Condemnation vs Conviction

Tonight we had a small meeting of the men of the church. It is the first of what I hope to be many men's meetings under the Soldiers of the Cross heading. We discussed the importance of some issues facing the church today. One topic was Condemnation vs Conviction. Scripture tells us "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 NASB. We are not called to be God's judge for the people. Jesus said he did not come to condemn the world.. That's because it was guilty already. No need to judge one already found guilty. Therefore who are we who judge other persons. Granted we use the word judge to frequently. When I look at an apple orchard and find a tree that has oranges on it, I am not judging the tree for what it is because I point out it has oranges instead of apples. I am just stating an observed fact. I am not condemning the tree. I know the difference between apples and oranges and don't expect to find the wrong fruit on the tree. Jesus upon leaving the temple once went to a fig tree. The tree had leaves on it and should have had fruit on it as well. Even small buds of figs. Finding none he cursed the tree, it withered and died. This is a good passage to chew on a while.
We discussed the fact that Condemnation draws persons away from God and then the fact that Conviction draws people to Christ. It's the convicting power of the Holy Ghost of God that draws people to the knowledge that they are sinners and cannot save themselves. It is that conviction of who Christ is that shows them he is the savior that they need. It is that conviction that causes them to repent of their sin and turn to God in Christ and receive forgiveness of their sins. We followed through with a conversation on what shows us we are wrong. Then turning to Exodus 20, we looked at the 10 commandments. Notice they are called the ten commandments and not the 10 suggestions. They are absolutes, they have not been done away with. Jesus said he came to fulfill them not do away with them. As we went to the first 3 commandments we shared how they are orders to be followed and not cast away or to be ignored. Chew on this for a while. Food for thought...