Sin Consciousness

[Dan Clarkston]

Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Obviously, our Father does not want us worrying about sin, or past sin which is considered to be sin conscience. This would be being focused on our short comings and/or sins we have committed in the past instead of being a new creature in Christ Jesus where God has declared that old things have passed away and all things are new and of God (2 Corinthians 5:17).

He desires for us grow in Him (spiritual growth) and not continually have to go back and lay the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith towards God (Hebrews 6:1). And as noted in Hebrews 9:14, the Father desires to purge us from even thinking about dead works (sinful, and/or unprofitable activities in our lives) so we are not partaking in them enabling us to live for and serve the Lord Jesus Christ in this life.

However, this does not mean we are not subject to the Father's correction as some are claiming today in teaching the Holy Spirit never points out things we are doing wrong or wrong thinking / believing.

Hebrews 12:5-11
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked (corrected) of him: (see John 16:8-13)
For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.
If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not?
But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Please note that Hebrews 12:5-11 is a companion scriptural truth to John 15:1 where Jesus said "I am the true vine, and my Father is the Husbandman; Every branch in Me that bears not fruit He takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, He purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit".

The purging He is speaking of is correction and training just like people train and correct their kids when raising them which is the right thing to do (Proverbs 23:12,13). What parent would not teach and train their child? A parent that does not, is a parent that does not truly love their child, at least not with agape love or the God kind of love.

Being corrected by the Father is absolutely glorious! It should be an ongoing, daily experience of the Lord leading and guiding us in the renewing of the mind (understanding, vision) to show forth the new man as the old man continues to diminish. God is always right! And the thought of Him taking time to work with us to train and correct us is so powerful... unless of course you have pride issues and are bent on keeping certain things in your life the same and refuse to yield (be led by the Holy Spirit) in some areas of your life. It's a joy, a high honor, and a privileged to humble ourselves under the Word of our Father! (1 Peter 5:6)

God does in fact love us, so He seeks to train and correct each one of us. Some in recent years have the idea that whatever you do is fine with God and He never seeks to correct you in anyway. According to Hebrews 12:8, God is seeking to correct ALL of us and to reject His correction and training is to reject the leading of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14) which means we are living as bastards (not as God's children).

Some claim the Holy Spirit will ONLY seek to convince us of righteousness when Jesus spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit in John 16:8. But in this scripture, Jesus says He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. (in John 17:15, Jesus said we are physically still living in the world, so this is still applicable to us today, see Romans 12:2 also) Reprove means to scold or correct gently with kindly intent, express disapproval for the purpose of correction not condemnation. God is not seeking to condemn us, but He is seeking to teach us His ways so we can walk and live in agreement with Him. How can two walk together accept they be in agreement? (Amos 3:3).

If we are not walking in agreement with God, seeking to always yield to and be led by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, which is walking in the Spirit... then we are already in condemnation (Romans 8:1). The Lord is seeking to lead us out of that and has no interest in beating over the head so to speak, but rather correct and direct us back to Him. The Father wants us to live IN CHRIST which is where we can fellowship with Him.

The Father simply wants us to live according to the ways of the Kingdom of God instead of the ways of this world so we can be with Him and He can be with us (2 Cor 6:16) so we can be together in covenant relationship that has no end. This is why God created us. This is why we exist so the Father can share Himself with us along with all He has and all He can do. This is a very, very good thing that people would have to have blindness from satan to reject and not be able to understand.

One of the primary functions of the Holy Spirit's ministry is to lead and guide us into all the truth (John 16:13) and in order to do that He is going to have to led and guide (teach) us in what we should be doing (God's ways of being and doing right) and what we should not be doing (ways of the world). When found to be doing something that is unprofitable or sinful, He will point this out to us and direct us to quit (repent = admit it and quit it). This is where 1 John 1:9 comes in. This is where we confess our sin and receive remission of sin which is washing away sin as though it never happened (repent = admit it and quit it). This is how we are cleansed and made clean for individual sins committed after our initial born-again experience.

 

[Dan Clarkston]

Continued....

When we confess and receive remission (cleansing) of sin, we should cast down all thoughts and imagination of that sin going forward because the Blood of Jesus has absolutely washed it away permanently (Colossians 2:10-14, Micah 7:19, Isaiah 1:18, Psalm 103:12).

If we claim that we never sin at all we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1 6-10) because we are in fact still in the flesh here on earth were we do miss the mark. Nobody can truthfully claim that they don't fall short of God's glory and sin occasionally. Most modern day preachers fail to understand that God is not mocked, whatever a person sows is what they shall reap and if they sow to the flesh they shall of the flesh reap corruption (see Galatians 6:7,8). It makes one a false teacher to not teach people to confess and forsake their sin when people sin after having been born again because there is NO escaping seedtime and harvest as this is how the Kingdom of God works according to Jesus (Mark 4:26, Matthew 13:24).

