Condemnation

1 · Icebreaker · 7 min

Open the room

What is a courtroom moment from a movie or a show you still remember? Did you agree with the verdict?

Leader. Fiction keeps this from becoming “tell us about your guilt,” which they already did in the book. Say that passing is allowed, especially the first few weeks.

2 · The word · 8 min

See it, then say it

Definition, from the book

Condemnation is God’s judicial verdict of guilt for sinners, resulting in the sentence of judgment and eternal separation from God. It is the opposite of justification.

In the original language

Greek katakrima — a sentence of guilt, an adverse verdict.

Memory verse · John 3:18

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Together, open the flashcard for Condemnation. Say the word, the definition, and the verse once. Then put the phone away.

3 · Open the Bible · 15 min

Galatians 3:10, 13–14

Romans 8:1 was their reflection question. Galatians 3 shows the curse and the exchange: someone else became what we were.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” — so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Have two readers if you can. Bibles open. The excerpt is only here so a forgotten Bible does not stop the night.

From the passage

1. 1.Who is under the curse in verse 10, and what did Christ become in verse 13?Core

   Leader. Everyone who tries to stand on law-keeping is under the curse, because the law requires all of it. Christ became the curse. The sentence moved.

2. 2.What arrives on the other side of that exchange, according to verse 14? It is more than a cleared record.

   Leader. The blessing of Abraham, and the Spirit, through faith. The cell door opens onto an inheritance, not onto a parole office.

4 · Around the room · 20 min

A conversation this chapter did not assign

1. 3.John 3:18 says the unbeliever is “condemned already,” not waiting to become guilty. How does that change the way we talk to a friend who thinks they are a decent person on a spiritual journey?Core

   Leader. Evangelism is not “try to become acceptable.” It is “the verdict is in; there is a pardon with a name on it.”

2. 4.Romans 8:33–34 asks who will bring a charge and who will condemn, and answers with the risen Christ. Why is a living Jesus, and not only a forgiving feeling, the end of the prosecution?

   Leader. The defense attorney is the one who died and now lives at God’s right hand. The case cannot be reopened by the accuser.

3. 5.Where do Christians still live as if the bar on that door were locked — replaying a sin, a parent’s voice, a failure — even though the sentence has been served by someone else?

   Leader. Distinguish condemnation from conviction. The Spirit exposes sin to lead us to Christ (John 16:8). The accuser exposes sin to send us back to the cell. Help the room hear the difference.

5 · Say it · 5 min

In one sentence

Condemnation is the guilty verdict. In Christ, that verdict is not ours to carry.

Ask for two volunteers, not the whole circle. They may look at the sentence, then try it without looking. Clumsy and true is the goal.

6 · Pray · 8 min

Leave silence between these

1. Thank Christ for becoming the curse.
2. Pray for someone still inside John 3:18’s second half.
3. Ask God to silence accusation that pretends to be holiness.