Recovering the Doctrine of Conscience

The gospel...speaks directly through the Holy Spirit to the human conscience.  Before it ever offers salvation, it must bring the sinner face to face with his or her own desperate sinfulness.  Those who are conditioned to disavow their consciences in small matters certainly will not respond to a message that convicts them of sin so heinous as to warrant eternal condemnation.  The attack on the conscience is therefore hardening people against the truth of the gospel (pg. 51)...

...[Christians] seem to live in sorrow and defeat.  They are not taught to respond correctly to their consciences.  They treat their consciences flippantly.  They have not learned the importance of keeping the conscience clear and healthy.  Instead they dispute what their own conscience tells them.  They treat any sense of guilt or self-blame as a liability or a threat.  They expend too much of their spiritual energy in a vain attempt to deal with feelings spawned by an accusing conscience--without a corresponding willingness to deal with the sin that offended the conscience in the first place.

That is spiritual suicide.  Paul wrote of those who by rejecting their consciences "suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith" (1 Tim 1:19).  They are like a pilot who turns off his warning system (pg. 53).   

First the Bad News

Romans 1:16 begins an extended, systematic treatment of the gospel that continues throughout the epistle.  Paul crowned his introduction and greeting to the Roman believers with these words:  "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteous man shall live by faith'" (Rom. 1:16-17). 

Right there, just when it seemed Paul was going to begin talking about the good news and the power of God unto salvation, he unleashed this thunderbolt:  "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (1:18).  About this verse and the passage that follows, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, "It is a terrible [terrifying] passage.  Melancthon described the eighteenth verse as 'an exordium terrible as lightning.'  And it has not only the terrifying quality of lightning, but also it illuminating power."

It turns out that the good news about salvation starts with the bad news about sin.  As Jesus said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mk. 2:17).  Paul knew that those who underestimate the enormity and gravity of human sinfulness-especially those who do not see their own depravity--cannot apply the only effective remedy to their problems...

There can be no salvation for those who aren't convinced of the seriousness of their sin.  There can be no world of reconciliation for sinners who remain oblivious to their estrangement from God.  True fear of God cannot grip those who are blind to the depth of their sinfulness.  And no mercy is available for those who do not tremble at God's holy threats...

The Conscience Evident Within 

Paul says God's wrath is revealed because people "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom 1:18).  He is referring to sinners who have successfully hushed their own consciences.  "The truth" they suppress is innately-known to all, "evident within them, for God made it evident to them" (v.19).  In other worlds, God manifests Himself in the most basic sense within every human conscience.

That internal knowledge about God if further augmented by evidences of His power and deity in the natural order of creation-- "his invisible attributers, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made" (v.20).  The truth thus revealed is not cryptic or ambiguous-- it is "clearly seen."  Nor is it observable only by a few specially gifted souls.  "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands" (Ps. 19:1).  They testify to a universal audience.

In other words, these truths--that God exists, that He is powerful, that He is good, and that He is glorious-- are evident to believers and non-believers, Christians and pagans, Jews and Gentiles. No one can plead ignorance.  Even the most unenlightened pagan knows more truth than he is willing to accept.  Those who suppress that truth-- those who abrogate their consciences--"are without excuse" (v.20)...

The Downward Spiral

Paul traces the wrath of God through humanity's descent into deeper and more pervasive sin...Notice how the issues Paul outlines nearly two-thousand years ago describe precisely the sins most popular today.  They appear in the following areas:  secularism, lack of common sense, corrupt religion, uncontrolled lust, and sexual perversion.

Foolish Speculations

"Even though they know God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Rom. 1:21).

Once a person begins to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, that person looses all spiritual moorings.  Reject the light, and you are left in darkness... (pg. 59-61)...

Godlessness inescapably leads to moral perversion--and vice versa.  Unbelief and immorality are thus inextricably woven together (pg. 63)...