It’s really rather odd that seedtime and harvest is endorsed when it’s time to take up an offering and is not endorsed in the rest of our lives which is of course due to most preachers now being seeker sensitive meaning they men pleasers rather than God pleasers whether they realized it or not, or intend to be that way or not.

Now, that does not mean we are to focus on sin and our shortcomings as our focus should be on things above (Colossians 3:2) and we should be thinking on good things (Philippians 4:8). The only things that qualify for us to think and focus on is our intimate relationship with the Father, thru Jesus, by the Holy Spirit which are available to mankind only thru God's promises found in the Bible which reveal to us the things God has done for us thru Jesus Christ and His finished work at Calvary's Cross (His death, burial, and resurrection).

1 John 2:1 says we are not supposed to sin, but if we do we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (again, this is why the Lord put 1 John 1:9 in His Word!). When the Holy Spirit points out something that we are doing to be sin and/or brings instruction to us from the Bible that points out sinful behavior in our lives we simply confess our sin to Jesus, ask for forgiveness (which He has already purchased), and receive cleansing from sin by the Blood of Jesus... and consider yourself absolutely washed clean as you turn away from your sin and consider yourself to be free from it with no intention to ever do it again!

It’s sad that some today have been deceived by satan to call this being “religious” when it’s actually being ignorant of what God’s Word teaches, it’s being ignorant of how God’s Kingdom functions, as well as being ignorant of exactly what did the Father do when He created mankind? He created man in His own Image AND predestined man to be like His Word… Jesus Christ (Genesis 1:26, Romans 8:29).

If one allows enticement (sin looks good to you), the desire to sin to live and stay in your mind and in your conscience... this is what iniquity is, and you have a serious problem that you need deliverance from! The desire to do evil (iniquity) is what got lucifer kicked out of Heaven and caused him to be rejected by God (Ezekiel 28:13). Anyone who allows this to remain in them, will not fare well with the Father and will have to be put away! Those that desire to be in agreement with darkness will do evil, and cannot be allowed to enter in to God's Kingdom where evil and darkness are not allowed.

God must destroy death (Hosea 13:14) which is being separated from God (Romans 8:6,7). He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all, so he must destroy all darkness (sin and death) because if he doesn't, it will continue to destroy mankind. God created man to be His family, so He has raised a standard that will cause all darkness to be incarcerated forever, never to be seen from or heard from again.

If you desire to live and do right but are continually being harassed and tempted with thoughts to go do that sin again and again then you will need to cast the devil out (Mark 16:17) and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to renew your mind (hope, vision, understanding) to see yourself as being free from that sin because Jesus was made to be that sin so you could be free from it. Not only did Jesus pay with His life for the punishment of sin, He was actually made to be sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) so that we could be made righteous... which means He has condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3) meaning He has defeated it and has declared that sin shall not have dominion over you (Romans 6:14).

The Lord will walk with you to hell and back (so to speak, as it may seem like to you that you are going thru hell on earth!) as you grow up spiritually and learn how to walk free from sinful habits and activities in your life. He was tempted, tested, and tried in all points as we are yet He overcame ALL of it without being defeated or committing any sin, so we can come boldly to Him to find Grace (His presence here with us now thru the Holy Spirit) to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 2:17 says He has experienced what we are experiencing in this world and is able to aid, help, and hold us up during temptations, testings, and trials (definition of being tempted).

It's important to note at James 1:13 shows us that God is not the one bringing temptations, testings, and trials upon us. James 1:14 says we are tempted when we are drawn away of our own lust (desire), and enticed. This is a direct reference to what Jesus taught in Mark 4:14-20 where if we allow affliction, persecution, cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other things... to ENTER IN... these things will choke God's Word out of our thinking and we will no longer retain the knowledge of God which is the start of what the Lord spoke of in Romans 1:28-32 which is no place you want to go which is to back slide and is a dangerous place to be!

So, what’s the answer? Doing what Jesus did when satan tried to tempt Him to sin… is the answer as they power of God is found in His Word and one must believe, speak, act, and think God’s Word… with consistency… in order to defeat the tricks of the devil.

2 Peter 1:3-4
According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (strong desire).

The only way to extinguish the strong desires of this world (lust for things that are in opposition to the Father, walking after the flesh instead of walking after the Spirit) is through God’s Word… not just His promises, but also His correction, leading, and instruction. He desires to tutor each of us on an intimate personal level leading and guiding in every aspect of our lives. The Father gave us free will and if we reject His leading and correction (see Hebrews 12:5-11), then the result is corruption which is how we know “once saved always saved” (what they call eternal security) is not taught in scripture and is a false man-made religious doctrine.

