Seared conscience

[Tyler22]

I have a seared conscience.  There's no ifs and or buts.  But I'm still a human being.  I would like to ask a few questions.  Why did God give us free will?  I know I'm going to hell.  I am just seeking what I'm headed for.  Can you tell me?  Will I at least have the comfort of knowing that I deserved this?

[Guest Thess]

Tyler . . . I really appreciate your questions. Let's start here, with your final question, because I think when we address that question, it puts most everything else into perspective.

You asked if you will experience comfort in knowing that you deserved the punishment (of Hell) that your sin seems to warrant. As I read the entire Bible and grasp it's contexts, nowhere in it do I get the sense that I deserve to be punished for the Curse that I am under. Yes, I can see why most think that we do deserve this punishment, but all throughout the Old Testament we find God taking responsibility of all things happening on earth, and I mean ALL things. What I see is a God who didn't allow Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Life, the tree where God said that if they were to eat of it, they'd be cured and "live forever." Next verse? God bans them from the Garden, not giving them a chance to eat and be saved.

So that was it, they had incurred a Sinful Nature as the Curse of all Curses, and this ugly, but Holy Curse was beset upon you as well as us all. Did you choose this Sinful Nature? No, not a chance. And within the scope of your Sinful Nature, did you determine it's parameters? No. You chose your attractions to sin no more than you chose whether or not you like asparagus, or black licorice ice-cream. And what does this Sinful Nature do? It confuses us; the confusion that this added Nature causes is horrible. Read Romans chapter 7 and we see the perfect description of a man fighting the Sinful Nature within him. He felt that he loved and honored God, yet he was confused and unable to do the things that he truly wanted to do. Certainly, Saul (Paul) was living under the Holy Curse of the Sinful Nature.

So again, what did you do to deserve this Nature, the Nature that each of us are born with? Now, this is on the start of discussing what is taking place, here, so I hope that you come back and take part in this awesome post of yours. There is a way of out of this problem you have; and that way out is Christ. Christ alone is the one who can relieve you of this Sinful Nature that will not allow us to serve God. Please read Col 2:11-15. If your ears have been opened, these passages will turn your entire life around.

I believe in you.

[Chris0699]

On 7/27/2017 at 10:20 AM, Tyler22 said:

I have a seared conscience.  There's no ifs and or buts.  But I'm still a human being.  I would like to ask a few questions.  Why did God give us free will?  I know I'm going to hell.  I am just seeking what I'm headed for.  Can you tell me?  Will I at least have the comfort of knowing that I deserved this?

Following. I'm there too.

[Guest Thess]

1 hour ago, Chris0699 said:

Following. I'm there too.

Hello my friend. Did my response to the OP resonate with you? Did it make sense?

I promise you this: You don't have to suffer anymore.

[missmuffet]

On 7/27/2017 at 7:20 AM, Tyler22 said:

I have a seared conscience.  There's no ifs and or buts.  But I'm still a human being.  I would like to ask a few questions.  Why did God give us free will?  I know I'm going to hell.  I am just seeking what I'm headed for.  Can you tell me?  Will I at least have the comfort of knowing that I deserved this?

I will address the topic of a seared conscience.

Question: "What does it mean to have a seared conscience?"

Answer: The Bible speaks of a seared conscience in 1 Timothy 4:2. The conscience is the God-given moral consciousness within each of us (Romans 2:15). If the conscience is “seared”—literally “cauterized”—then it has been rendered insensitive. Such a conscience does not work properly; it’s as if “spiritual scar tissue” has dulled the sense of right and wrong. Just as the hide of an animal scarred with a branding iron becomes numb to further pain, so the heart of an individual with a seared conscience is desensitized to moral pangs.

Paul identifies those who have a seared conscience in 1 Timothy 4:1–2: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” In this passage, we learn three things about false teachers who lead others into apostasy: 1) they are mouthpieces for evil spirits, since they promulgate “things taught by demons”; 2) they are hypocritical liars, since they wear a mask of holiness but are full of falsehood; and 3) they are unscrupulous, since their consciences have been cauterized. This explains much. How can false teachers lie with no shame and spread deception with no compunction? Because they have seared consciences. They are past feeling that lying is wrong.

Earlier in the epistle, Paul speaks of the “good conscience” as opposed to the seared conscience. “Advancing God’s work,” he says, comes by faith, and love “comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:4–5). A good conscience has the capability to tell right from wrong and is free from guilt. A person with a good conscience maintains his integrity. He enjoys fellowship with those who “walk in the light, as [Jesus] is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The lies of the devil are anathema to the one with a good conscience. Rather than follow the lies of apostates, he will “fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience” (1 Timothy 1:18–19).