People are by nature inclined to turn from the glory of God to idols, to "[exchange] the truth of God for a lie, and [worship and serve] the creature rather than the Creator" (Rom 1:25).  The human conscience demands God, but people tend to choose a deity of their own making.  That is why the First Commandment is, "You shall have no other gods before Me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under earth.  You shall not worship them or serve them " (Ex 20:3-5). Pg. 65...

[The doctrine of] depravity...means that evil has contaminated every aspect of our humanity--our heart, mind personality, emotions, conscience, motives and will (cf. Jer 17:9, Jn 8:44).  Unredeemed sinners are therefore incapable of truly loving the God who reveals Himself in Scripture.  They are incapable of obedience from the heart, with righteous motives.  They are incapable of understanding spiritual truth.  They are incapable of genuine faith.  And that means they are incapable pleasing God or truly seeking Him (Heb 11:1). Pg. 88...

There are certainly some people who are "good" in a relative sense.  They may have characteristics of compassion, generosity, kindness, integrity, decency, thoughtfulness, and so on.  But even those characteristics are imperfect and sullied with human sin and weakness.  No one--"not even one" --comes close to true righteousness.  God's standard, after all, is absolute perfection:  "You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5:48).  In other words, no one who falls short of the touchstone of perfection is acceptable to God!  What does that do to self-esteem theology? How does one feel good about oneself when God Himself declares us worthy of His wrath?

There is an answer to the dilemma, of course..  God justifies the ungodly by faith (Rom 4:5).  Christ's own perfect righteousness is imputed to our account, so by faith we can stand before God clothed in a perfect righteousness that is not our own (Phil. 3:9).  Pg. 94...

We don't hear much about fearing God these days.  Even many Christians seem to feel the language of fear is somehow too harsh or too negative...Fear of the Lord, of course, is the primary prerequisite to spiritual wisdom (Prov. 9:10)...

The problem is that most people don't think of God as Someone to be feared.  They realize that He hates the proud and punishes evildoers.  They presume on His grace (pg. 99-100)...

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death" (Rom 8:1-2).  The liberation from sin those verses describe is the only basis on which we can really feel good about ourselves (pg. 104)...

The Scandal of Sin

Sin rules every human heart, and if it had its way, it would damn every human soul.  If we do not understand our own sinfulness or see our sin as God sees it, we cannot understand or make use of sin's remedy.  Those who want to deny their guilt or hide their own sinfulness cannot discover sin's cure.  Those who try to justify their sin forfeit the justification of God.  Until we understand what an utterly abhorrent thing our sin is, we can never even know God.   

Sin is abominable to God.  He hates it (cf. Deut 12:31).  His eyes "are too pure to approve evil, and [He cannot] look on wickedness with favor" (Hab 1:13).  Sin is contrary to His very nature (Isa 6:3; 1 Jn 1:5).  The ultimate penalty--death--is exacted for every infraction against the divine law (Ezek 18: 4, 20; Rom 6:23).  Even the very smallest transgression is worthy of the same severe penalty:  "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all" (Jas. 2:10).  Pg. 106-107...

When we truly see what sin is, far from achieving self-esteem, we will despise ourselves...

Nature of Human Depravity

[Sin] is not a weakness or flaw for which we cannot be held responsible.  It is an energetic, purposeful antagonism to God.  Sinners freely and gladly choose sin.  It is human nature to love sin and hate God.  "The carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom 8:7).

In other words, sin is rebellion against God.  Sinners reason in their hearts, "With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?"  (Ps 12:4, emphasis added).  Isaiah 57:4 characterizes sinners as rebellious children who open wide their mouths and stick out their tongues against God.  Sin would dethrone God, dispose Him, usurp Him, and set self in His rightful place.  All sin is ultimately an act of pride, which says, "Move over, God; I'm in charge."  That's why all sin at its core is blasphemy....

