemnation and whether we as Christians should really be tolerating an introspective man-created guilt for sins that are already paid for on the Cross of Jesus Christ 2, 000 years ago! It's like having a bank debt that's been paid off - and yet you insist on going in weekly with your cheque payment. The bank would laugh at you. So why do we insist on trying to re-pay our debts of sin that have already been cleared with guilt that wouldn't do anything to cancel the debt anyway? We may as well resurrect the sacrificing of bulls and goats!

When is the Church going to wake up and realise that we're FREE!?

Coming Soon ... !!

The answer to this question:

"When a Christian sins, does that break their fellowship with God? And is that fellowship with God broken until they confess their sin and get forgiveness? And then the fellowship with God that was broken is now restored? I want to ask the question; is that the case or is that more an Old Covenant approach to God and is the New Covenant a lot better than that?".

I am going to publish the answer to this from Rob Rufus's sermon: "Do Christians Need To Confess Their Sins To God?" in parts. Rob made the point during the sermon that he is quite secure in the knowledge that not everyone is going to agree with him. But what he is doing is making the Church THINK. This sermon struck both Pete and myself as very much a landmark for Hong Kong. It was something that Rob wouldn't preach on until he felt he was ready. More to come!

Rob Rufus on Condemnation and Glory

Rob has made a connection between the effects of condemnation on our lives and the relating Presence of glory. I wonder where many of us register?

"To the measure you get rid of guilt, to that measure you will increase in the glory over your life. Much guilt = very little supernatural glory Presence over your life. Little guilt = much glory and supernatural open heaven Presence over your life. NO guilt = FULL New Covenant manifest glory to do the works that Jesus did and greater works over the life of the priesthood of the whole Church"

- Rob Rufus - "Fully Free From Guilt In Order To Be Fully Covered By The Glory" - City Church International, Hong Kong.

Why have we allowed ourselves to "religious-ise" condemnation and guilt as an acceptable thing and dress it up and call it "humility"?

Assurance We Are Righteous!!

Janelle wrote a very provocative and honest post recently called; "Condemnation, Anyone?". I really appreciated her openness - in a Christian world that is tempted to put on the mask of religion and smile glassily when asked how one is and say that wonderful adjective; "Fine!" - it was so refreshing to read. I've interacted with Janelle a couple of times which has been really helpful - and mainly around our area of disagreement concerning "Indwelling Sin". But I left a comment on her latest post expressing the view that despite our disagreements what is wonderful is;

"What we DO share in common is a desire to be more holy and more like Jesus Christ and see less of sin troubling us!!".

I must admit - while I am very persuaded by Rob Rufus's awesome teaching on us being the righteousness of God in Christ - and therefore condemnation has NO hold on us - my heart still very much (although increasingly less and less) is very much experientially with Janelle's blog. Especially if my sin has been a "whopper!". But I do think whatever our conclusions - both arguments carry dangers we should be aware of.

Rob Rufus's teaching carries obvious dangers that apparantly Rob never hears the end of! "You are giving them a license to sin if you preach this gospel of grace!". I think Rob's reply is classic;

"People don't need a license to sin - they are sinning anyway in your church!".

But I have recently been enjoying reading through my collection of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones books and have been posting some quotes for those who are interested over here. I found this quote which I think highlights the danger of teaching the Puritan-esque "Indwelling Sin" and life-long eternal morification of the same.

"So let us be clear about this. It is no sign of humility, no mark of saintliness, to go into the Presence of God doubting whether God is forgiving you".

I am concerned that there may be a danger (and I stress 'maybe') that we can develop distorted views of mortifying sin and how we behave when we do sin - that we can start to feel "good" about feeling "bad". Or that we can effectively start to glory in condemnation. Surely that is re-living Old Covenant life! Why stop basking in guilt and condemnation? Why not get out the sackcloth and ashes? Dr Lloyd-Jones is clear. It is NO sign of humility to either come into the Presence of God doubting whether God has forgiven you - or even worse not come in at all.

I remember in my home church one of the things that used to irritate me the most was when we would be having a time of corporate worship or maybe a prayer meeting - which really was a highlight of our church life. My senior pastor was (and still is) an incredible man of prayer. To hear Stanley Jebb pray is to hear a psalmist pray! I really do think a book can be made of his prayers. Anyway ... I digress. I remember frequently entering into the Presence of God experientially and feel God drawing near in response to our worship and praise. And then ... a dear, sincere, well-meaning person would stand up and pray something like this; "Oh God ... we are such worms ... how dare we even crawl into Your Presence?!". And I swear - I would feel the Presence of God move off and away.

