Grace and Truth
Bible Ministries

Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; The doctrine of witnessing part 35

In our study of the doctrine of witnessing Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; we are examining the doctrines that undergird the gospel so that we can understand how and why it is God alone who made it possible for our so great salvation exclusively by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Eph 2:8-9;

We are now looking at the mandate for believers to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of their calling so that their life would not be an impediment to their mission of evangelizing the entire world but instead for their example to be a living testimony of the Gospel. Phil 1:27-30; 2Cor 3:3; 1Pet 3:15-17; NET

Because of this we have taken up a study of the doctrine of the conscience because the conscience is programmed with the norms and standards that regulate and control the thinking that leads to decision and action. 1John 4:1; 1Thes 5:21-22;

Last time we noted that while the Old Testament does not have a specific word for conscience Paul discusses the function of the conscience in the Old Testament in Rom 2:14-15,

In this context the Greek word "nomos", translated "law" means a standard, custom or principle that becomes the basis for decision-making.

Paul describes this "law" as being "printed in the heart" This printing or writing occurs as a result of repetitive study and practice. 2Tim 2:15; KJV NET note 28

Rom 2:14-15; Paul tells us that in the Old Testament that the Jews had the advantage of having God's law freely given to them so that they did not have to develop their own law that formed the principles for their culture by trial and error like the gentiles did.

Every normal person develops and establishes some form of norms, standards, priorities, and concepts of life in the right lobe of their soul. Believers are mandated to develop God's norms, standards, and priorities in their right lobe through perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine for the purpose of conducting their life with norms and standards from God's viewpoint instead of human viewpoint norms and standards. Eph 4:16-32; NET

The choices Daniel and his friends made while in slavery in Babylon are an example of this. He and his friends refused to comply with the king's orders and instead chose to obey God's law and God gave them favor and protected them so they were not killed for their refusal to comply. Dan 1:8; Dan 3:15-18,23-25; We see from this that God protects his people from barbaric laws.

This is a perfect example of how God can protect believers in the USA as they resist the barbaric "laws" that are being foisted upon the people by the lawless rulers in our country.

As a compartment of the soul the conscience is the most basic attribute of the soul related to self-consciousness and contains the norms and standards that a person uses for everything in life.

Everyone's conscience has some system of norms and standards. These standards are learned and they set up the person's personal honor code for good or evil. 2Tim 3:5; John 16:2; 1Tim 4:2;

 

© Copyright 2007, Michael Lemmon Bible Ministries. World Rights Reserved.  This document was created on 12/16/2015