CONDEMNATION HINDERS CONFIDENCE

Table of Contents

1. Introduction and Personal Testimonies
2. Finding Your Place in God's Calling
3. Chris Sursley's Ministry Journey
4. The Importance of Apostolic Ministry
5. Faith Comes Through Hearing
6. Understanding the Greater Tabernacle
7. Jesus Cleansed the Entire Person
8. Purging the Conscience
9. Understanding Noimas
10. Condemnation and Confidence Before God
11. Protecting Your Mind from False Perceptions
12. Walking in the Finished Work of Christ
13. Closing Encouragement

Introduction and Personal Testimonies

The service begins with several personal testimonies illustrating that God often leads people into ministries they never expected. Rather than following traditional church roles, the speakers describe how God uniquely equipped them to serve wherever there was a need.

One testimony recounts beginning children's ministry in a small storefront, leading worship despite knowing only a few guitar chords, and faithfully serving for many years. Through seasons of uncertainty, God gradually revealed unique gifts for writing plays, composing music, and ministering creatively through theatrical productions.

The testimony emphasizes that many believers feel as though they do not fit the traditional picture of ministry. Rather than seeing this as failure, they are encouraged to recognize that God often prepares people for specialized callings that only become clear over time.

The encouragement is simple:
If you feel different, God has not forgotten you. He has uniquely designed your gifts and experiences for a purpose that may unfold over many years.

Finding Your Place in God's Calling

Chris Sursley's Ministry Journey

Following the opening testimonies, Chris Sursley introduces himself and explains the journey that led him into ministry. In 1987, while working as an engineer and providing for his wife and three young daughters, he experienced what he describes as an unmistakable audible call from God. At that point in life, his career was becoming financially successful. For the first time, the family was beginning to enjoy stability and security.

Yet God interrupted those plans with a simple but life-changing statement: "As of this day, you work for Me and not for men." The encounter was so overwhelming that his immediate response was complete surrender. However, he recognizes that although hearing God's voice made his own decision easy, his wife had not experienced the same encounter.

This created a significant challenge. Leaving a stable engineering career meant walking away from financial security, employee benefits, and a predictable future. Instead of demanding that his wife follow his decision, he patiently waited for God to confirm the calling in her own heart.

Eventually, she also became convinced that this was truly God's direction. Looking back, he expresses deep appreciation for her faith. While he was confident because he had personally heard God's voice, she had to trust what she had not personally experienced.

This became an important lesson about faith. Sometimes faith is not believing after hearing God yourself. Sometimes faith is trusting the testimony of someone whom God has genuinely spoken. The ministry began very humbly.

Church services were first held inside their living room before moving into a barn behind their home. As the congregation grew, they met in various rented facilities, continually adapting as opportunities arose. Eventually, opportunities opened internationally.

Beginning in Africa, the ministry expanded dramatically, resulting in hundreds of churches, worship teams, orphan ministries, schools, and medical outreaches. Countless children received food, education, and biblical training, with many later entering ministry themselves.

Although ministry in America continued steadily, the overseas work experienced extraordinary growth. These experiences ultimately led to another calling: supporting pastors.

Recognizing that ministers themselves often receive very little care or encouragement, Chris helped establish United With Christ International, a ministry network focused on strengthening pastors, churches, and Christian leaders through relationships, encouragement, and apostolic support. The emphasis shifted from building a personal ministry to strengthening the ministries of others. This philosophy forms the foundation for everything that follows in the sermon.

The Importance of Apostolic Ministry

Faith Comes Through Hearing

Having completed the introduction, Chris transitions into the subject God placed on his heart for this service.

He explains that Pastor Leonard has already established the congregation in foundational truths concerning righteousness, grace, sonship, and the believer's identity in Christ. Therefore, rather than repeating those subjects, he desires to add another practical tool that will help believers experience greater victory in everyday life. He introduces a Greek word that becomes central to the remainder of the message: "noimas."

Before defining the word, however, he reminds the congregation of a foundational principle concerning faith. He explains that many Christians spend considerable time asking God to give them more faith.

