Condemnation
Condemnation
Not only from the Gospels, but from the rest of the Revised Version as well, the word damnation disappears, condemnation taking its place in Rom 3:6 and 1Ti 5:12, destruction in 2Pe 2:3, and judgment in Rom 13:2 and 1Co 11:29. The reason is that the process of degeneration, which had begun before the translation of the Authorized Version , linked up the term with conceptions of finality and eternity, originally alien to it, and thus made it no longer representative of apostolical thought. With the exception of 2Pe 2:3, the same Greek root occurs in all instances, and the context in the various passages is mainly responsible for the different shades of meaning. In the case of the verb, an exception must also be made of Gal 2:11, where the idea is that the act of Peter needed no verdict from outside, but carried its own condemnation, as in Rom 2:1; Rom 14:23 and Tit 3:11.
Little difficulty attaches to the use of the term in the sense of destruction in the case of Sodom (2Pe 2:6), to the reference to the ark as a visible sign of the destruction about to come upon the unbelieving (Heb 11:7), or to the denunciation by James (Jam 5:6) of men who unjustly ascribe blame to others and exact penalty for the imagined fault. The wanton are rightly condemned for the rejection of the faith whose value they had learnt by experience (1Ti 5:12). Sound speech, on the other hand, cannot be condemned (Tit 2:8). The man who fails to judge and discipline himself is reminded of his duty by Divine chastening; and if that fail, he shares in the final judgment with the lost (1Co 11:31 f.; cf. Mar 9:47 ff.). In Rom 5:16; Rom 5:18 condemnation is the consequence of an original act of evil, and suggests the antithesis of a single act of righteousness, the effects of which overflow to the potential justification of all men; and the freedom from condemnation continues beyond the initial stage of forgiveness and ripens into all the assured experiences of union with Christ (Rom 8:1).
In several passages the term is involved in a context which to some extent obscures the meaning. The justification of evil as a means to good is indignantly dealt with in Rom 3:8; with the authors of the slander that he shared that view the apostle refuses to argue, but he leaves them with the just condemnation of God impending. That God condemned sin in the flesh (Rom 8:3) has been taken to mean that the sinlessness of Christ was by contrast a condemnation of the sin of man, or that the incarnation is a token that human nature is essentially sinless; but the previous phrases connect the thought with the death rather than with the birth of Christ. For Him as man death meant the crown of sinlessness, the closure of the last avenue through which temptation could approach Him; and in virtue of union with Christ, the believer who is dead with Him is free from sin, though not immune from temptation. In 2Co 3:9 condemnation is antithetical to righteousness, and synonymous with death in 2Co 3:7. The argument appears to be that sin is so horrible that the law which reveals it is glorious; a fortiori the covenant that sweeps it out exceeds in glory. This condemnation of Jud 1:4 ought grammatically to be retrospective, but NT usage allows a prospective use with an explanatory phrase in apposition. The meaning is that ungodliness of the kind described is self-condemned, as has been set forth in various ways in Scripture (cf. Joh 3:19, 2Pe 2:1-3) as well as in Enoch, i. 9 (cf. Jud 1:14-16). The condemnation of the devil (1Ti 3:6) is a comparison of his fall with that of any vainglorious member of the hierarchy. Both being Gods ministers to the people, the similarity is one of circumstance, not necessarily of degree.
R. W. Moss.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Condemnation
CONDEMNATION.The disappearance of the term damnation in the Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 of the Gospels is suggestive of more sober and reasonable thoughts about the Divine judgment against sin. Condemnation at the last may indeed fall like a thunderbolt upon the rejected (Mat 21:19). The fig-tree in the parable has a time of probation and then may be suddenly cut down (Luk 13:6-9). At the Day of Judgment the universal benevolence of God experienced here (Mat 5:45, Luk 6:35) will give place to His righteous wrath against the persistently rebellious. Condemnation is the irrevocable sentence then passed upon the abusers of this life (Mat 25:41-46). Especially will this sentence of rejection and punishment descend then upon the hypocrite (Mar 12:40). The state of the condemned will be a veritable Gehenna (Mat 23:33). Weeping and gnashing of teeth picture the dreadful condition of condemned souls (Mat 22:13; Mat 24:51; Mat 25:30). Not only, we must suppose, punishment by pain for rebellion, but regret at past indifference, remorse at past folly, shame at past malice, will be the terrible feelings lacerating souls that have found not forgiveness but condemnation. The condemned will regret their indifference to Christs demands, which they have ignored (Joh 3:36). They will be tortured by the keen perception of their extreme folly in rejecting the knowledge they might have used (Luk 11:31-32). They will feel the shame of having their secret thoughts of evil exposed to a light broader than that of day (Mat 23:28). This will be the condemnation to perpetual darkness for those who have loved darkness more than the light (Mat 8:12; Mat 22:13; Mat 25:30).
But in this present life there is always at work a certain inevitable and automatic Divine condemnation. The earth beareth fruit of herself (, Mar 4:28), and yet the fact is due to the directing will of God. So, even in this life, the Divine condemnation of evil is being worked out, without that irrevocable sentence which constitutes the final condemnation. The guest may already feel the lack of a wedding-garment (Mat 2:11), and so, warned by the present workings of condemnation, escape the last dread sentence. Nothing but what God approves can endure the stresses and storms that are imminent (Luk 6:46-49). Without the sap of Gods favour the vine must already begin to wither (Joh 15:6).
But this present immanent condemnation is rather a most merciful conviction of sin and wrongfulness (Joh 16:8-11). In this present age condemnation is not final for any; nay, Gods purpose is the eternal security of men in true peace and true happiness (Joh 3:17; Joh 12:47). So far from condemnation being any mans sure fate, there is no need for any member of the human family to have to undergo such judgment as might result in condemnation (Joh 5:29). The strong assertion in the present ending to the second Gospel, He that disbelieveth shall be condemned (Mar 16:16), is surely the expression of the true conviction that Christ is the only Way to avoid condemnation (cf. Joh 3:36). Condemnation is Gods prerogative, and not the privilege or duty of the individual Christian as such: Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned (Luk 6:37).
W. B. Frankland.