REPENTANCE & CONSCIENCE


 INTENTION:

There’s another one of those guilt-ladened words: Repentance.

But don’t worry, we’ll just change our thinking and let go of any guilt-conscience.

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I.            TOPIC:

We want to look at a what is Repentance and our Conscience.

We tackled the issue of The Mind (Lesson 014) and The Heart (Lesson 016); both of which relate to our Conscience and what Repentance means to us. We will even be reading the same verses from then (Lesson 016) due to this Heart condition connection.

Adams’ sin brought a consciousness of sin into our lives. Before they sinned, there was no awareness (conscience) of sin. That sin, from the Garden, made them falsely believe they "offended God" and were no longer worthy of a relationship with Him. Yet, it never did—as God still went about the same way He always did to go walk with them in the Garden (Genesis 3:8-9). God never changed Himself because of their sin, they changed. And that change it made, made a lie.

The only way the Lord could take away us believing the unbelief lie (without violating our free-will to believe the lie), was to make sin a non-issue by removing it in its entirety for us. Because ALL sins of the flesh have been removed, there is no logical / heart-condition / emotional reason we should continue to believe the lie that sin affects our relationship with God. We must "repent", not of our sins, but in repenting of falsely believing that sin is an issue with God. We only made ourselves "alienated and enemies to God" in our sin-conscience imaginations—we never in reality (our reality and God's reality) have ever been alienated and enemies to Him (Colossians 1:21).

Yet, because we falsely believed we were, the Lord went about fixing this for us—God (in Christ) reconciled Himself to the world (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)—not that He had anything against us, but that we had something against Him (Matthew 5:23-24).

So, this is the freedom He died to set us free to—for freedom's sake (Galatians 5:1)—that we should never falsely believe (unbelief) that my / your / their sins have any effect on our relationship with either God the Father, Christ Jesus the Son, and/or the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit).

Repent—no, not of your sin—but of the unbelief of sin being an issue with God. That unbelief (false belief) is our / your sin-conscience. We can and should change our heart and mind to accept our Righteous-conscience—because that is who we perpetually are. Go into His Throne Room (and into Final Judgement) with confidence, knowing you are unchangeably Holy and Righteous (1 John 4:17).

What about the Law and “obedience” to it? It has never applied to us; and should never!

Since the Law makes sin known to us, it focuses our heart and mind onto sin. We see this leading into the ministry of Jesus (who came to set us free from the Law and a sin-conscience). When you are trained in the Law, you are trained to see and judge by sin—even our own sins. Jesus does not ever condemn us, only our conscience does. This can be seen in how the Pharisees were “convicted by their own conscience” when they turned away from stoning the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-12).

Because the Law and Law-driven sacrifices could never make a person fully clean from our sin-conscience, Jesus came as the ultimate sin-sacrifice and completely removed all our sins of the flesh; also freeing us from the guilt and condemnation (sin-conscience) that can infest our hearts and minds.

If you try to live by the Law (find righteousness or an unguilty conscience by it), you will fail by it. If you are always seeking forgiveness (sacrifice), you will only be “reminded of your sins”. Which is why we must fully embrace and accept the already-done totality of our forgiveness of our sins that is “once and for all” time; thus, giving us a Righteous-conscience. You can and should live a life with no God-worry of your sins—or anyone else’s—(Lesson 019).

Truly: what part of "I will remember your sins no more" (Hebrews 10:17) and "God keeps no record of our wrongs" (1 Corinthians 13:5b) do we not fully believe? Your fleshly sins (as with any human being—Born-Again or not) are NOT an issue with (detriment to) my / our / your / their relationship with the Lord! This is why no person's sins of the flesh can send a person to hell (or lack thereof, get them into heaven).

·         Refer also: Bible Study Lesson 040 – Final Judgement


II.            READING:    Hebrews 10:1-23 (GNT) {PoG}

The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty {have no conscience} of sin anymore, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

5 For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God:

“You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body for me.