According to Scripture, that is not how faith grows. Faith grows by exposure to God's Word. Every time believers read Scripture, meditate upon it, and allow its truths to settle into their hearts, faith naturally develops because God's Word carries His own life and power.

He quotes Paul's teaching:

Romans 10:17 (KJV)- "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Chris emphasizes that God's Word possesses transforming power in itself. Believers do not create faith through emotional effort. Faith is produced as God's Word is heard, believed, and continually meditated upon. The more time spent dwelling upon what God says, the stronger one's confidence becomes. This foundation prepares the congregation for the central teaching that follows. If God's Word shapes faith… Then false beliefs can also shape perception. The remainder of the sermon will explore how these false perceptions—called "noimas"—become one of Satan's primary tools for stealing confidence from believers.

Understanding the Greater Tabernacle

Chris begins the central theological portion of the sermon by directing the congregation to Hebrews chapter 9. He explains that understanding this passage is essential to understanding why believers no longer live under condemnation. He first reminds the congregation that the Old Testament tabernacle was never God's final plan. Rather, it served as a physical picture pointing forward to Jesus Christ.
The earthly tabernacle consisted of three primary sections:

• The Outer Court
• The Holy Place
• The Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies)

Each section represented something far greater than a physical building. Chris then reads the foundation passage for the remainder of the message.

Hebrews 9:11–14 (KJV)-"But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Chris explains that when Scripture speaks about Christ coming with "a greater and more perfect tabernacle," it is referring to Jesus Himself. The physical tabernacle in Israel was only a shadow.

Jesus is the reality.

He reminds the audience that throughout Israel's history the tabernacle was transported through the wilderness. Whenever the cloud moved, the people packed the tabernacle and followed. Whenever the cloud stopped, the tabernacle was erected once again. Inside that tabernacle were various pieces of furniture, including the altar, laver, lampstand, table of showbread, altar of incense, and finally the Ark of the Covenant within the Most Holy Place. Chris stresses that God was never interested merely in architecture. Every piece of the tabernacle pointed toward Christ. The tabernacle itself symbolized God's plan of redemption.

When Jesus declared Himself to be the true tabernacle, He was making one of the boldest claims imaginable to the Jewish people. Their entire religious system revolved around that sacred place. Yet Jesus declared that He Himself was now God's dwelling place among mankind. This would have sounded shocking to those listening in His day because every act of worship centered around the temple.

Chris emphasizes that Jesus completely fulfilled everything the earthly tabernacle represented. The physical building was temporary. Christ is eternal.

Jesus Cleansed the Entire Person

Having established that Jesus is the true tabernacle, Chris now explains how the three sections of the Old Testament tabernacle correspond to the human person. The Outer Court represents the physical body. The Holy Place represents the soul—the realm of thoughts, emotions, and the mind. The Most Holy Place represents the human spirit. This becomes one of the key ideas of the sermon.

Just as the tabernacle had three distinct areas, mankind also possesses body, soul, and spirit. When Christ came as the greater tabernacle, He did not merely improve one part of humanity. He redeemed the whole person. Chris points out that under the Old Covenant, animal sacrifices could only cleanse externally.

The blood of bulls and goats could ceremonially purify the flesh, but it could never transform the human spirit. That limitation is exactly what Hebrews contrasts with the work of Christ. Once again he returns to the passage.

Hebrews 9:11–14 (KJV)- "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Chris carefully draws attention to the phrase "purge your conscience." He explains that this is far more than forgiveness of individual sins. Christ entered into the true Holy Place once for all and accomplished an eternal redemption.

The cleansing reached beyond external behavior. It penetrated to the deepest part of the believer. To illustrate the difference between religion and redemption, Chris uses a simple picture. Imagine a spider continually building webs in the corner of a room. Religion simply brushes away the webs each day. The next morning, the spider returns and creates another web.

