© 23 Colin Melbourne
The Counsels of the Hearts
Q: If a person’s conscience is clear when they die, does that mean they’ll go to heaven?
A: Absolutely not! Access to Glory is by The LORD Jesus Christ alone, never through self-justification. Christ made that crystal clear when He said, Jn. 14:6 KJV;
I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Every sinner’s conscience is corrupt in the sight of Almighty God, who alone is the Judge of mankind.
The Holy Ghost makes that very point plain in 1 Cor. 4:2-5 KJV;
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
But I’ve Done No Wrong!
Hell will be packed with sinners who died in their sins pleading a clear conscience.
Realize each unsaved person’s heart and conscience are polluted by the sinful nature, their heart’s counsels are utterly corrupt: Unrighteous.
Consider the assumption your question implies: That sinful man will be allowed into the glories of heaven… if his conscience does not convict him!
That would be equivalent to a criminal being judge and jury when he’s on trial.
Can a lying conscience overrule the Judge of judges, the Righteous Lamb of God on the Throne of Heaven?
Will self-righteousness ever trump divine righteousness?
Not Even A Righteous Conscience
Grasp the significance of what the Holy Ghost has written for us in 1 Cor. 4:4 KJV;
For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
When Paul wrote that he bore no sense of sin in himself, neither in his spirit, mind, nor conscience, yet am I NOT hereby justified.
Why not?
Because that would deny Christ, usurp God from His Throne, and would contradict the Gospel of divine redemption that Paul preached.
The Righteous Judge
It is The LORD Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead, sift out the chaff from the wheat, and separate goats from His sheep.
When a sinner repents and believes on Christ he receives the witness of this scriptural truth in his heart the instant he believes.
The believer realizes on the inside that we have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Rom. 3:21-25 KJV;
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Imputed Righteousness
Take the free Gift from God, and you too will experience the perfect truth of this scripture, 2 Cor. 5:21 KJV;
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Halleluia! Amen!
Now I Get It!
Our conscience then relays this Gospel fact from our spirit, our mind rejoices in God’s mercy, and we know we have eternal life and a place in Heaven.
Believers understand this in the midst of our foetid, sin-encrusted world: The believer’s conscience, which is the voice of their spirit, has become a reliable guide, but even then, their clear conscience does not entitle them to Heaven: It is The precious Blood of The LORD Jesus Christ that testifies the believer is God’s property evermore. Halleluia!
When Christ judges you, me, and everyone who has ever lived, it will not be on the basis of the individual’s conscience.
God judges mankind according to His written word, and His righteousness, in perfect divine justice.
God’s Spirit never makes a mistake, and He keeps His words.
However, bear in mind that it’s important that the cleansed born again believer retains a clear conscience in matters relating to man, and toward Father God, as Paul stated in his defence before Governor Felix in Acts 24:16 KJV;
And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
That is how we keep our Fellowship with Father God sweet, becoming more Christ-like and an effective witness of Him.
© 23 Colin Melbourne
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