We initially love our sin; we delight in it; we seek opportunities to act it out.  Yet because we know instinctively that we are guilty before God, we inevitably attempt to camouflage or disavow our own sinfulness.  there are many ways we do this...They can be summarized in roughly three categories:  covering up, justifying ourselves, and being oblivious to our own sins (pg. 109)...

Sin and the Cross of Christ

[The] cross of Christ is proof of both the immense love of God and the profound wickedness of sin...Realize that nothing short of the shed blood of the eternal, beloved Son of God Himself could have atoned for sin.  The weight of our guilt must have been infinitely heavy and the heinousness of our sin indescribably black to require such a sacrifice!  And God's love must have been inexpressibly rich to allow it! (Pg. 115)...

No amount of tears can atone for sin.  No number of good deeds can make amends for wrong we have done against God.  No quantity of prayer or personal devotion can extenuate our guilt or cover it in any way.  Even everlasting burning in hell will not purify the soul from sin.  In the human realm there is nothing in time or eternity that can free us from the guilt of our sin.  Those who seek a do-it-yourself solution to the problem of sin only shackle themselves all the more securely to their guilt. 

Moreover, the smallest sin is so exceedingly vile that God--despite His infinite mercy, grace, and forgiveness--will not and cannot overlook even one sin without exacting its full penalty.

There has to be a solution.  There must be a way God can satisfy His perfect righteousness yet enable Him to display His rich mercy toward sinners.  the cross of Christ provided the way by enabling the only Perfect Sacrifice to atone for Human sin once and for all. 

The offering for sin had to be perfect, spotless, untainted by sin.  Jesus lived a sinless, holy life in perfect obedience to God's law.  "We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize without weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" (Heb 4:15).  He is "holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens" (Heb 7:26).

Our Lord, the sinless One, was the Lamb of God to be offered up as a sacrifice for our sin (Jn 1:29).  That is the very purpose for which He came.  "You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is not sin" (1 Jn 3:5).  As He hung on the cross, He carried the guilt of our sin.  "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried...He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him" (Isa 53:4-5, emphasis added).  He "offered Himself without blemish to God" to cleanse our consciences (Heb 9:14).  He paid the penalty to the fullest on our behalf.  And in the same way that our sins were imputed to Him, so His righteousness is reckoned to us who believe:  "[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:21).  He rose from the dead to declare His victory over sin.  "[He] was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification" (Rom 4:25). 

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Pet 2:24, emphasis added).  That is the only possible remedy for our sin.  It is the only way God can be both "just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:26).

God's healing for sin involves more than forgiveness and justification.  God transforms the very nature of the sinner.  He makes us partakers of His own nature (2 Pet. 1:4).  Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, "...Those who hated God now love Him and desire to know more and more about Him.  Their supreme desire now is to please Him and to honour and to glorify Him.  The things which formerly delighted them they now hate and detest, and the ways of God are the ways they desire." (Pg. 115-117)...

Repentance means you turn now and follow Jesus.  Jesus issued this open invitation:  "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him...follow Me" (Matt 16:24).  "If anyone serves me, let him follow Me" (Jn 12:26).

But you cannot follow Him halfheartedly.  The full invitation is this:  "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Lk 9:23, emphasis added).  "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (v. 62).  "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worth of Me" (Matt 10:37-38).  "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.  Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (Lk 14:26-27).

Jesus cautions you to count the cost carefully (Lk 14:28-33).  "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's shall save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and to forfeit his soul?  For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mk. 8:35-37). 

Our Lord even pictured repentance as a kind of death:  "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12:24).

Believe.  Repentance and faith go hand in hand.  If repentance stresses our turning away from sin and self, believing emphasizes what our hearts turn toward.  "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:31).  "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved" (Rom 10:9).  Repentance without faith would be no good, for righteousness comes not by sorrowing over sin.  "Righteousness...comes from God on the basis of faith" (Phil 3:9).  Our penitence does not save us; only Christ can do that.  Good resolutions cannot win God's favor; we must lay hold of Christ by faith.  "There is salvation in no one else; for there is not other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

You must believe in the Christ of Scripture.  He is both Savior and Lord (cf. Lk 2:11).  "I, even I, am the Lord; and there is no savior besides Me" (Isa 43:11).  You must welcome Him as you Lord, not as Savior only (Col. 2:6).  You must receive Him on His own terms; you cannot have His pardon without also accepting His right to rule over you.