Nothing has truly changed. Jesus did something entirely different. Instead of merely removing the webs, He destroyed the spider. Likewise, Christ did not merely cover sinful actions. He dealt with the very source of sin. He removed the old sinful nature and imparted His own life to believers. This changes everything.

Christians are not attempting to become new people. They have already become new people through Christ's finished work. Because of this, believers now possess fellowship with God in a way that was impossible under the Old Covenant.

Chris explains that he is no longer searching for God's presence somewhere far away. He does not need to travel to Jerusalem or pursue special locations in order to meet with God. Through the new birth, God now dwells within the believer.

The Christian becomes God's living tabernacle. The union between God's Spirit and the believer's spirit is complete. This realization forms the foundation for the remainder of the sermon. If Christ has already completely purified the believer…

Why do so many Christians continue living as though they remain condemned? Chris answers that question in the next section by focusing on the conscience and the deceptive power of false perceptions.

Purging the Conscience

Chris now directs the congregation's attention to what he considers one of the most overlooked truths in the New Testament. He explains that while many Christians understand forgiveness, far fewer understand what Jesus actually accomplished in the believer's conscience. Returning once again to Hebrews, he emphasizes that Scripture does not merely say Christ forgave sins. It says Christ purged the conscience.

Hebrews 9:11–14 (KJV)- "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Chris asks the congregation to notice exactly what has been purified. The text does not simply state that believers have been cleansed externally. It says their conscience has been purged. He explains that many believers continue trying to cleanse themselves through religious effort.

They continually apologize, promise to do better, struggle against failure, and attempt to earn confidence before God. Yet the writer of Hebrews declares that Christ has already done what no amount of human effort could ever accomplish. The conscience has already been cleansed. The problem, therefore, is often not a lack of forgiveness. The problem is a lack of believing what Christ has already accomplished. Chris repeatedly stresses that believers are not trying to become purged. They already are.

Whether a believer understands this truth or not does not change what Christ accomplished on the cross. However, failing to believe it greatly affects how that believer lives. Someone who believes they remain dirty will continually act like someone trying to become clean.

Someone who believes Christ has already made them clean begins living from confidence instead of fear. Chris encourages the congregation to stop measuring themselves by yesterday's failures and instead measure themselves by Christ's finished work. Their identity is no longer defined by their mistakes. It is defined by Jesus.

Understanding Noimas

Chris introduces the Greek word "noimas" as one of the keys to understanding why Christians often struggle despite possessing complete salvation. He explains that many English translations simply render the word as "mind." While this translation is not incorrect, it fails to communicate the fuller meaning contained within the Greek language. According to Chris, "noimas" refers to one's perception, understanding, disposition, mental viewpoint, or the lens through which reality is interpreted.

He illustrates it by comparing it to looking through a distorted lens. Truth remains the same. However, if the lens becomes warped, the observer begins seeing truth incorrectly. Nothing about reality has changed. Only perception has changed. This becomes the foundation for much of Satan's strategy. Rather than changing what Christ accomplished… He attempts to distort how believers perceive what Christ accomplished. To illustrate this, Chris returns to Paul's instruction concerning anxiety.

Philippians 4:6–7 (KJV)-"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Chris explains that the phrase translated "minds" is connected to this concept of "noimas. "God's peace acts like a guard over the believer's perceptions. When believers remain focused upon Christ and continually bring every concern before Him, God's peace protects them from developing false perceptions about themselves, their circumstances, or God. The enemy's goal is not merely to create problems. His greater goal is to convince believers to interpret those problems incorrectly. Fear, shame, guilt, insecurity, and condemnation all begin with distorted perception. Once perception becomes distorted, confidence begins disappearing. This is why maintaining fellowship with God through prayer and continual awareness of His finished work is so important. God's peace continually guards the believer's understanding. Chris then turns to another passage to demonstrate how believers actively cooperate with this protection. He explains that the Apostle John reveals exactly how confidence is maintained.

1 John 3:19–23 (KJV)- "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

Chris points out something many believers overlook. John never says believers should simply accept condemnation. Instead, he instructs them to assure—or reassure—their hearts before God.

