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They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 1 Tim 3:9 ESV
In Hebrews 10:2 it states that if Jesus sacrifice worked, we should no longer be conscious of our sins. Does that thought scare you or excite you? It scared me at first. The enemy led me to believe that I must pay attention to my sins or I would fall from grace off the deep end into sin. He was telling me a lie like always.
Maybe this will help, the enemy tells us the lie that if we are no longer conscious of our sins, we will fall deep into sin. This is similar to the lie he tells us about worrying. Satan tells us if we are not worrying about a problem we are careless and irresponsible. While the Bible tells us to not worry about anything and to be careful for nothing Phil 4:6.
Brother Joe’s conscience
1) Just imagine, your brother Joe owes you a large debt, money he borrowed when in desperate need and agreed to pay back. Money that he knows you had to stretch to lend him since you are not rich. He was to make payments and then one lump sum. Several months later and he has been unable to make any payments as agreed. The debt weighs heavily on his conscience. He feels condemned by his conscience, guilty and ashamed. Do you think he would come over to visit often or would the consciousness of his unpaid debt lead him to avoid you?
2) Now what if good old mom, loaded with money from an unexpected inheritance, stepped in and paid you the money your brother Joe owed, but no one told your brother. Would anything change in your Joe’s mind since his debt has been paid, or would he still be conscious of his debt to you since no one told him the good news? Would he now be happy to see you or still tend to avoid you.
3) Now what if your sister Mary told your brother Joe that Mom, who he had not talked to in years,had paid the debt off, but your Joe did not believe Mary. Would your brother have a clear conscience now? Would he happily come to visit you now or would the consciousness of his unpaid debt still lead him to avoid you?
4) What if you called Joe and told him clearly that mom had paid off his debt to you when she inherited a billion dollars and had given you much more than Joe owed. He finally believed Mom had paid off his debt. You also told him that all was forgiven between the two of you and that you loved him dearly no matter what. Do you think Joe’s conscience would be relieved? Would he need to be conscious of, mindful, thinking about, the debt any longer? Or would he now have a clear conscience? Would he be willing to come and see you now?
When your debt is paid in full, there is no more need to be conscious of your debt unless you do not believe the truth that your debt has been paid in full.
This same truth applies to our sin debt to God.
1) Some do not know the debt has been paid and avoid God completely, to the point of denying His very existence. Their conscience condemns them, filled with guilt, shame, worry, anxiety, and fear. They do all they can to try and escape their conscience. This desire to escape these feelings often leads to acts of sin to change the way a person feels.
2) Some have been told and still do not believe and avoid God. Their conscience condemns them, filled with guilt, shame, worry, anxiety, and fear. They avoid God for the most part.
3) A majority of Christians kind of believe their sins have been paid for and hope it is true. But they are not sure about their sins after they trusted Jesus. Their conscience still condemns them at times, still often experience guilt, shame, worry, anxiety, and fear. When under guilt and shame they may avoid God.
4) A few do believe and are set free in their conscience from guilt, shame, worry, anxiety, and fear. They really believe Jesus finished the work and paid their full debt off to God. This includes past, present and future sins. They are established in His righteousness in their minds and walk in the peace Jesus left us, experiencing His joy. This is where a Christian should be headed in the renewal of their minds. It is where God wants us to go, no more consciousness of our sin debt because it has been paid in full by Jesus. Truly free with no more guilt, shame, worry, anxiety, and fear. You believe your debt has been paid in full by Jesus, you are completely forgiven, righteous in Christ, right with God, dearly loved. They have a close relationship with their heavenly Father where love has been perfected.
Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? Heb 10:2 ESV
The Bible states that we should no longer be conscious of our sins since Jesus perfect sacrifice worked. If we are still sin conscious, we do not fully grasp, do not truly believe, that Jesus paid our debt in full. We are somewhere in the first three steps in brother Joe’s story above and have not made it to step four. We say we believe Jesus paid our debt and it is all about grace, but we better watch what we do because who knows what God might do. We are still living partially under the law in our minds, the law that severs us from the grace of Christ. In other words, adding the law to grace, makes grace of no effect.
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. Gal 5:4 ESV
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. Rom 11:6 NAS
The Bible tells us that Jesus took all of our guilt and shame too. So, why do you still feel guilt and shame over your sins? Because you do not simply believe that Jesus took all of your sin upon Himself and paid for it all as God clearly tells us.
Even Paul who had watched Stephen being stoned to death, had put other Christians in prison or to death, speaks of his clear conscience before God. That would mean he felt no guilt, shame or condemnation for murder. This is only possible by the grace of God. Paul believed God and often speaks of having a good conscience as opposed to an evil conscience.
I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 2 Tim 1:3 ESV
What is a seared conscience?
We normally think of a seared conscience as a conscience that no longer knows right from wrong, an evil conscience. But I want you to set that aside for a minute and consider the following from one of the most highly regarded New Testament Greek scholars.
