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My Soul and the Living Word
(He4:12-13)
God is He who sees (Ps33:13).
He searches every heart and mind (Pr16:2; 1Ch28:9), and
Lets those who are upright live in His presence (Ps140:13).
Faith is, unlike the wicked, knowing that God sees all (Ps10:4, 139:1-16) and
The life of this faith is my soul, having been cleansed by the blood of Yeshua, having
A clear conscience and mind and living honorably (He13:18),
As nothing is pure with the spirits, the minds, the consciences of those who do not believe (Tit1:15).
History shows how humans are becoming more wicked and more impure
Since Adam listened to the serpent’s word and sinned, after which
He heard the voice of God and hid from Him (Ge3:8).
When Cain had the desire to kill his brother whose offering was accepted by God,
God said to him, sin desires to have you but you must master it.
In spite of it, Cain killed and afterwards his conscience was so corrupted that
He pretended to not know anything (Ge4:5-11).
While philosophers and psychologists have endlessly debated about
The origin of conscience (“joint-knowing” or “knowledge that is shared with oneself”),
Whether it is innate or inherent etc,
For the most part, they refer to moral conscience that is general and relative to one’s context.
Nevertheless, the Bible shows that the Law is the absolute conscience of God, that is,
Once it came, it standardized the different types of consciences in the world (Rm3:19).
While those who sin under the Law would be judged by the Law,
Those who do by nature things required by the Law would be judged righteous by it (Rm2:12-15).
God gave the commandments to Israel so the next generations would
Not be like their ancestors whose hearts were not loyal to God (Ps78:5-8).
Though a king, when rebuked by the prophet, David was sincerely contrite (2Sa12:13) and
Asked God for a pure heart and a steadfast spirit (Ps51:1-17).
He gave all things willingly and with an honest intent (1Ch29:17).
For in the Temple were the eyes of the LORD that examine everyone (Ps11:4),
When they turned from their evil ways,
God did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened (Jnh3:10).
As such, when Yeshua said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days,”
He angered the Jews but what He meant was that
Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body (Jn2:19-21):
The Law—the conscience of God—condemned—punished the flesh;
The gospel—the truth—redeems—set souls free from conscience.
The woman who was caught by the Law in the act of adultery was
Set free by the truth, by their guilty conscience (Jn8:3-11).
But Yeshua harshly criticized the hypocrites who
Appeared righteous on the outside but were full of lawlessness on the inside (Mt6:1-16, 23:5-28).
As a result, He was hated by the hypocritical Pharisees and was handed over to death by them.
But as He died, He said, “It is finished” (Jn19:30), declaring that He:
1) Trusted the Father who saves the upright in the heart, and died according to the command (Ps7:10; Jn10:18);
2) Judged the father of lies, the devil (Ge3:4-6; Jn8:44; 1Jn3:8); and
3) Died—redeemed—liberated all mankind,
Blood—for souls—to cleanse the spirit, the soul, the heart, the conscience.
He resurrected and ascended to heaven.
He is the Lamb on the throne who was dead but now is alive for ever and ever (Rev1:18).
The Holy Spirit testifies the word of Yeshua Christ, the living word (He4:12-13).
Christians are the souls who were dead before but now made alive by the blood of Yeshua (Eph2:1).
Therefore, they:
1) Hear the word that is sharper than any double-edged sword, and are cut to the heart and contrite, and thus they confess and obey (1Jn1:8-9; Ac2:37-38; Rev2:7);
2) With a clear conscience serve God (He9:9-18);
3) Do not distort the word of God— rather, keep, defend and teach the truth (2Co4:2); and
4) With integrity and godly sincerity, save souls and make disciples (Mt28:19-20; 2Co1:13; 2Ti1:3),
Lest their consciences be seared and deny God by their actions (Rm1:28-32; 1Ti4:1-2, Tit1:16).
O Lord,
Let us all tremble before God, before the living word, and
May none of us have a seared conscience.
For even the dead heard Your word and came to life,
Let my soul hear Your word and obey!
By the word that is alive and active,
Let me shout and command demons to leave, and
Command souls to follow me and make disciples! Amen.