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The Root Cause Of Your Problem Is

C O N D E M N A T I O N By Joseph Prince

This message is a reminder to all of us who have been

listening to the gospel of grace for some time now. The

Lord is revealing to us the secret to living a transformed

life. It’s time for us to remove all the buttons in our lives

that the devil constantly presses. Let’s get to the deepest

root that causes all our problems.

“God did not give the law for man to live by or to make

man holy. God gave the law so that we know we’re

sinners and we see our need for a Savior.”

Recently, the Lord told me, “Son, what I showed

you some time ago — that condemnation kills —

it’s time to take it seriously. You’ve been preaching

to the church about the dangers of stress, but there’s a

deeper root than stress.”

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YOUR PROBLEMS ARE

NOT THE ROOT

My friend, when you go through an evil day, you are

like a sickly plant with sick leaves. You may have

leaves of sickness, poverty, a broken marriage or

depression in your life. But these are just the leaves.

These are just the manifestations of the root. It would be

foolish to attack the leaves because they are not the

cause of your problems. We all know that there’ll be no

leaf if there is no root.

Even the world knows that and many people in medical

science are beginning to realize that there is a root to

sickness. In fact, a study by a well-known medical

facility showed that about 70 per cent of all sicknesses

are due to stress.

CONDEMNATION —

THE DEEPEST ROOT OF ALL

Now, the deeper root of stress is fear. All stress is

caused by fear — fear of failing, fear of not having

enough, fear of death and so on. But that’s as far as

medical science can go. They cannot touch the deepest

root because it is spiritual. And the deepest root of all

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is condemnation. When there’s condemnation, there’ll

be fear. When there’s fear, there’s going to be stress.

And when there’s stress, there’ll be manifestations of

the curse. Now, if you disagree with me that the root

cause is condemnation, let me refer you to Genesis, the

book of beginnings.

Do you know that Adam was planted in the midst of a

finished work? Everything was prepared for him. But

the devil told him that he needed to do something to

qualify for all the things he had already qualified for.

The devil gave him a mistaken identity. He said, “You

will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you

eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like

God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4–5)

The truth is that Adam was already like God! But

Adam believed the devil, ate the fruit and fell. And the

curse came.

Before there was poverty, sickness and death in

Adam’s life, there was stress. How do we know that?

Well, God said, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat

bread…” (Genesis 3:19) And sweat speaks of stress and

self-effort. But if you go deeper, you will find that there

was fear. Do you know what Adam said to God when

God asked

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him where he was? He said, “I heard Your voice in the

garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid

myself.” (Genesis 3:10) Adam was afraid. He was

fearful. So the deeper root of stress is fear. But before he

was fearful, he felt condemned.

THE LAW CONDEMNS

Why did Adam feel condemned? It was because he

partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It

was not even the tree of evil or the tree of sin. So what

does the tree of the knowledge of good and evil speak

of? How did it cause Adam to sin?

My friend, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is

a picture of the law because the law gives us the

knowledge of good and evil. The Bible says, “… by the

law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20) Contrary to

popular opinion, God did not give the law for man to

live by or to make man holy. God gave the law so that

we know we’re sinners and we see our need for a

Savior.

Now, we know that the law brings about the knowledge

of sin. But what happens when you have the knowledge

of sin? You will feel condemned. So from now on, when

you think of the law, think of condemnation.

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Don’t think of the law as doing right or not doing wrong

because God did not give us the law for that purpose.

The law condemns. (2 Corinthians 3:7–9)

THE DEVIL’S TACTICS AND WEAPONRY

You might ask, “Pastor Prince, what has the law got to

do with my problems?”

My friend, our enemy the devil is smarter than many

psychiatrists, psychologists and even many believers. He

does not deal with the peripherals and the superficial.

Do you know what his first name is? It is not “thief” or

“murderer”, even though he steals and murders. His first

name is Satan, which is Hebrew for “prosecutor at law”

or “accuser”.

Do you know what the role of a prosecutor is in the

court of law? He is there to prosecute you and condemn

you. He never talks about your good points. He will

bring up all the dirty laundry and relentlessly accuse you

till you feel condemned.

