the conscience of man

After the fall of Adam man lost contact with God, some knew about Him but none knew Him.  Man did not have a solid contact with God for twenty-one hundred years.  The Lord offered a man called Abram a covenant that would lead to the redemption of all mankind.  God told Abram that through obedience all the families of the earth would be blessed.  Four hundred and thirty years later God led Israel out of Egypt and gave Moses the “law”.  Israel did not know right from wrong, there was no law against Cain killing his brother Abel!
 
John 1:17 The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus.
 
The law specifically told the people what was sin and what wasn’t, in essence the law gave the people a sin consciousness.  The law was recorded and presented to all men, some committed it to memory.  This was their attitude: I would kill you but it’s forbidden in the law.  As long as men fostered the law they would not have a legitimate relationship with the Lord.  Man was preoccupied with sin and punishment, the word grace appeared in the Old Testament as favor.  The salvation that came by grace was not available until the death and resurrection of Christ.
 
Hebrews 9:14 The blood of Christ has purged your conscience from dead works (sin) to serve the living God.
 
By grace the Lord took the blood of Jesus and blotted out all of man’s sins.  And then He used the sacrifice of Jesus to change the very nature of man and cause him to be born-again.  Now, man could forsake his sin consciousness and have a God consciousness.  Man would no longer need to carry a book of rules around with him, God would write them in their heart.  When man’s nature changes, he knows what pleases God and what doesn’t.
 
Hebrews 4:16 Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in time of need. 
 
If a man has a sin consciousness he would not count himself worthy to come before the throne of grace.  The devil loves to encourage a sin consciousness and keep us separated from God and the blessings.  Well, why doesn’t God do something about this?  He has, He destroyed the works of the devil and He gave us the truth, we have been empowered to succeed.
 
John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
 
If a man is born-again but is bound to a sin consciousness he does not know what his Lord has said.  Maybe his church has no such teaching, or he hasn’t paid attention, or he doesn’t attend his church often enough to learn anything!  Folks who are not in possession of the truth are in bondage to something contrary to the Word of God.  There are two kinds of fear, one is good and one is not.  If you are afraid of God you have been lied to about Him.  But if you fear Him, that is have a deep reverential respect for Him, that is a good fear.  Search for truth, believe it and you will have a clear conscience.

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