In Mark 4:26, Jesus said the Kingdom of God (all He ever created) functions like seedtime and harvest and in Matthew 13:24,25 He said the enemy seeks to sow bad seed into our lives. This is why we should consider what we allow to enter in to our thinking (be led by the Holy Spirit) because thru this world's information (entertainment, secular music, education, etc) satan seeks to sow this world's wisdom which is earthly, sensual, and devilish (James 3:15) in an attempt to choke God's Word out of our lives so we become unfruitful in our relationship with the Father and are neutralized as to not be able to oppose the kingdom of darkness. If we think this world's way of thinking is harmless, we are kidding ourselves which is exactly where 'ol slewfoot wants us to be!

 

[Dan Clarkston]

Continued...

Growing Up Spiritually

God desires for His people to walk in Covenant with Him... exclusively belonging to Him, exclusively set apart unto Him (holiness). He understands that when we first come to Him and get born-again we have many things in our mind and understanding that are not of Him that are the sinful ways of this world (dead works), which is why we are to renew our mind (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23).

Some preachers today teach that freedom from the consciousness of sin means that it does not matter if we live in sin or not because Jesus paid for our sins at the Cross, which He did... but the New Testament does not teach that freedom from sin consciousness means it's OK to live in sin (live according to the desires of the flesh), but rather teaches that freedom from the consciousness of sin is to be purged from the desire to sin (iniquity) so that we can walk in the Spirit and not willingly and knowingly commit sin.

This does not mean we are perfect literally (satan loves to throw that at people), but it does mean we are walking sincerely towards the Lord seeking to live according to His will in every aspect of our lives. Some would say it this way... we should mean business with God and should not be living according to the world's ways because the world is sin friendly, in case you haven't noticed.

If we willingly and knowingly live in and commit sin, there is no more sacrifice for that sin (Hebrews 10:26) unless of course we confess (acknowledge) our sins to God and receive our cleansing (1 John 1:9) while turning away from our sin. This is where modern, westernized, grace teachings depart from what the New Testament teaches in that some of these teachings claim that there is never any need to confess our sin before the Lord in order to be cleansed from our sin. They believe that once you are saved, you are always saved and you will go to Heaven regardless of how you live. The New Testament of Jesus Christ does not teach this!

1 John 1:6 says that if we say that we have fellowship with the Lord, and walk in sin, we are liars and we are not doing the truth. Doing the truth is living according to God's will (His Word) because Jesus said God's Word is truth (Psalms 119:160, John 17:17).

Christians love to talk about how we should walk in love... well, 1 John 5:3 says "this is love that we keep His commandments". Jesus said in John 14:15, "If ye love Me, keep my commandments"

Isn't it very odd and strange that in the past few years that some preachers are so centered on teaching that any thought of sin is "condemnation" and it has led to many their followers living sinful lifestyles and has led to the acceptance of sinful lifestyles? There are a growing number of professing Christians today that accept what the New Testament calls sinful as being OK...because Jesus paid for our sin, so we are covered so it doesn't matter how we live. Because of this, some have even embraced universalism, claiming everyone is saved and hell is just a figment of our imagination... and thus calling Jesus Christ a liar because He never taught this at all. When there is teaching that opposes God's Word, you will find that satan is always behind it.

Yes, Jesus did in fact go to the Cross and took upon Himself the sin of every man (Hebrews 2:9), He was in fact made to be sin for us so we could be made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)... but, does that mean we can go ahead and live in sin??? God forbid! (Romans 6:15). This simply means, no... you cannot willingly and knowingly live in sin! That would be what God calls sin in His Word, not what man claims to be OK and to not be sin.

This is what happens when preachers read and study scripture without regard to how those scriptures relate to what the rest of the Bibles teaches.... it leads to false teaching! satan seeks to help people misunderstand scripture (he is very, very religious and attends church services!) by impressing upon them that there is no need to study other scriptures and take in to account the Word of God as a whole. The devil does this to produce un-balanced teaching in an effort to lead people into the ditch while using scripture to put together messages that sound good and uses some truth. This is classic deception thru mis-information!

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour

Now, if it were not possible to be devoured… why is the Lord warning us about this possibility and telling us to be sober and to be vigilant??? Sadly, some listen to the devil who tells them “ah, that’s just being paranoid… it’s all good” which is how the warning the Lord gave in 1 Peter 5:8 as well as other warnings given in the New Testament gets choked so Christians do not take heed concerning the tricks of the devil. This is how people become ripe for deception!