And you cannot lay hold of Christ while still clinging to your sin.  He came to save His people from their sins (Matt 1:21)--not to offer heaven to sinners still revelling in their wickedness.  The salvation He offers is not merely an escape from the flames of hell, but it is first of all a glorious liberation from the dominion of sin. 

Having seen the awful reality of sin, why would anyone want a salvation that stops short of delivering the sinner from sin's bondage?  When you understand the exceeding sinfulness of sin, when you realize its power over you, and when you know the dreadful hazards it poses to your soul, you should be driven to Christ as your refuge.

What is truly wonderful is that He promises to receive those who come to Him (Jn 6:37).  More than that, He bids them come:  "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and My load is light" (Matt 11:28-30). 

Recognition of sin is the necessary first step on the only path to Christ and the salvation He offers (pg. 123-124).

"[There] is no point in our saying that we believe that Christ has died for us, and that we believe our sins are forgiven, unless we can also say that for us old things are passed away and that all things are become new; that our outlook towards the world and its method of living is entirely changed.  It is not that we are sinless, nor that we are perfect, but that we have finished with that way of life.  We have seen it for what it is, and we are new creatures for whom everything has become new (D. Marytyn Lloyd-Jones).  Pg. 125...

Our union with Christ results in some very dramatic changes.  First of all, we are justified.  Justification takes place in the court of God.  It is a divine "not guilty" verdict.  The term justification does not describe the actual change in the sinner's character; it describes the change in his or her standing before God.  

But because were united with Christ, changes in our very nature occur as well.  Regeneration, conversion, and sanctification are the words that describe that change.  We are born again--regenerated--given a new heart, a new spirit, and a new love for God (Ezek 36:26; 1 Jn 4:19-20).  We become partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:3-4).  We are raised to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4).  And the old sinful self is put to death:  "Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin" (Rom 6:6-7)...

[I]t becomes very clear that the old self--the old unregenerate "I"--is crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20).  Pg. 136-137...

Mortification abates [sin's] force, but doth not change its nature.  Grace changeth the nature of man, but nothing can change the nature of sin...Destroyed it may be, it shall be, but cured it cannot be...If it be not overcome and destroyed, it will overcome and destroy the soul.

And herein lies no small part of its power...It is never quiet, [whether it is] conquering [or] conquered...

Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you (John Owen).  Pg. 145...

Life in the Spirit

"What the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:  sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him (Rom 8)."...All true Christians are "in the Spirit."  They "do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."  Those who walk according to the flesh are unbelievers, and Paul is quite definite in making that clear:  "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (v. 9).  Later he adds, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (v. 14)...[Everyone] is either "in the flesh" (v. 8) or "in the Spirit" (v. 9).  There is no category called "in between"...

[The] Holy Spirit changes our basic disposition when we are born again.  He brings us into accord with Himself.  He actually indwells us (vv. 9,11).  We become partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4).  Our orientation to God changes.  Where there was enmity, there is now love (cf. Rom 8:28).  In the flesh we could not please God (v. 8) but now the righteous requirement of the law if fulfilled in us (v. 4).  Central to all of this is the reality that our whole mind-set is new.  Whereas the mind set on the flesh meant death, the mind set on the things of the Spirit results in life and peace (v. 6).

If your mindset--the fundamental orientation of your understanding, its bent, its dispositions, its thought patterns--did not change when you made a profession of faith in Christ, something is seriously wrong...We no longer have anything in common with those "who set their minds on earthly things.  For our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil 3:19-20).  And it is toward heaven that our minds are now inclined.  We set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom 8:5)...

