Our conscience will continue either to condemn us or to excuse us, as long as our reliance is upon works of merit we think we can do. This keeps alive a consciousness of sin, because we never know when we have done enough. Also, we continue to disappoint ourselves by not meeting our own goals and standards. Awareness of sin can only be settled by the blood of Jesus.
The Lord removes from us the whole system of measuring ourselves according to attempts to merit righteousness. He reveals to us that all acceptance with God is on the basis of the blood of Jesus Christ. He alone is righteous and we are accepted in Him. No other standards apply when we are dealing with God.
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God”(Heb. 9:14).
We are freed to serve the living God-a new dimension in worship.
The word “serve” means “worship,” and conveys the thought of our voluntarily giving ourselves and all we have as a spiritual sacrifice to God. Once the Holy Spirit frees us from the legalistic demands of a system of works, we spontaneously “want” to serve Him. The realization of acceptance according to God’s mercy releases us to delight in doing God’s will.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).
We are free to enter into the rest of faith.
When we quit doing our own works, we find the rest of faith. Our assurance is based upon Christ’s work for us and in us. We can afford to put an end to self-effort and to allow the Holy Spirit to produce Christlikeness within us.
“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Heb. 4:10).
We have confidence toward God.
Once our conscience has been purged of guilt and dead works, we experience a confidence toward God which enables us to approach Him boldly. The Greek word for “boldness” means “freedom of speech, unreservedness of utterance, plainness, openness, cheerful courage, or confidence.” When we have this confidence, we can talk to God directly from our hearts without holding back in fear or guilt.
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:22.).
We relax our standards in relation to other people.
When we are no longer struggling over legalism, we are able to relax our standards in relation to others. We can stop being critical. We can enlarge our circle of fellowship, knowing that differences in habits and practices not emphasized by the Word need not be top priority to us. Fellowship is determined by a living relationship with God, not by the way we dress, the days we observe, our dietary habits and the like. We can afford to be tolerant of others.