Man's Conscience

[Beetow]

• 1Cor 4:4 . . My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.

Man was created with as near a perfect conscience as a creature can be given.

• Gen 1:27 . . God created Man in His own image, in the image of God created He
him.

But then came the forbidden fruit incident by which Man's near-divine conscience
underwent something that caused it to become humanistic.

• Gen 3:22 . . The Lord God said: The man has now become like one of us, knowing
good and evil.

Man was able to discern between good and evil before his fall, but that was by
means of a conscience influenced by its maker. The forbidden fruit incident altered
Man's conscience to become his own influence, i.e. Man became defensive, and he
rationalizes a lot too. (Rom 2:14-15)

I think the writer of 1Cor 4:4 was well aware of just how tricky Man's conscience
can be so he was reluctant to insist upon his innocence-- a little sophistry here and
a little there, and even monsters like Communist China's Xi Jinping and North
Korea's Kim Jong-Un can be persuaded in their own minds to believe themselves
okay guys.

• 1 John 1:8 . . If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves

• Jer 17:9-10 . .The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick;
who can understand it? . . . I, The Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to
give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.

The upside is: Christ's crucifixion not only serves to save people from their sins, but
according to Heb 9:8-14 it saves them from their conscience too.
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