6 You are not pleased with animals burned whole on the altar or with sacrifices to take away sins.

7 Then I said, ‘Here I am, to do your will, O God, just as it is written of me in the book of the Law.’”

8 First he said, “You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings or with animals burned on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins.” He said this even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, O God, to do your will.” So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. 10 Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all.

11 Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins. 12 Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever, and then he sat down at the right side of God. 13 There he now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under his feet. 14 With one sacrifice, then, he has made perfect forever those who are purified from sin.

15 And the Holy Spirit also gives us his witness. First he says,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them in the days to come, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds.”

17 And then he says, “I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer.” 18 So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed.

19 We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. 20 He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain—that is, through his own body. 21 We have a great priest in charge of the house of God. 22 So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty {sin} conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. 23 Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise.

 

III.            RELATED VERSES AND QUESTIONS:

A.      What does it mean that, “I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds”? If we know the Law of Moses always brought death, we have to look at the ‘law’ that brings life: the law of the Spirit and Love!

Romans 7:4b-6 (GNT)

As far as the Law is concerned, you also have died because you are part of the body of Christ; and now you belong to him who was raised from death in order that we might be useful in the service of God. 5 For when we lived according to our human nature, the sinful desires stirred up by the Law were at work in our bodies, and all we did ended in death. 6 Now, however, we are free from the Law, because we died to that which once held us prisoners. No longer do we serve in the old way of a written law, but in the new way of the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:3-9 (GNT)

It is clear that Christ himself wrote this letter and sent it by us. It is written, not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on stone tablets but on human hearts.

4 We say this because we have confidence in God through Christ. 5 There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work. The capacity we have comes from God; 6 it is he who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

7 The Law was carved in letters on stone tablets, and God's glory appeared when it was given. Even though the brightness on Moses' face was fading, it was so strong that the people of Israel could not keep their eyes fixed on him. If the Law, which brings death when it is in force, came with such glory, 8 how much greater is the glory that belongs to the activity of the Spirit! 9 The system which brings condemnation was glorious; how much more glorious is the activity which brings salvation!

1 John 3:22-24 (GNT)

We receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 What he commands is that we believe in his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as Christ commanded us. 24 Those who obey God's commands live in union with God and God lives in union with them. And because of the Spirit that God has given us we know that God lives in union with us.

Question: Which “law” is in your heart and on your mind—Love or guilt?



B.      Our conscience is the filter we place on our heart and mind (a veil). The Temple (Tabernacle) had two veils: one into the Holy Place (our soul-room)—this doorway representing our mind; the other into the Holy of Holies (our Spirit)—this doorway representing our heart. These veils can deceive us about our free open-access we have to the Father (heart-aspect); furthermore, it can also deceive us about the “correct knowledge” (mind-aspect) of the Lord (Love). The veil over our heart is “unbelief” and the veil over our minds are “strongholds”. These veils also hindering the flow between each realm. And the veils are the barriers that restrict us from “Loving the Lord with ALL our heart, soul, and mind”.

Matthew 22:36-40 (GNT)

“Teacher,” he asked, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and the most important commandment. 39 The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ 40 The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 (GNT)

Because we have this hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who had to put a veil over his face so that the people of Israel would not see the brightness fade and disappear. 14 Their minds, indeed, were closed; and to this very day their minds are covered with the same veil as they read the books of the old covenant. The veil is removed only when a person is joined to Christ. 15 Even today, whenever they read the Law of Moses, the veil still covers their minds. 16 But it can be removed, as the scripture says about Moses: “His veil was removed when he turned to the Lord.” 17 Now, “the Lord” in this passage is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 18 All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (GNT)

It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. 4 The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; 5 we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.

Hebrews 3:12-15 (GNT) {PoG}

My friends, be careful that none of you have a heart so evil and unbelieving that you will turn away from the living God. 13 Instead, in order that none of you be deceived by sin and become stubborn, you must help one another every day, as long as the word “Today” in the scripture applies to us. 14 For we are all partners with Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at the beginning.

