A Christian is someone who is true to Jesus Christ. Being a Christian also refers to a change concerning our conscience and what we strongly believe. Yet the Bible does not tell us to walk by the light of our own conscience, but by the light of the Lord instead. Jesus taught that we should be as He is in this world. Therefore, in every point where we are not like Him, we can only expect God to convict us. The issue is not about making the principles of Jesus’ life active in our life—it is about applying them to our relationship with Him instead. Then our conscience can make the proper decisions regarding the right way to behave, according to our relationship to Him.
…we need to make the effort to correct our own conscience according to the Cross. This is the standard that the children of God should rely on, instead of going by whether we think something is right or wrong.
Up to the time when we come into a relationship with Jesus, our own conscience judged us. But once we enter into a personal relationship with Him, His Cross becomes the standard we are to be judged by. In fact, the ‘conscience’ for the whole human race is His Cross—not just our own conscience. Therefore, we need to make the effort to correct our own conscience according to the Cross. This is the standard that the children of God should rely on, instead of going by whether we think something is right or wrong. We need to see how everything relates to Christ’s shed blood and His suffering in agony on the Cross for our sake. Does the situation we face at this time make us identify with the death of Christ on the Cross? The most important thing is to find out just what our heavenly Father condemns in the Cross.
Are we satisfied with putting what we feel ahead of what we should think and do? If it was necessary, would we die for Jesus’ sake? Or would we easily give in to pressure because we have guided our life by what Jesus taught us, instead of by what He did for us—on the Cross?
Jesus’ primary accomplishment on earth was His death for the whole human race on the Cross. He thereby made a way where there was no way for mankind to get back to God.
Getting ourself right for heaven and saving our soul is not to be our primary goal. Our goal should involve fighting, even to the point of death, to stand for what Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross represents. “Consider Him…lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:3) like He did. Jesus’ primary accomplishment on earth was His death for the whole human race on the Cross. He thereby made a way where there was no way for mankind to get back to God. And what did it cost Him to do that? Everything! He died so we could live.
Today’s Church needs to wake up concerning its own conscience also. It desperately needs to confront what Jesus did on the Cross. Then it will be able to understand what Paul meant when he wrote: “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Yet how many Christians today are satisfied with just giving Jesus praise, while remaining ignorant of what His death on the Cross really means? Do we ask Him to make us free from sin, while remaining without a clue that we have thereby given the Holy Spirit permission to tear into our conscience and make us wobble to and fro when He convicts us of sin? It all really comes down to this: are we willing to accept the Lord’s verdict about sin in our own life? Or are we just going to continue to cry and complain and straddle the road instead?
The only way we can test how spiritual we are is by submitting to living a holy life in a practical way.
If we stay loyal to Christ, He will repair any damage done to our mind and conscience by sin. The only way we can test how spiritual we are is by submitting to living a holy life in a practical way. But we can’t do this until we allow the Holy Spirit to bring us to the point where we die to our right to ourself—the day we are crucified with Christ.
Jesus did not come to earth just to display what the Heavenly Father is like. He also came to put away sin forever by sacrificing His own life on the Cross, so mankind would have a chance to see and know God personally—in Him.
Jesus came to earth to display Himself as God in the flesh. He also came as One who suffers on behalf of another—the Savior dying for the sinner. This is the very essence of the Gospel, and of God working through our conscience and behavior.
We need to let God stir up our heart and our conscience until we understand the real meaning of identifying with sin the way He wants us to. Jesus came to earth to display Himself as God in the flesh. He also came as One who suffers on behalf of another—the Savior dying for the sinner. This is the very essence of the Gospel, and of God working through our conscience and behavior. We should not wait any longer—now is the time to “…draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience… “ (Hebrews 10:22).
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