Is your conscience plagued with guilt and shame? Is there a sense that you are unacceptable to God? Do you feel that God does not love you? Did you know that Jesus demonstrated His great love for you that while you were yet a sinner, He died for you? Do you know that when He hung on the cross, He absorbed all your sin and all your unrighteousness? Do you know that you are forgiven of every sin you have ever committed or will ever commit?
If you believe this and receive the free gift of Christ’s righteousness, you will be saved and here is your new reality: you are a new creation in Christ. The old has gone, the new has come. You are now complete in Him. You are blameless and holy and righteous in His sight.
Before Jesus shed His blood on the cross as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” no one ever had a clear conscience. No one could ever feel that assurance that their sins were forgiven. The sacrifices of the Old Covenant only provided temporary relief from the guilt of sin, but the guilt would return with each failure.
“It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience…” (Hebrews 9:9)1
Even with all of the daily, weekly, and annual sacrifices of the Old Covenant system, the conscience of the offerer would never be clean. The “shadows” could never permanently remove the guilt and stain of sin. There was always a sense of incompleteness because the job of removing sin could never be finished with the inferior blood of animal sacrifices.
Today, however, we can have a perfect conscience. A perfect conscience says to us we are complete in Christ. The moment we receive Jesus, in God’s eyes we are perfect in Him. There is a progressive discovery for us of the perfection of our new identity in Christ and a progressive maturity that will result, but more perfect we cannot be.
(from page 297 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