15 This is what the scripture says: “If you hear God's voice today, do not be stubborn {harden your heart}, as your ancestors were when they rebelled against God.”

Hebrews 9:11-14 (GNT)

But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here. The tent in which he serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a tent made by human hands, that is, it is not a part of this created world. 12 When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and this purifies them by taking away their ritual impurity. 14 Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.

Question: What are these veils to you? How can you determine if there are there any veils on your heart or mind?



C.      If we have a sin-conscience, we can fall into the trap of “useless rituals” (Hebrews 9:14) that become a law to us.

Galatians 3:1-5; 10-14 (GNT)

You foolish Galatians! Who put a spell on you? Before your very eyes you had a clear description of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross! 2 Tell me this one thing: did you receive God's Spirit by doing what the Law requires or by hearing the gospel and believing it? 3 How can you be so foolish! You began by God's Spirit; do you now want to finish by your own power? 4 Did all your experience mean nothing at all? Surely it meant something! 5 Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you do what the Law requires or because you hear the gospel and believe it?

10 Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, “Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God's curse!” 11 Now, it is clear that no one is put right with God by means of the Law, because the scripture says, “Only the person who is put right with God through faith shall live.” 12 But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, as the scripture says, “Whoever does everything the Law requires will live.”

13 But by becoming a curse for us Christ has redeemed us from the curse that the Law brings; for the scripture says, “Anyone who is hanged on a tree is under God's curse.” 14 Christ did this in order that the blessing which God promised to Abraham might be given to the Gentiles by means of Christ Jesus, so that through faith we might receive the Spirit promised by God.

1 Timothy 1:3-7; 18-19 (GNT)

I want you to stay in Ephesus, just as I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia. Some people there are teaching false doctrines, and you must order them to stop. 4 Tell them to give up those legends and those long lists of ancestors, which only produce arguments; they do not serve God's plan, which is known by faith. 5 The purpose of this order is to arouse the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith. 6 Some people have turned away from these and have lost their way in foolish discussions. 7 They want to be teachers of God's law, but they do not understand their own words or the matters about which they speak with so much confidence.

18 Timothy, my child, I entrust to you this command, which is in accordance with the words of prophecy spoken in the past about you. Use those words as weapons in order to fight well, 19 and keep your faith and a clear conscience. Some people have not listened to their conscience and have made a ruin of their faith.

1 Timothy 4:1-5 (GNT)

The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons. 2 Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron. 3 Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth. 4 Everything that God has created is good; nothing is to be rejected, but everything is to be received with a prayer of thanks, 5 because the word of God and the prayer make it acceptable to God.

Titus 1:13-16 (GNT)

For this reason you must rebuke them sharply, so that they may have a healthy faith 14 and no longer hold on to Jewish legends and to human commandments which come from people who have rejected the truth. 15 Everything is pure to those who are themselves pure; but nothing is pure to those who are defiled and unbelieving, for their minds and consciences have been defiled. 16 They claim that they know God, but their actions deny it. They are hateful and disobedient, not fit to do anything good.

Question: What are some religious or church doctrines that are based on people having a sin-conscience?



D.      Paul reinforces to us that we must be “without offence, not troubled and distressed by a consciousness of sin” (G677). What this entails is us not thinking or believing that when we do sin, we are offending God. This is because God already took care of each and every sin of the flesh we commit through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Acts 24:16 (GNT) {PoG}

And so I do my best always to have a clear conscience {without offence, not troubled and distressed by a consciousness of sin} before God and people.

Philippians 1:9-11 (GNT) {PoG}

I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment, 10 so that you will be able to choose what is best. Then you will be free from all impurity and blame {without offense, not troubled by a consciousness of sin, until the} Day of Christ. 11 Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce, for the glory and praise of God.