Thayer’s defines a seared conscience in the New Testament as one who is perpetually conscious of sin.
THAYER'S GREEK LEXICON, STRONGS NT 2743:(branded in their own conscience i. e.) whose souls are branded with the marks of sin, i. e. who carry about with them the perpetual consciousness of sin
It is like their sins have been branded so deeply into the persons conscience that they cannot let them go and are constantly reminded of them. This is an evil conscience according to the Bible.
by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 1 Tim 4:2 NAS
Being perpetually conscious of sin (evil conscience) is the opposite of God’s goal of no longer being conscious of sin (good conscience) for the believer stated in Hebrews 10:2.
Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? Heb 10:2 ESV
A seared conscience is preoccupied with a sin debt to God instead of conscious of God’s forgiveness and righteousness in Christ where God wants us. This is where we need our minds renewed.
Study: Holy Spirit Does Not Convict a Believer of Their Sins
Sin Consciousness Grieves the Holy Spirit
Did Jesus Sacrifice Provide Forgiveness for Our Future Sins Too? Yes
God Forgets Our Sins For His Own Sake
A Christians Sins are NOT Counted Against Them
Believers are Never Called Sinners in the New Testament
God Said a Believer Can Never be Considered Unholy
There is No Condemnation for You Christian
Jesus Never Called a Believer a Hypocrite
Sin Does Not Make a Christian a Hypocrite
Jesus Did Not Die to See If We Can Qualify
A Weak Conscience is Easily Offended
Do nothing out of guilt.
An evil conscience causes us to do things out of guilt. The Bible teaches that believers are not to do things such as giving or good works, out of guilt. When we do, we are performing a dead work in an attempt to help clean our conscience that has already been cleaned by the blood of Christ. If you took a shower and were clean, taking another shower to get clean would be a dead work.
He (Jesus) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctifyfor the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.Heb 9:12-14 ESV
Jesus sacrifice worked to purify our conscience.
In Hebrews, it compares the Old Testament sacrifices to Jesus sacrifice. It tells us that animal sacrifices cannot perfect the conscience.
According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, Heb 9:9 ESV
Hebrews also tells us that Jesus blood sprinkled on our hearts cleanses us from a conscience focused on our sins, an evil conscience.
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Heb 10:22 ESV
It also tells us that Jesus sacrifice did perfect our conscience, we just need our minds renewed to believe it.
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Heb 10:14 NASB
Study:I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST
I Am Holy, I Am Sanctified, I Am Perfected
A good conscience, not focused on our sin debt like our old evil conscience, is part of being born again.
Heb 9:9 - (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,
Heb 10:22 - let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 9:14 - how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
1Pe 3:21 - Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Sing a new song
Let me ask you, do you believe Jesus death on the cross and resurrection worked to fully pay for your sins? If you do, then you should no longer be conscious of your sins. Do you know what you should be conscious of? Your forgiveness and righteousness in Christ. Being firmly established in His righteousness (Matt 6:33) in your mind is the key to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is righteous, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So how do you make this change, the same way you get an old song out of your head that keeps on playing, start singing a new song. Try singing “Jesus Paid for That One Too” every time the enemy accuses you of your failures. Focus on your righteousness in Christ. The Bible tells us that because of the blood of Jesus, we are forgiven, righteous, holy, sanctified and perfected in the spirit. The flesh will never be perfected, that is why it must die.
Where does sin consciousness come from? The law we are no longer under as believers.
The law made Paul conscious of sin, … I would not have come to know sin except through the Law;… Rom 7:7 NASB
The Bible is extremely clear that believers are no longer under the law but under grace. Lying like always, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, does all he can to make believer think they are still under the condemnation of the law. The law is for the unbeliever to make them sin conscious and see their need for the Savior.
We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers…1 Tim 1:9a
When a believer thinks they are still under the law, it makes the believer sin conscious and perpetuates an evil conscience. This causes the fear, worry, anxiety, guilt and shame you feel when you are supposed to be free.
Under the New Covenant, the Bible is very clear that anything that is not of faith is sin and the law is not of faith. The only thing the letter of the law can do for you is condemn you.
… the Law is not of faith; Gal 3:12a NASB
Study: Jesus is The End of The Law for Believers
A Christian is Dead to the Law, Freed from the Law and Dead to Sin
Christians Are Not Under the Law of Moses, Our Standard is Much Higher
Christians Are Released from The Ten Commandments
Christians Have Diplomatic Immunity
You Only Have Two Commandments Christian
Law Demands Righteousness Grace Provides Righteousness
I encourage you to study the New Covenant Jesus placed in effect with His shed blood. Firmly establish your thoughts in His righteousness first and God will provide what you need and lead you into more and more freedom from there.
Many more New Covenant studies HERE.
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