Proverbs 6:27 asks a rhetorical question to illustrate the consequences of adultery: “Can a man scoop fire into his lap / without his clothes being burned?” To paraphrase the question in relation to false teaching, “Can an apostate dispense the fiery lies of hell without his conscience being seared?”

https://www.gotquestions.org/seared-conscience.html

Edited February 10, 2020 by missmuffet

[Chris0699]

5 hours ago, missmuffet said:

I will address the topic of a seared conscience.

Question: "What does it mean to have a seared conscience?"

Answer: The Bible speaks of a seared conscience in 1 Timothy 4:2. The conscience is the God-given moral consciousness within each of us (Romans 2:15). If the conscience is “seared”—literally “cauterized”—then it has been rendered insensitive. Such a conscience does not work properly; it’s as if “spiritual scar tissue” has dulled the sense of right and wrong. Just as the hide of an animal scarred with a branding iron becomes numb to further pain, so the heart of an individual with a seared conscience is desensitized to moral pangs.

Paul identifies those who have a seared conscience in 1 Timothy 4:1–2: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” In this passage, we learn three things about false teachers who lead others into apostasy: 1) they are mouthpieces for evil spirits, since they promulgate “things taught by demons”; 2) they are hypocritical liars, since they wear a mask of holiness but are full of falsehood; and 3) they are unscrupulous, since their consciences have been cauterized. This explains much. How can false teachers lie with no shame and spread deception with no compunction? Because they have seared consciences. They are past feeling that lying is wrong.

Earlier in the epistle, Paul speaks of the “good conscience” as opposed to the seared conscience. “Advancing God’s work,” he says, comes by faith, and love “comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:4–5). A good conscience has the capability to tell right from wrong and is free from guilt. A person with a good conscience maintains his integrity. He enjoys fellowship with those who “walk in the light, as [Jesus] is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The lies of the devil are anathema to the one with a good conscience. Rather than follow the lies of apostates, he will “fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience” (1 Timothy 1:18–19).

Proverbs 6:27 asks a rhetorical question to illustrate the consequences of adultery: “Can a man scoop fire into his lap / without his clothes being burned?” To paraphrase the question in relation to false teaching, “Can an apostate dispense the fiery lies of hell without his conscience being seared?”

https://www.gotquestions.org/seared-conscience.html

I didn't see the date on this. Whoops. Didn't realize it was that old. But how does one with a seared conscience even truly seek God? Or even want to? Because if I am honest with myself, that is where I am. And that is the sign that someone has crossed God's line and there is no way back, even while they still draw breath.

[Guest Thess]

11 minutes ago, Chris0699 said:

I didn't see the date on this. Whoops. Didn't realize it was that old. But how does one with a seared conscience even truly seek God? Or even want to? Because if I am honest with myself, that is where I am. And that is the sign that someone has crossed God's line and there is no way back, even while they still draw breath.

The only way a person can come to God is if God enables him. Pray that God would enable you. Pray that God would teach you all Truth, and asap.

[Chris0699]

1 minute ago, Thess said:

The only way a person can come to God is if God enables him. Pray that God would enable you. Pray that God would teach you all Truth, and asap.

True prayer with the right intentions is impossible too. I have been asking for this for over a year and nothing. I am praying to the wall. God isn't listening because I don't think I want to leave my sin. Which also boggles me because I don't think I really enjoy it all that much. Or maybe I am suppressing my sinful desires. I don't know. But this is a bad place.

[Tyler22]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:03 AM, Thess said:

Tyler . . . I really appreciate your questions. Let's start here, with your final question, because I think when we address that question, it puts most everything else into perspective.

You asked if you will experience comfort in knowing that you deserved the punishment (of Hell) that your sin seems to warrant. As I read the entire Bible and grasp it's contexts, nowhere in it do I get the sense that I deserve to be punished for the Curse that I am under. Yes, I can see why most think that we do deserve this punishment, but all throughout the Old Testament we find God taking responsibility of all things happening on earth, and I mean ALL things. What I see is a God who didn't allow Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Life, the tree where God said that if they were to eat of it, they'd be cured and "live forever." Next verse? God bans them from the Garden, not giving them a chance to eat and be saved.

So that was it, they had incurred a Sinful Nature as the Curse of all Curses, and this ugly, but Holy Curse was beset upon you as well as us all. Did you choose this Sinful Nature? No, not a chance. And within the scope of your Sinful Nature, did you determine it's parameters? No. You chose your attractions to sin no more than you chose whether or not you like asparagus, or black licorice ice-cream. And what does this Sinful Nature do? It confuses us; the confusion that this added Nature causes is horrible. Read Romans chapter 7 and we see the perfect description of a man fighting the Sinful Nature within him. He felt that he loved and honored God, yet he was confused and unable to do the things that he truly wanted to do. Certainly, Saul (Paul) was living under the Holy Curse of the Sinful Nature.