1 Peter 3:18-21 (GNT) {PoG}

For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually, 19 and in his spiritual existence he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits. 20 These were the spirits of those who had not obeyed God when he waited patiently during the days that Noah was building his boat. The few people in the boat—eight in all—were saved by the water, 21 which was a symbol pointing to baptism, which now saves you. It is not the washing off of bodily dirt, but the {demand for a good conscience toward God (G1906)}. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Question: Do you feel you offend God?



E.       Having a clear conscience requires us to repent. But repentance has nothing to do with our “sins” (or turning from sin), it has to do with changing ones thinking (G3341). When we think our sins affect our relationship with God, which they do not (Colossians 1:21), that is having a sin-conscience. When we believe that Christ took away all our sins, then we have a clear-conscience—or more specifically, a righteous-conscience that holds onto the Righteousness given to us by Christ that can never diminish. Thus, part of removing those “veils” is to change our thinking and believing the Truth! To change from seeing yourself as a sinner (having to do with sacrifices or offerings or asking for forgiveness), to seeing yourself (a believer) as righteous, having “the mind of Christ”.

Romans 3:21-26 (GNT) {PoG}

But now God's way of putting people right with himself has been revealed. It has nothing to do with law, even though the Law of Moses and the prophets gave their witness to it. 22 God puts people right through {the faith of} Jesus Christ. God does this to all who believe in Christ, because there is no difference at all: 23 everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence. 24 But by the free gift of God's grace all are put right with him through Christ Jesus, who sets them free. 25-26 God offered him, so that by his blood he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through {his faith}. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus.

1 Corinthians 2:13-16 (GNT)

So then, we do not speak in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, as we explain spiritual truths to those who have the Spirit. 14 Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God's Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them, and they seem to be nonsense, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis. 15 Whoever has the Spirit, however, is able to judge the value of everything, but no one is able to judge him. 16 As the scripture says,

“Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give him advice?”

We, however, have the mind of Christ.

Ephesians 4:23-24 (GNT)

Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, 24 and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 (GNT)

As the Lord's servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher, 25 who is gentle as you correct your opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth. 26 And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.

Question: What have you ‘changed your mind about’ the Lord? What is Christ’s mind to you?



F.       When John the Baptist preached the “baptism of repentance”, he was telling the people to change their minds in how they perceived sin—that they should see Jesus Christ instead (Mark 1:4-5). This baptism was the washing away of the old and being made clean; to become renewed in a person’s mind and heart. Similar for the Israelites as to their crossing of the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-5). But moreso, a clear conscience towards God. And having been cleared in their conscience, they were set-up to then accept and believe in Christ Jesus as their Messiah. John’s request for repentance was then really that they should believe on Jesus (turning from their unbelief in anything else).

·         Refer also: https://cbadenhorst.blogspot.com/2018/01/repentance-from-unbelief-to-belief.html

The Lord is patient for us to “repent” and believe on Him (2 Peter 3:8-9). This is what Paul confirms:

Acts 19:1-7 (GNT) {PoG}

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul travelled through the interior of the province and arrived in Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,” they answered.

3 “Well, then, what kind of baptism did you receive?” Paul asked.

“The baptism of John,” they answered.

4 Paul said, “{John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance}; and he told the people of Israel to believe in the one who was coming after him—that is, in Jesus.”

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God's message. 7 They were about twelve men in all.

Question: Does the “already-removal of your sins” remove any barriers (veils) to believing in Him?



IV.            FURTHER THOUGHT:

A.      1 John 3:19-21 (GNT) {PoG}

This, then, is how we will know that we belong to the truth; this is how we will be confident in God's presence. 20 If our conscience {heart} condemns us, we know that God is greater than our conscience {heart} and that he knows everything. 21 And so, my dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have courage in God's presence.