In contrast; "the mindset on the flesh is death" (v. 6).  Paul does not say that the mind set on the flesh causes death.  He declares that it is death.  The state of mind that is dominated by fleshly desires is a condition of spiritual death.  In other words, those whose thoughts are desires are altogether fleshly are already "dead in [their] trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1).  This cannot be a description of the true believer in Christ...Paul is simply reiterating what he says again and again throughout his New Testament epistles--that those lives and hearts are altogether fleshly are not true Christians.  They are already spiritually dead (v. 6), and unless they repent they are headed for eternal death (pg. 150-154).

Handling Temptation

People love their sin.  They will go to any lengths to rationalize it and defend it...For Christians, however, life cannot reflect our culture's values.  We cannot try to excuse or tolerate sin.  It was sin that put our blessed Savior on the cross to bleed and die.  Sin was what set us at enmity with God.  Now that that enmity has been broken, we want nothing to do with the old life.  Now that we are freed from sin, we do not want to go back into bondage...As the beloved apostle wrote, "No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.  Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  the Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the words of the devil.  No one who is born of god practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.  By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious:  anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother (1 Jn 3:6-10)."

Of course, John is speaking there about following sin as a practice.  He is describing a lifestyle of unbroken, wanton sin--which no true believer is capable of (pg 170).

Keep a Pure Mind

No sin is more destructive to the conscience than the sin that takes place in the arena of the mind...By engaging the inner faculties--mind, emotions, desire, memory, and imagination--thought--sins work directly on the soul to bias it toward evil.   Sow a thought, reap an act.  Sow an act reap a habit.  Sow a habit, reap a character.  Sow a character, reap a destiny.  Evil thoughts thus underlie and lay the ground work for all other sins (pg. 182-183)...

Sin and Shame

The Bible simply does not speak of sinners as intrinsically worthy of God's grace.  The Prodigal Son, Jesus' illustration of a repentant sinner, admitted his unworthiness (Lk 15:21).  Even John the Baptist--who by Jesus' own testimony was the greatest prophet who ever lived (Matt 11:11)--said he was unworthy to carry the shoes of the Savior (3:11).  "What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him?  And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?"  (Ps 8:4).  The reasons for God's grace to sinners are a mystery.  We certainly are never told that God loves us because we are worthy.  That notion is simply an echo of the worldly self-esteem doctrine.

The focus of Scripture is entirely on God's worth, His majesty, His glory, His holiness, and His grace, certainly not the reason for it.  If people were inherently worthy of salvation, God would be unrighteous not to save everyone...

Adams sin plunged the whole human race into sin, so we are born guilty.  Shame is not an undeserved emotion, but an honest reflection of who we are.  Human beings have felt shame ever since that first sin (cf. Gen 2:25; 3:10).  Sometimes our shame may be misplaced, irrational, or even emotionally unbalanced--but shame itself is certainly not undeserved.  No one is "too good" to feel he or she is a miserable sinner.  That is, after all, precisely what we are.

This doctrine is in serious decline these days, to the detriment of the church.  We change the words of great hymns so that they don't refer to us as "wretches" or "worms."  We buy into the self-esteem lie.  We want to minimize our sin, eliminate our sense of shame, boost our ego, and feel good about ourselves.  We want, in other words, all those things which deaden the conscience.  We abhor shame, however justified.  We abhor repentance because it is too hard.  We avoid guilt.  We want the easy street (pg. 201-202)...

We desperately need to recover a holy hatred of sin...God has clearly indicted us for our own sin and assigned full responsibility to each individual sinner.  The proof of that is the biblical doctrine of hell--the awful reality that each damned and unforgiven sinner will pay forever in hell the terrible price for his or her own sins.  In no way can this guilt be escaped by blaming others.  Clearly, God does not see us as a race of victims!  If he saw us as victims, He would punish someone else.  But every condemned sinner will pay the full price in eternal torment for his or her own deeds--because each one is fully responsible.