So again, what did you do to deserve this Nature, the Nature that each of us are born with? Now, this is on the start of discussing what is taking place, here, so I hope that you come back and take part in this awesome post of yours. There is a way of out of this problem you have; and that way out is Christ. Christ alone is the one who can relieve you of this Sinful Nature that will not allow us to serve God. Please read Col 2:11-15. If your ears have been opened, these passages will turn your entire life around.

I believe in you.

 

Don’t know where to start 

[Guest Thess]

30 minutes ago, Chris0699 said:

True prayer with the right intentions is impossible too. I have been asking for this for over a year and nothing. I am praying to the wall. God isn't listening because I don't think I want to leave my sin. Which also boggles me because I don't think I really enjoy it all that much. Or maybe I am suppressing my sinful desires. I don't know. But this is a bad place.

I hear you my friend. I'm sorry that you're struggling; it seems like such a hopeless place to be. You know, something in my heart is inclined to ask you if you fear God. On a scale of 1 to 10, how serious do you take the Bible? Do you believe what it says about those who do not Submit and make themselves a slave to Christ? I ask because I think that most christians were like me, not saved at all. I thought I knew Holy Scriptures; I felt that I could win any debate on the topic of Eternal Security, etc, even felt that I was a Biblical Master of sorts. It's a long story, but on a particular day driving home from saving a friend from murder by mutilation (unbelievable story), I was rewarded with experiencing the Terror of the Lord. Oh man, it is nothing like the most amazing fears we could have here on earth. Terror from the Lord is not of this place, but what I have felt is the fear of feeling that my father was going to murder me and also felt that my molesting boyscout master was going to murder me on the side of Mount Baker, leaving me to be found after the snow had melted away the following Spring. I know was fear is. I really know what fear is, but Terror from the Lord is absolutely not of this Universe. Following this Holy Terror I was also gifted with the most Holy of Experiences . . . I was actually clothed by Christ; Indwelt in the Arizona desert in a particular place and a particular time. This experience was even more Powerful than that of the Holy Terror, but this even more Powerful force was that of Peace and Love. I was encapsulated, fully engulfed [into] the Spirit of God. I was completely clothed by Christ and protected. If I had felt any more of God's Holy, Raw, Almighty Power, something would have happened to my physical being. I would have been harmed in some way; perhaps melted a bit or somehow deformed, but His Love and Peace is so strong and so Powerful, that the human form simply cannot endure it.

I know what it is to fear the Lord. I know what it is to fear Him with Holy Trembling. It is a Trembling of utter and Holy Awe of the Creator of this Universe. It is to be shocked and astonished that He is spending His time with You. It is knowing that I am alive, by this Power, because He allows it. It is knowing that He is so Powerful and Almighty, that He could choose to vaporize me in a nanosecond. But because of this Love, there is no sense of fearing that He would actually kill me; but on the contrary . . . this Power affirmed what it is to be "known by God."

I need you to believe me when I say that it is time to stop messing around and start obeying. Your heart and mind both tell you everyday, with the sound of your own voice in your own mind, what it is that you need to do and stop doing. Now, don't be deceived; when you're told what it is that you are to do right, and you hear your own voice in your own mind . . . no, that is God talking to you. Stop ignoring what you once thought was just yourself that you were speaking with. No, God is talking to you and now I am warning you through my own personal experience that you have not one second to waste. Truly, you don't know if you will live beyond the night, so know what I know, I would do exactly as Jesus says that we do, and begin making "every effort to enter through the Narrow Gate." Matt 7:10-15ish. Now, Jesus said to do that, not myself.

Making Every Effort: Look, the reason why this is so important is because if you do not obey, it proves who your father is. But if you obey and begin making a complete life change (Rom 12:2), you can know with assurance in your heart that you are being led to do this work. You will realize that it is not your effort that made this change, but the effort came from Christ who enables our Stony heart to become unhardened and start Loving in a whole new way. It will be God working Himself throughout your life. But my friend, you have no choice but to get up and off of that sofa, and begin making effort.

I'm here for you either openly or in private messaging. You're right, you are in a tough place, but I know for a fact that you don't have to stay there.

100%, I believe in you. And if you want to continue, this is only the beginning. There is much to know about God's Mysterious Plan, and when you understand that Plan, your entire life will have its full opportunity to grow and flourish exactly as you may have always hoped and wished. 100% I believe in you.