Why? Because hearts can condemn. But God knows something the believer sometimes forgets. God knows what Christ accomplished. God knows the believer has already been cleansed. God knows the finished work is complete.

Therefore, whenever the believer's heart begins accusing them, they must deliberately return to what God says rather than what their emotions are saying. Confidence before God is not produced by flawless performance. It grows as believers continually agree with God's verdict rather than the accusations produced by distorted perceptions. This truth becomes one of the major turning points of the sermon.

Condemnation is not evidence that God has rejected the believer. It is evidence that the believer's perception has become clouded. Renewing that perception through God's Word restores confidence.

Condemnation and Confidence Before God

Chris now arrives at what he considers the central truth of the entire sermon. He explains that the greatest obstacle preventing many Christians from living victoriously is not a lack of righteousness.

It is not a lack of forgiveness.
It is not a lack of God's love.
The greatest obstacle is condemnation. Returning once again to John's words, he carefully walks through the passage phrase by phrase.

1 John 3:19–23 (KJV)- "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

Chris points to one statement above all others: "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God." He explains that confidence is not something believers manufacture through positive thinking. Confidence naturally flows from a conscience that has been persuaded of Christ's finished work. When the heart continually condemns the believer, confidence disappears.

Prayer becomes hesitant.
Faith becomes uncertain.
Worship becomes difficult.

Instead of approaching God boldly, believers begin wondering whether He is disappointed with them. Chris explains that nothing has actually changed in God's relationship toward the believer. What has changed is the believer's perception. The heart has accepted a false narrative.

Instead of agreeing with God, it has begun believing accusations. He emphasizes that God's opinion has never changed. Christ already accomplished complete redemption. God already knows the believer has been cleansed. The problem is that the believer often forgets what God remembers. Therefore, Scripture says to reassure your heart. Notice that John does not say God needs reassurance. The believer's heart does.

Whenever condemnation appears, believers must deliberately remind themselves of what Christ has accomplished rather than what their emotions are suggesting. Chris then addresses another passage that often confuses. Some Christians immediately focus upon the phrase: "…because we keep His commandments…" assuming this returns everything to human performance.

Chris immediately continues reading the next verse.

1 John 3:19–23 (KJV)- "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

He points out that John immediately defines the commandment. It is not an e The commandment is to believe in Jesus Christ and love one another. This changes the entire perspective of the passage. Rather than continually wondering whether they have performed well enough, believers are called to remain confident in Christ's finished work and allow that confidence to produce a transformed life.

Chris insists that holy living grows out of confidence—not condemnation. The more convinced believers become of who they are in Christ, the more naturally righteous living begins to appear. Trying to produce holiness through fear only strengthens condemnation. Living from identity produces genuine transformation.

Protecting Your Mind from False Perceptions

One of the most practical portions of the sermon focuses on learning how to protect the renewed mind. Chris explains that while every believer has received a new heart and a new spirit through Christ, they still face attacks against their thoughts. The battlefield is no longer the believer's spirit, which has been made new, but the mind, where false perceptions—or "noimas"—attempt to distort reality.

The enemy's strategy is not primarily to change what Christ has accomplished. Instead, he works to convince believers that what Christ accomplished is either incomplete or does not apply to them personally. By accepting these false perceptions, Christians begin living beneath the freedom that Jesus has already secured. To help the congregation recognize this strategy, Chris points to Paul's warning concerning Satan's methods.

2 Corinthians 2:11 (KJV)- "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."

He explains that Satan's "devices" are deceptive strategies designed to influence the believer's thinking. Rather than openly announcing his presence, the enemy often introduces thoughts that sound like the believer's own internal voice. Because the thoughts feel personal, Christians frequently assume they originated from themselves.

Chris challenges this assumption. He explains that believers should not automatically identify with every thought that enters their minds. Many thoughts are simply temptations or lies designed to produce guilt, fear, condemnation, anxiety, lust, bitterness, or discouragement.

To illustrate this truth, Chris shares part of his own testimony.