Please understand I am not saying there is not a place for real grief at our sin. Not because we have broken a law but because we have broken His heart. But let's make sure that we do not "glory in condemnation" and live as though there is a spirituality in proclaiming how sinful we are (which I do think is an inherent danger of accountability groups). Surely to live as such is to be in danger of trampling under foot the Son of God and somehow feeling that our sin is "too big" for the blood of the covenant to cover and thereby insulting the Spirit of grace?

Joshua Mills Prophecies Over Rob Rufus!!

I was so blessed this morning - was just getting ready to go to a study day at work and listening to "Invading the Impossible - Part 14" and Rob was sharing very honestly how he and Glenda have come under some heavy criticism recently. Pete and I speak quite often about Rob (!!) and pray for him and we agreed that we suspected that we couldn't actually even imagine the kind of fire he has to walk through to pioneer the grace message.

So Rob shared this. And in light of what I have learnt recently about the prophetic from Rob - I hope I can dedicate this transcript of a prophecy from Joshua Mills to pastors and elders everywhere who are going through persecution for preaching the grace message (A.P.W.B.D - you know who you are!!). May the Spirit of God fall on you and apply this to your hearts with power and give you encouragement to stand up, hold your head up high and keep preaching that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, now - forever and always!!

Here's the transcript of Rob's account:

"So we are sitting in the car agonising (about the attacks) saying "What can we do? What shall we do?" and we didn't tell Joshua Mills about the criticism and he comes in and as you know, in the middle of the meeting he started prophesying over us. I was blessed by what he said but I didn't actually get everything because I was getting more blessed by your support as you were shouting and clapping because you knew what was going on!

So I was getting so blessed that I had to get it typed out to know what he said. But he says here;

"God says you have been on display and others have been watching. You have been on display for others to look and people to criticise, for people to accuse and for people to point fingers but God says in the middle of the fire there is a manifestation of the glory that is coming forth in your life that wasn't there before the fire and what the enemy has meant for harm - I am taking that thing and turning that thing around and I am causing the greatest gold to come forth.

I am causing the greatest glory you have ever known to begin to manifest in your life for surely you shall begin stepping out of the fire (Rob: "Whoopeee!") and you shall begin manifesting the glory of My Presence in a greater way than ever before and those that were watching while you were on display who said you will never make it - for surely you are a failure, surely it is not of God - God says surely they shall see and it shall not only be a sign and a wonder but it shall be a testimony - the testimony of Jesus Christ, the hope of glory inside of you.

I see you stepping out of the fire and I see you walking into a new place - a new season of blessing. It is opening for you even right now and in that place there is a divine acceleration and a divine increase - supernatural favour, abundance and blessing being poured out upon you. I see miracles beginning to flow where there were no miracles before. I almost see like garden flowers beginning to spring forth where it doesn't seem like they could be any flowers. Didn't seem like there could be any harvest in areas where people have looked and said; "Surely there can not be a harvest" - God says, "I am going to GIVE you the harvest".

Not only shall you see it, but you are going to reap it! You are going to reap it for many see the harvest but do not receive it but God says you shall see it and you shall have it".

I love this! Rob then commented;

"Men cannot dis-appoint you because they never appointed you! God appointed me to this message before time began! He chose me to bring a recovery of the gospel of grace to bring the church to be restored to living only in the freedom of the New Covenant. I believe we should read the Old Covenant and know the types and shadows that were in the Old Covenant. For Christ is hidden in shadow in the the Old Covenant and revealed in substance in the New Covenant! But we don't live under the Old Covenant law AT ALL! God appointed me for that so no man can dis-appoint me. No man can fire me because no man hired me! God called me not as my Boss to salary me but as my Father to do the family business!".

This should be the absolute motto of my life. He then said; "Friends you can NEVER submit to a controller! There are signs and traces of cult-like bully control (in the church) but GOD says; "Let My People Go that they may worship Me and know it is unto Me they are called!".

I said to Scott the other day that I know I have a weakness for submitting to manipulating control spirits. I am having a dreadful week at the moment because someone who once was a friend is very angry with me at the moment and is very successfully making me feel terrible and using every manipulative technique that works. Scott can't understand why it is such a fight for me to try and resist this. I have tried to explain that throughout my life I feel as if I DESERVE to be treated badly and made to feel bad. Because I am a bad person! And many, many people (including my family and the church as well as former partners) have successfully come into my life and made me feel bad - which I enjoyed in a sado-masochistic sort of way. BUT! Now I am learning that is a satanic lie because I am NOT A BAD PERSON! And I DON'T deserve to be treated badly because my Jesus got treated as badly as any living Person could on my behalf and took MY punishment for me - that I could enjoy being treated as a Son!

So the full title of "Invading the Impossible - Part 14" is very apt for me!

"Why you should condemn condemnation and accuse accusation and grab guilt by the throat and get out of the religious boat and float and wear your Father's glory coat!".