No one's conscience will be silent then.  It will turn on the sinner with a fury, reminding him that he alone is responsible for the agonies he will suffer eternally.  John Blanchard writes,

"...That which was the seat and centre of all guilt, now becomes the seat and centre of all torments.  Conscience will make the sinner acutely aware that he deliberately, freely and gladly chose the lifestyle that led him to hell, that he is there because of his willfulness and obstinacy.  In addition, it will force him to admit the truth of every charge it brings, and the justice of every pain he suffers, so that, in Flavel's words, 'In all this misery, there is not one drop of injury or wrong.' As if this were not horrifying enough, the castigation will be uninterrupted; the sinner will have 'No rest day or night' (Rev 14:11).  As never before, he will discover the truth of god's words that 'There is no peace...for the wicked' (Isa 48:22)."

If you find your conscience vanishing, you must realize the seriousness of your condition and repent, beseech God for a clear, functioning conscience, and set yourself to the task of laying aside sin in your own life...

Don't Underestimate the Seriousness of your Sin.

Surely this is the primary reason most people tolerate sin in their lives.  If they saw their sin as God sees it, they could not continue indifferently in ways of known sin.  Sin violates God's holiness, it brings His discipline, it destroys our joy, and it causes death.  If we really understood, as Jeremiah Burroughs said, that the smallest sin contains more evil than all the torments of hell, we could not remain unconcerned about mortifying our sins.  God gave the law precisely so that the exceeding sinfulness of sin would be evident (Rom 7:13). Pg. 204-205...

Obey

[The] phrase "present yourselves" suggests a conscious, active, willing choice of obedience...It is a voluntary, deliberate surrender of oneself and one's members to a life of service--either to "sin resulting in death, or [to] obedience resulting in righteousness."  Here Paul is calling or a deliberate, willful, conscious choice of obedience.  For unbelievers, there is no choice.  They are enslaved to sin and cannot choose otherwise.  Here Paul is suggesting that genuine Christians also have only one choice.

In other words, those who choose to serve sin as its slaves are in fact still enslaved to sin--they have never experienced God's grace.  "When you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey."  That at first may sound like tautology, but a paraphrase may help explain the apostle's meaning:  "When you voluntarily relinquish yourself to sin and its service, you give evidence that you were never freed from sin's dominion to begin with.  Your pattern of life proves who your true master is--whether sin unto death, or obedience that results in righteousness."  Or, as Peter wrote, "By what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved" (2 Pet 2:18-19)...

In Romans 5 Paul made precisely the same point, only arguing in reverse.  There he suggested that sin and death reign over all those in Adam (5:12); but grace, righteousness, and eternal life reign over the one who is in Christ (vv. 17-20). 

In Romans 6, Paul suggests that everyone is a slave who has a master.  Fallen man likes to declare that he is the master of his fate and the captain of his soul.   But no one really is.  All people are either under Satan's lordship and in bondage to sin, or they are under Christ's lordship and servants of righteousness.  There is no neutral ground, and no one can serve two masters (Matt 6:24).  "If we would know to which of these two families we belong, we must inquire to which of these two masters we yield our obedience..."

For the Christian, the life of slavery to sin is past...They cannot life in unbroken sin or hardened rebellion against God and enjoy it.  That would be a contradiction of who they are (cf. 1 Jn 3:9)...In other words, Christians should serve righteousness exactly like we one served sin--as slaves...If what you desire now is freedom from moral restraint, you are no Christian.  You are a servant of sin.

The real fruit of sin's mastery includes "immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissentions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these."  And the ultimate result is eternal condemnation: "...of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-21) ..."  True faith bears exactly the opposite fruit...no longer loving darkness rather than light (pg 222-226)...