Before coming to Christ, his life was filled with sinful habits and perverted thinking. Even after becoming a believer, many of those same thoughts continued appearing in his mind. This caused tremendous confusion. He questioned how someone who had become a new creation could still experience such thoughts.

The breakthrough came while reading Scripture. He realized that God had already given him a new heart and a new mind capable of knowing and loving God. If that was true, then these corrupt thoughts could not be coming from the new creation within him.

Instead, they were outside attacks attempting to gain acceptance. From that point forward, he stopped agreeing with those thoughts. Whenever an impure or condemning thought appeared, he immediately rejected it.

He would declare:

"That's a lie."
"That's not who I am."
"I belong to Christ."
"I have a new heart."
"I have a new mind."
"I love my wife."

Rather than allowing the thought to become part of his identity, he identified it as an external attack against the renewed mind. Over time, this practice completely changed how he processed temptation.

Instead of being controlled by every passing thought, he learned to examine each one through the truth of God's Word.

Chris explains that believers must guard the "tabernacle" God has made them. Just as the Old Testament tabernacle was protected from defilement, Christians should guard their minds by refusing to entertain lies that contradict their identity in Christ. Forgiveness provides another practical example.

When someone refuses to forgive, bitterness moves from an outside offense to an internal stronghold. However, once forgiveness is extended, the offense no longer defines the believer's heart. Although memories may return, they can be immediately answered with the truth:

"I already forgave them."
"That matter is settled."
"I'm not taking that offense back."

By continually agreeing with God's truth instead of false perceptions, believers prevent bitterness, fear, shame, and condemnation from becoming established within their minds. Chris emphasizes that victory in the Christian life is not achieved through greater effort but through believing correctly. As believers continually reject false perceptions and renew their minds with the truth of God's Word, they experience increasing freedom, confidence, and peace. Protecting the mind is therefore not about denying reality but about refusing to allow lies to redefine the reality that Christ has already established through His finished work.

As Chris brings the message toward its conclusion, he shifts from explaining theological truth to encouraging believers to live daily in the reality of what Jesus has already accomplished. Throughout the sermon, he has emphasized that Christ has completely cleansed the believer, purged the conscience, and given every Christian a new heart and a new mind. The remaining challenge is learning to walk in agreement with those truths instead of continually believing the false perceptions that produce condemnation.

He reminds the congregation that the Christian life is not a constant struggle to earn God's approval. It is a life of discovering and living from the approval that Christ has already secured through His finished work. Returning once again to Hebrews, Chris reminds the congregation of the foundation for this confidence.

Hebrews 9:11–14 (KJV)- "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh.  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Chris emphasizes that believers are not attempting to become purified; they have already been purified by Christ's sacrifice. The work of Jesus is complete. The challenge is allowing the mind to agree with what has already become true in the spirit.

He explains that many Christians continue living under "dead works." These are not merely sinful actions, but every attempt to earn what Christ has already freely given. Whether through religious performance, self-condemnation, endless striving, or measuring one's standing before God by personal success or failure, these efforts cannot improve what Jesus has already perfected.

Instead, the believer is invited to rest in Christ's finished work.

Chris points back to the truth that transformed his own thinking. Whenever condemnation tried to convince him that he was still defined by his past, he chose instead to confess what God had already declared.

"I have a new heart."
|"I have a new mind to know and to love God."
"By the grace of God, I am what I am."

These declarations were not attempts to convince God. They were reminders to his own heart of the truth that God had already established. He recalls the words of Paul concerning grace.

1 Corinthians 15:10 (KJV)- "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

Chris explains that Paul's confidence did not come from comparing himself to others or from trusting in his own performance. His confidence rested entirely upon God's grace. The same grace that saved the believer is the same grace that sustains, strengthens, and transforms the believer every day.

He reminds the congregation that the purpose of a cleansed conscience is not merely freedom from guilt—it is fellowship with God. The phrase "to serve the living God" in Hebrews carries the idea of drawing near to God in loving relationship. Rather than approaching Him with fear, uncertainty, or shame, believers are invited into continual intimacy because every barrier has already been removed through Christ. Chris also returns to the teaching from 1 John to reinforce that confidence grows as the believer refuses to accept condemnation.

