https://youtu.be/Sp4yQZS4zu0
In our verse by verse study of Romans we finished Rom 2:15; with the expanded translation "The very ones who demonstrate the accomplishment of the law written in their hearts, their conscience confirming the testimony, in fact their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending themselves;)"
This brought us to the doctrine of the conscience where last time we noted that in order to have a blameless conscience you must have a balanced conscience that has the proper norms and standards related to both God and man.
Paul had two sets of norms and standards from Bible doctrine. He had one set related to God and one set related to man. True strength comes from developing standards toward both God and man from the Biblical standards of God's absolute Word of truth.
Paul's conscience before God originated from the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. His conscience before people originated from the Mosaic Law combined with what he had learned related to Bible doctrine of the Church Age.
Believers who are functioning in the categories of extended carnality from living in satan's cosmic systems destroy their conscience and become sucked into Christian degeneracy. This is why the USA is declining just like every other former client and priest nation has declined.
1Tim 1:19-20; "keeping faith (doctrine) and a good of intrinsic value conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck regarding their doctrine (faith). Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme."
Titus 1:15; "To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving (those who reject doctrine), nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
1Tim 4:1-2; "But the Spirit explicitly states that in latter periods of time (the dispensations of the Hypostatic Union, the Church Age, and the Tribulation), some believers will become apostate from doctrine, paying attention to deceitful spirits and concentrating on doctrines from demons (cosmic involvement) by means of hypocrisy of liars (false teachers), seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron."
We see from this that inaccurate teaching sears the conscience like a branding iron creating scar tissue that destroys the conscience. This searing refers to scar tissue of the soul and cosmic involvement that cause the believer to resist and reject the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
Mental strength and courage comes from having the proper norms and standards in the conscience. Therefore, it is important to understand that apostasy destroys the conscience by creating false norms and standards that cauterizes and plugs up the soul.
Dead works are the product of an impure conscience. The conscience is purified from dead works to serve God by believing in Jesus Christ that makes it possible to be filled with the Spirit.
Heb 9:14, "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit (omnipotence of the Holy Spirit) offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
There is no work we can perform for salvation because salvation comes exclusively on the basis of grace by believing the doctrine so whatever works are done by the believer must occur after salvation.
Dead works are human works that the believer does apart from the filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit. At the moment of salvation, the new believer has this purification of the conscience because at the moment of salvation every believer is at least momentarily filled with the Holy Spirit.
Anything performed apart from the filling of the Spirit is dead works. A believer with an evil conscience that is seared with legalism from false doctrine and does not rebound can only perform dead works.
This means that "Christian service" that involves dead works is not actually Christian service at all it is the devil's work. This is what too many churches in the USA are involved with at this time.
The great power experiment of the Church Age demands that believers function in God's protocol plan that requires the omnipotence of God Holy Spirit that comes from the believer's residence inside God's spiritual power system through the Holy Spirit's filling ministry.
God's power and human power are mutually exclusive. Human power cannot serve God or fulfill His plan for the believer's life. Human power destroys the conscience and results in dead works.
Legalism, asceticism, ritual, emotion, social justice, or doing human good works do not and cannot execute God's plan, purpose, or will.
Serving God requires the use of the power that only God can supply under the filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit in synergy with the application of the power provided by Bible doctrine that has been learned under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit that establish accurate norms and standards for the conscience and the basis of the thoughts and intents of the heart.