Outward Ritual is Not Enough

...God prescribed both outward and inward worship...God complains how they served Him:  "What right have you to tell of my statutes, and to take My covenant in your mouth?  For you hate discipline, and you cast My words behind you."  Also in Isaiah 1:13-14 and 66:3, we see God's decisive dealing with them:  "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me...I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts."  And, "He who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog's neck; he who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine's blood; he who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol"--yet they these were sacrifices anointed by God Himself.  What was the reason for this?  They played the hypocrites with God, and gave Him only the shell.  They brought Him outward performances.  They attributed too much to that, and left the spiritual part that God most esteems.

Notice also how our Savior Christ rebukes the Pharisees:  "Do you not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'" (Matt 3:9).  They boasted too much of their outward privileges.  You see throughout the Scriptures that people who don't belong to God are especially apt to attribute too much to outward things.  They ought to combine that with the inward, which they neglect...

Application

Let us take notice of this tendency to focus on externals; let us know that God does not regard the outward without the inward.  More than that, He abhors it.  If God can despise the worship that He Himself appointed, how much more must He loathe the empty devices and ceremonies of men's own devising?  The liturgy of papal religion, for example, is but a barren external.  They labor to put off God with the work done.  Their doctrine is tailor-made for corrupt human nature.  They teach that the sacrament administered confers grace regardless of the person's state of heart.  In their system the elements themselves confer grace, as if grace could be transmitted through a lifeless substance.  The whole process makes people dote too much on outward things.  But our text shoes that the outward part of baptism without the inward is nothing:  "not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to god for a good conscience," says Peter.

Appealing to God for a Good Conscience

How can we know if we are "in Christ," recipients of God's saving grace and favor?  Conscience is set in us for this very purpose, to tell us what we are doing, and with what motives we are doing it, and what our standing is before God.  If you want to test your spiritual health, ask simply whether your conscience is set toward God.

If you are righteous, honorable, and good because your conscience responds to God's commands, it is a good conscience.  But if you are doing good works or religious ritual just so that others will see, those are not from a good conscience (Mat 6:5-6, 16-18).  A good conscience holds us accountable simply because God commands it...

A healthy conscience looks not merely to what we do, but it examines why we do it as well--whether it is out of love for God and a desire to obey, or from a sense of resentful obligation...

A good conscience renounces and denies all sin...[Those] who, instead of renouncing their sins, maintain them--what shall we think of them?  Can they think to be saved by Christ when they live with a defiled conscience?...

Let us examine ourselves carefully so that our consciences may be convinced of the sin that is in us.  Let us put questions to ourselves:   Do I believe?  or have I merely placated my own heart without satisfying God?  Do I obey?  Do I willingly cast myself into the mold of God's Word and willingly obey all that I hear?  or am I deceiving myself?  "For God is greater than our heart, and knows all things" (1 Jn 3:20).  If we answer God with reservations (I will obey God in this, but not in that; I will go along with Christ as long as I don't have to give up a favorite sin) that is not the answer of a good conscience.  What is done for God must be done wholeheartedly and without reservation...Partial obedience is no obedience at all.  To single out easy things that do not oppose our lusts or threaten our pride is not the obedience God calls for.  Our obedience must be universal to all His commands...

The life of many is nothing but a breach of their profession of faith.  What will they have to look for at the hour of death, and in the day of judgment?  Can they possibly hope that God should keep His promise with them to give them life everlasting, when they never had grace to keep any commitment to Him?  How can they look for God's grace then, when they have spurned His grace here, and their whole life has been a satisfying of their base lusts?  If your professions of faith is meaningless now, it will be meaningless at the judgment.  Fetch that argument against sin when you are tempted...Faith and repentance are not one-time acts; you must live your life believing and repenting...

Conscience is either the greatest friend or the greatest enemy in the world. When it knows we have obeyed God in all things, conscience is a friend that speaks to God on our behalf.  Then again at the hour of death, what a comfort a good conscience will be!  And especially at the day of judgment--a sincere heart, a conscience that has labored to obey the gospel--it can look God in the face (pg. 232-237).   The Vanishing Conscience by John MacArthur (Paperback - Mar 8, 2005)