Conviction is different than accusation.
Monday, November 22, 2010 at 12:52PM God is not nearly as interested in pointing out our sin as we think he is. Of course he may occassionaly have to redirect us or expose something unhealthy.
However, there is a difference between accusation and conviction. Accusation assumes the Christian’s very heart is still misguided and corrupted by bad motives. Accusation is a destructive posture that proceeds from Old Covenant thinking: “You’re sinning because you really are that kind of person.”
The opposite of accusation is conviction. Conviction is exposure without condemnation: “Yes, I know you did that, but I am not ashamed of you or disappointed in you. You will always be my delight.”
God’s convicting work is now embedded within a wholly new set of assumptions about us. God assumes there is a new vitality and purity about us, because he gave us his own goodness-of-heart by disabling our corrupt and former nature [heart] and replacing what was diseased with the very goodness of Jesus. We now live with hearts fully-alive, knowing that goodness is now our first nature.
Therefore, whenever God convicts, he exposes something that prevents us from experiencing the thrill of our new regal goodness.