Thousands of lambs specially bred in Bethlehem were also brought in on the day Jesus entered Jerusalem to be sacrificed on the Passover. The Jewish leaders were required by the Law of Moses to examine the Passover lambs over a few days to ensure they had no blemishes or sickness of any kind.

As a parallel, during the final week before His death on the cross, Jesus was questioned and tested by the same Jewish leaders. They were not convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, and despite the fact that He passed their test, they remained unmoved and sought reasons to accuse Him.

The good news is that God found no flaws in Jesus and determined that He is absolutely perfect in every way as God's spotless Lamb to save everyone. And if you believe in what Jesus did on the cross for you, you will be blessed with a cleansed conscience.

Consider these words of the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews:

 

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:13-14

 

A cleansed conscience tells you that you are no longer guilty of sin and that you no longer need to feel guilty because all of your wrongdoing has been washed away by Jesus' blood. Guilt will produce dead works that bear no fruit. If you live your Christian life out of guilt, you are not living by faith in what Christ has already done. Then your faith is defined by rules and regulations rather than by Christ!

Knowing you have a cleansed conscience changes everything about how you live and how you worship and serve God. It frees you to work with God's supernatural grace and power to overcome sinful habits because you are no longer hindered by condemning thoughts or fearful ideas about what God might do to you because of your spiritual failings and weaknesses.

If you see self-punishment as a way to combat feelings of guilt or shame, it is dead work. Because of God's grace, repentance is a healing experience rather than a painful one. If you are still plagued by guilt and doubt, look to Jesus in His full glory and allow Him to heal your heart with His amazing grace and love again.