Now, maybe some preachers don't know they are being used to deliver deception. But, most do know what the Bible teaches as a whole (they've read it and are responsible for it!) but ignore it in favor of seeker sensitive, feel good messages that bring in big bucks so they can appear to be successful and appear to be important.

This is so they can build large churches that many people attend so they can make a lot of money. After all, if you have a lot of people attending your church, watching your TV program, and you are collecting millions in offerings and product sales, that automatically means you are teaching the truth and are being blessed of God, right?... The enemy sure hopes you believe this so he can lead you in to the ditch and away from the straight and narrow where God's people live to continually seek His will and direction for their lives (see Matthew 7:13-23).

This does not mean that all TV preachers are not teaching truth. There are a few programs with good teaching coming across the air waves. But, it is being naive to not believe satan is not right in the middle of this with his ongoing campaign of deception against mankind in his opposition to God. It's what he does because he is corrupt and cannot do anything but spew corruption, and so he seeks to corrupt the teaching of God's Word... and more and more Christians are falling for his lies having departed from studying God’s written Word for themselves and instead following popular TV preachers making idols out of them. Many believe what their favorite preacher says before what God says in His Word. satan enjoys this sort of thing!

Jesus said those that worship God MUST worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. What Jesus did at the Cross is Truth that opened up the way for us to walk in the Spirit, or host the Holy Spirit in our lives. It opened the way for us to have a covenant relationship with Him thru Jesus Christ.

Receiving Jesus as your Savior is accepting truth, but receiving Him as Savior and as Lord is required for actual Salvation (doing what He says - Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.)

If we reject His leading and the Holy Spirit's ministry in our lives (the Spirit of Truth), then we are ignoring the Lord and are refusing to have a personal relationship with Him. This is why in the end Jesus tells some to depart and He never knew them.

God original intent for mankind is "in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7). Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), we know that He is already showing the exceeding riches of His presence to us which is The Father sharing HIMSELF with us! He desires to be with us!!! The smart thing to do is... accept Him and let Him in! Nothing can possibly compare to the goodness that is experienced when allowing the Father to come in to our lives with His presence.

Some today want to accept Jesus Christ as Savior (worship in Truth) which is the starting point. If they truly believe in what Jesus did at the Cross was for them personally, then they became born again at that point.

But, if they do not come to Jesus so that they may have life (John 5:39,40) and actually engage Him in intimate relationship thru the Living Christ (the Holy Spirit Who is here with us now after Jesus went back to the Father)... then they are missing the entire point of not only the Cross, but also missing the point of why God created them in the first place... for God to share Himself with man in a covenant relationship (covenant = never exiting the relationship).

This is not being led by the Spirit... and it’s how some will not be allowed in to Heaven due to not having engaged the Lord in personal relationship and instead opted to allow the cares of this world and the lust of other things enter in and choke their relationship with the Lord out of their life (see Mark 4:14-20).

Are you really engaged in a personal relationship with the Father, thru Jesus, by the Holy Ghost? Only you and God really know according to 1 Corinthians 2:11 so it wouldn't be right to go around trying to figure out who is saved and who isn't... unless of course your outward lifestyle evidently shows that you are in bondage to things the New Testament identifies as being works of the flesh in which case would be fruit of walking in the flesh and not hosting the Holy Spirit in your life as you should be.

This would mean other Christians around you should be noticing this and should be going to work on restoring you thru interceding for you and talking to you about restoring your relationship with God. The drawing and anointing of the Holy Ghost should be so strong in our churches that people will either repent and start walking with God again or leave on their own if they have decided to follow the ways of the flesh and the ways of this world.

 

[Dan Clarkston]

Continued....

Hebrews 10:22-30
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (popular preachers like to quote v.22 and imply that no matter your lifestyle you shouldn't be concerned about living in sin...but they never continue reading what is found below...or, they redefine sin as being no big deal - even being lovers of fleshly pleasure which is the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans which God hates as shown in Revelation 2:6, and 2:15)
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

Romans 6:12-19
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.



What to do about willful sin in your life or the desire to sin (iniquity)?

Repent, and Overcome!
Or… apparently refusing to do this causes one to go to hell…due to ignoring the Lord and refusing to allow Him in your life so that you are walking WITH Him which is why He created us in the first place!

2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are His. And, Let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (not just depart from sin, but from the internal desire to sin, iniquity, which requires renewing the mind and casting down thoughts of darkness)

Proverbs 28:13
He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy

Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Revelation 2:17
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; to him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving he that receives.

John 8:31,32
If ye continue in My Word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Revelation 2:11
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; he that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death.

Revelation 21:7,8
He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.