Thoughts: If repentance were a “moral compass”, where God is ‘North’ and sin is ‘South’; then one could easily turn from sin, but yet not turn to God—turning ‘East’ or ‘West’. But even then, God has removed our sins from us “as far as the East is from the West” (Psalms 102:12). If we do not hold true that our sins are removed from us for all time, we can fall into a condemnation-trap.

All this is saying is that, because God already knows everything, there is no need to hide from Him or feel condemned by our mistakes. And that if we do make a mistake, and we don’t feel condemned, it is because we actually believe that Christ took all our sins and that we can be confident in the Presence of God. “For, as Christ Jesus is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

We can and must live free from a sin-conscience towards God. And must NEVER EVER see ourselves as "a sinner saved by grace", but someone whose sins are completely and forever (before we even commit them) forgiven. When we have a sin-conscience, we are always asking for forgiveness. When we have a righteous-conscience, we walk in confidence that Christ is our all-in-all, knowing He made me righteous forever at the Cross. We can never ask for forgiveness for a sin that's not already been forgiven. We must raise our heads to look Him in the eyes without fear, knowing we are perpetually cleansed and Holy (Saints).

 

B.      2 Timothy 2:15 {PoG}

When you study the word of God, to be able to rightly discern what it says, you must first know and understand that: You yourself are already approved unto God [by Christ Jesus], and that you have absolutely no reason to be ashamed towards Him!

Thoughts: When we don’t have to “prove our worth”, we need not worry about our mistakes. You are approved by God, so let’s let go of a shaming sin-conscience that says we aren’t (or aren’t yet). How much of a heavy burden is lifted off of us when we know we never have to “work” for God’s approval—think how much peace you have in relationships that you can just be yourself where there is utmost safety. This is your relationship (beyond measure) with the Lord.


C.      James 5:16;19-20 (GNT) {PoG}

So then, confess your {faults} to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of {the righteous} has a powerful effect.

19 My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again, 20 remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save {their} soul from death and {cover and hinder the knowledge} of many sins.

Thoughts: So, how can we view sin-conscience / righteous-conscience in our relationships with one-another?

Much of what we do transpires from our conscious / subconscious—an instinctual action / reaction to ourselves, others, and the world around us. This happens whether "right" or "wrong"—often us being unaware that what we may be doing is jeopardising, negatively-affecting, detrimental, or self-sabotaging—a condition of our programming (not our true self).

This programming that creates this destructiveness (unintentionally) is all the things this world programmes in us from in the womb, in our upbringing, and our environments. These may be your survival instincts (Flight / Fight / Freeze / Fawn) that stay in you, or religious unbeliefs that instil inequality (gender / race / nationality / identity), or disguised soul-draining behaviours like people-pleasing and lack of boundaries.

When our programming by this world is a part of our being (in whichever area of life it is), that unrenewed / unhealed area-of-programming becomes our sin-conscience—because we are doing those things from our conscience that is not healthy to us or others (in essence an unhealthy-conscience as being the sin-conscience).

Yet, we can develop an awareness of those debilitating responses and behaviours at the root (those things that steal, kill, and destroy). And when we change them (heal that area of life), that unhealthy area then comes from a healthy area as a righteous-conscience (healed conscience)—righteous because it always brings forth Life Abundant instead. One always coming from Love (that Agape Love).

Thus, the more we heal—often through communication (“confessing our faults one-to-another”)—the more we can learn to change our thinking (repenting) to live life from that healed-conscience (righteous-conscience).

Remember, our faults with the Lord have (past-tense) been dealt with through the Cross—we have no reason to worry about our relationship with the Lord. With that burden removed, we can focus on our own healing to produce healthier relationships and living here on this earth.

 

 V.            ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & SUPPORT:

A thank you to Kelly and Joshua who are inspirational in this life-journey. And to all the family, friends, sponsors, and donors who have fed into this ministry and outreach.

If you would like to support this ministry and outreach, you may do so via our website or at:


(U.S.A. registered 501c3 Non-Profit Organisation)

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