“The only place where you find no

condemnation is in Christ Jesus.”

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So the devil’s name tells us that he goes straight to the

root of your problems. He doesn’t come to you and say,

“let your business slide” or “Neglect your children”. On

the contrary, he comes to say things like, “How can you

let the business slide?” or “Call yourself a Christian!

Call yourself a good father. You’re a lousy father!” He

accuses you till you feel condemned.

And he uses the law, which is holy, good and just, to

condemn you. That is why condemnation — the root

cause of all your problems — is so subtle. That is why

condemnation usually goes undetected.

I have realized that the devil hasn’t changed his tactics

even with a church like ours where I preach so strongly

against condemnation. Do you know why? Because he

has no other tactic! He has no other weapon! The devil

cannot enforce the curse in your life apart from

condemnation. The devil cannot make you sick apart

from condemnation. You have to cooperate with him

and receive the condemnation first.

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GOD DISARMED THE

DEVIL AT THE CROSS

Colossians 2:14–15

“having wiped out the handwriting of requirements

that was against us, which was contrary to us. And

He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the

cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He

made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over

them in it.”

The good news is that God disarmed the devil at the

cross. God took his only weapon — the law —

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and He nailed it to the cross! Yes, God has triumphed

over the devil and all his demonic principalities and

powers! That’s why I often tell the church that we are

not fighting for victory. We are fighting from victory.

The victory is already ours through the finished work of

Christ at the cross.

THE KEY TO NO CONDEMNATION

The fact that you can feel condemned is proof that you

have a heart of flesh, not a heart of stone. (Ezekiel

11:19, 36:26) It is proof that you are truly born again.

What, then, is the key to getting out of your evil day?

What is the key to no condemnation in your life?

Romans 8:1

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those

who are in Christ Jesus”

The only place where you find no condemnation is in

Christ Jesus. The word “therefore” connects Romans 8:1

to the previous verses in Romans 7, where Paul talked

about how he was condemned by the law that he knew

so well. The reason there is therefore now no

condemnation, is that God loved us so much that He

gave us His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.

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Jesus came and He was condemned for our sins at the

cross. When He hung on the cross, God took all our sins

of our entire lives, and He heaped them on Jesus. Then

He unleashed the vengeance of His fury against

lawlessness and sin on the body of Jesus Christ until

Jesus cried, “It is finished!” The reason that you

and I experience no condemnation today is that all our

sins have been punished and condemned, but in the body

of another — in the body of Jesus Christ!

WHAT IT MEANS TO OVERCOME THE

DEVIL BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB

Revelation 12:10–11

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now

salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God,

and the power of His Christ have come, for the

accuser of our brethren, who accused them

before our God day and night, has been cast down.

11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony, and they did not

love their lives to the death.”

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Many Christians know that we overcome the devil by

the blood of the Lamb. We know that there is power in

the blood of Christ. But what is it about Jesus’ blood

that makes it so powerful?

Now, what did Jesus say of the blood when He instituted

the Lord’s Supper? He said, “For this is My blood of the

new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission

of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)

The blood is for the forgiveness of sins! The blood is

there to ensure that you live in no condemnation! That is

what makes it so powerful!

Notice also what is said in verse 10, “… for the accuser

of our brethren, who accused them before our God day

and night, has been cast down.” The devil is called the

accuser of the brethren. And he relentlessly accuses

God’s people day and night.

But the good news is that he has been cast down! He

has been defeated! The moment he has no power to

accuse, salvation, strength, the kingdom of God and

the power of Christ will manifest in your life!

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DO NOT RESPOND TO THE ACCUSER

Some of you might say, “Pastor Prince, I have no

problem with this root. I don’t feel condemned.”

My friend, you will be surprised. Condemnation is very

subtle, especially if you are a person who believes in

doing what’s right. Continue to do what’s right, but do

not respond to the accuser.

When you choose not to respond to him, he cannot

condemn you. The root cause of all your problems is

destroyed, and you will come to the place of no

condemnation in your life!!