Soul Consciousness
The secret of real Christianity lies in the consciousness that it produces in your soul. Many preachers are satisfied with a mental assent to vague theological doctrines or nuances, but the Word was never meant to be divorced from soul reality. One should not only be a Christian, but he should also have a present consciousness of why he is a Christian.
Consciousness is that “which the soul knows” - not that for which you assent, or that for which you hope, but that which the soul possesses in reality, that which is concrete in the innermost being of your life. A prime example of soul consciousness is Adam. Genesis 3:7 says:
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked . . .
Before this moment in time, Adam was naked, but because his soul consciousness was absolutely pure he was “unashamed.” Once he transgressed and his nature became corrupted, he instantly knew it. God did not need to enter the Garden and sit him down and explain to him what the sin did to him. Adam’s sin nature was plainly evident to his own soul. It was concrete in his life and his actions, like hiding from God behind a tree, belied this consciousness. The Genesis account shows us that Adam did not come face-to-face with God any time after he sinned.
The Word teaches us that every Christian should have a soul consciousness of righteousness and God upon the New Birth:
We know that we are of God … (1 John 5:19)
We know that we have passed out of death into life … (1 John 3:14)
In the first century, Nero mercilessly persecuted Christians for their faith. The historical accounts show us that he literally burned Christians alive in order to light his garden. Many Christians died from ghastly methods of torture. The accounts also show us that many Christians willingly volunteered to gruesome deaths in order to save other, weaker Christians. These men and women often faced death with a smile on their face and joy in their hearts. It was not because they were aware of some nuanced version of atonement theory, but it was because they possessed a soul consciousness of the present-day person of Jesus Christ.