1 John 3:19–23 (KJV)- "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

He explains that walking in the finished work of Christ means continually reassuring the heart whenever condemnation attempts to return. Instead of agreeing with fear, guilt, or shame, believers should agree with God's verdict. They should remember that Christ has already qualified them, already forgiven them, and already made them righteous.

Chris concludes this section by encouraging every believer to stop defining themselves by past failures, present struggles, or religious performance. Their true identity is found entirely in Jesus Christ. As they continually renew their minds with God's Word and reject the false perceptions that seek to undermine their confidence, they will increasingly experience the freedom, peace, and boldness that belong to every child of God.

Walking in the finished work of Christ is therefore not passive resignation, but active agreement with the truth of the Gospel. It is living each day from the reality that Jesus has already accomplished everything necessary for believers to stand confidently before God.

Walking in the Finished Work of Christ

Closing Encouragement

Chris concludes the message with a heartfelt encouragement for every believer to embrace the Gospel of grace and carry it into the world. Throughout the sermon, he has emphasized that Jesus Christ has completely accomplished everything necessary for believers to stand confidently before God. The greatest obstacle is not God's willingness to accept His children—it is the false perceptions that continue to produce condemnation in the believer's mind.

He reminds the congregation that they are already God's workmanship. They are not trying to become new creations; they already are. They are not striving to become righteous; they have already been made righteous through Christ. They are not working to earn God's acceptance; they have already been accepted in the Beloved.

The responsibility of every believer is therefore to continually renew their minds with the truth of God's Word, reject the lies that attempt to distort their identity, and live from the reality of Christ's finished work.

Chris encourages the congregation to remember that whenever feelings of guilt, shame, fear, or unworthiness arise, they should not automatically accept those thoughts as truth. Instead, they should reassure their hearts by declaring what God has already said about them.

The believer can confidently declare:

"I have a new heart."
"I have a new mind to know and to love God."
"My conscience has been cleansed."
"I am righteous because of Jesus."
"I am accepted because of Christ."
"I am what I am by the grace of God."

As believers continue agreeing with God's verdict instead of the enemy's accusations, their confidence before God grows stronger. Prayer becomes bold. Worship becomes intimate. Faith becomes active. Instead of living under continual self-examination and religious striving, Christians begin living from the peace and assurance that Christ has already secured through His death and resurrection.

Chris also reminds the congregation that this message is desperately needed throughout the Church. In his travels around the world, he has encountered countless sincere believers who love God but continue living under condemnation because they have never fully understood the finished work of Christ. Many have been taught to focus continually upon their failures rather than upon Jesus' complete victory.

He encourages every listener not to keep these truths to themselves. As they grow in understanding, they should lovingly share the message of God's grace with others so that more believers can experience the same freedom and confidence found in Christ. The sermon concludes with a powerful reminder of its central theme: Condemnation hinders confidence.

When believers allow false perceptions to shape their thinking, confidence before God is weakened. But when they continually renew their minds with the truth of God's Word and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ, condemnation loses its power, confidence is restored, and they begin living the abundant life God has always intended for His children.

May every believer leave this teaching with a renewed appreciation for the complete work of Jesus Christ, a deeper confidence in their identity as a new creation, and a firm commitment to reject every false perception that contradicts the truth of the Gospel.

Thank you for taking the time to read this teaching on Condemnation Hinders Confidence. We pray this message has encouraged and strengthened your faith, helping you see yourself through the finished work of Jesus Christ rather than through the lens of condemnation or religious performance. As you continue to meditate on God's Word and grow in the knowledge of His grace, may you walk daily in the confidence, peace, and freedom that Christ has already purchased for you. If this teaching has blessed you, please consider sharing it with others so they too can discover the life-changing truth of the Gospel and the confidence that comes from knowing they are fully accepted in Christ.