4/19/09 John Berglund
Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith... (1 Tim. 1:5)
...having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck (1 Tim. 1:19)
Holding the mystery of the faith wiht a pure conscience... (1 Tim. 3:9)
When considering the matter of the conscience in the believer, we may ask, “Does the conscience change in its operation over our Christian life?” and if we have read of the conscience in the Bible in First Timothy, we may wonder at the difference between holding a “good” conscience and holding a “pure” conscience.
When you look at the matter of the conscience, on one side you have God’s Law (see Romans 7:7-24, where Paul speaks of the struggle between the Law, his desire to do good, and his sinfulness). We must realize that as believers, however, we also have God Himself with His intentions. Those who do not have the Lord Himself only have His Law and/or that which matches that Law within them as creatures created by the One who gave the Law. The conscience corresponds in some way to the Law within all people, and it watches over their actions and demands they do something about the things in their lives that are not according to the Law’s standard.
The word conscience literally means “with knowledge.” Even if others do not know, we know, and we know God knows. That is enough! Therefore the conscience is a tremendous matter, and its importance cannot be overstated. Psychologists recognize that guilt on man’s conscience is one of the basic problems of human existence. Sigmund Freud determined that man’s experience is centered around the interaction between himself (ego), his conscience (super-ego), and his sinful drives (id). The Bible does not agree with his worldly analysis of the origin of these three, but it does agree with the fact that man’s daily struggle is between himself, his sinful nature, and his conscience. Sin cannot be eradicated, and neither can conscience go away, for it is part of our heart. Therefore this battle within man can never be stilled.
Even if it could be argued that a certain matter on someone’s conscience was NOT according to God, the conscience of every individual must be honored, for we take the conscience to be God’s representative. To each one of us it is our guide to what God expects of us. When we go against it, we experience a “fearful looking away to judgment” (Heb. 10:27). (Conscience is adjusted by knowledge as we receive revelation or further understanding of God, but one person’s comparative freedom in some area cannot be imposed upon others or even introduced to them if their consciences are vulnerable. See 1 Corinthians 8; Romans 14 and 1 Cor. 10:23-33. Paul warns that the consequences could be disastrous—1 Cor. 8:11.)
People basically have three choices as to how to deal with the guilt in their conscience brought about by their sinful deeds:
1. Attempting to Deny the Conscience by Denying God
First, there are those who try to convince themselves there is no God (or that if there is a creator, this creator is not personally interested in man). People like this convince themselves conscience is something that came from society and man’s rules. This type of person tries to reason away feelings of guilt. In effect, he denies his conscience and becomes cynical and hardened, for such people have given up their hope of being God’s creation. Eventually their conscience becomes glazed over. They turn away from the conscience and seal it away as in a tomb. (Our conscience never really stops “radiating,” but it can become so deeply buried as to seem inert.) These people believe they have been liberated from guilt and inhibition, when in fact they are more exposed to the damaging effect of sin, which now reigns unrestricted.
2. In Misery Recognizing Its Unremitting Claims
Second, there are those who agree with the accusations of their conscience, but have no way of resolving them. They agree there is a God they are accountable to, and that their conscience is speaking the truth. They acknowledge they are guilty of doing evil things, but feel helpless about doing anything about that fact. Like the person in Romans 7, they know it is proper to always do what is right and good, but realize they cannot fulfill that obligation. Because these people are honest they are most miserable. They may hold onto some vague hope that in some way they might redeem themselves, but they must bear a heavy load until the longed-for opportunity arrives. In a negative sense they are seeking ones, because they long for relief from their constant burden. Since conscience tries to get us to accept responsibility for things in our lives not being as they should, and since no one can afford to accept sin’s penalty, these people will be tempted to seek relief by reasoning away their guilt like those in the first category if they do not discover the Answer.
3. Discovering Release by the Blood of Jesus
Third, there are those who agree with the accusations of their conscience, acknowledging there is a Creator “with whom we all have to do” (Heb. 4:13), and who have finally discovered God’s way of salvation. These people are those who have discovered that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins, and have embraced Him and come to know the efficacy of His blood in washing away all the load and stain of their sin (Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19; John 1:29). Their conscience has been cleansed. They can boast of a “good” conscience before God and man.
A Second Category Among Those Who Hold a Good Conscience:
Those Who Hold a Pure Conscience Knowing God’s Purpose
Besides just knowing Christ has died for our sins, we also must come to know what God’s purpose is for having done this. As those created by God, we must discover what God’s intention and will for creating us and saving us is, for we now “doubly” belong to Him (Psalm 100:3; Rev. 5:9)! We should thus be able to testify that we are in what God desires for us, or else our conscience still has a problem. We may be able to testify that Jesus’ blood has cleansed us from our sinful offenses, but can we testify that we are living our lives according to what God wills for us? Can we declare our life is now purely for God and His will? If we can, I believe we are those who can stand before God, the angels, and all mankind as one who holds a “pure” conscience, in spite of whatever weakenesses we might still possess.
Our living should not simply be according to right and wrong. A soldier gets a handbook about everything that is expected of him. He is to behave a certain way towards an officer; he is to wear his uniform a certain way, and so on. When the time comes, however, he must act as a part of the overall move of that military force. Matters must be put in perspective. If he is ordered to shoot his weapon, he cannot refuse because it is not clean enough, or because he forgot to salute his officer earlier. He cannot freeze up due to some remembered breech of protocol. He must take that order as sufficient indication his service is accepted and expected. (This does not mean things are overlooked; it means that we must learn to live according to God’s plan and will, realizing our personal conduct will be dealt with in the process, and that our dealing with our conscience is not an end in itself.)
When we become clear about God’s purpose, our conscience also becomes aware of this higher plane of expectation. Our whole being becomes readjusted, and our conscience comes into a fuller function. It is no longer merely attuned to what is offensive under God’s moral law; it becomes our witness within as to whether we are living according to God’s highest desire for our existence!
To have a cleansed conscience is important. We should apply the blood of Jesus for our offenses so we may maintain a cloudless fellowship with our Father. But we eventually should have the boldness to declare, “I know why I am alive. I am living according to the purpose of my creation. I am fulfilling the obligation of my existence. I am not cheating myself nor am I holding anything back from God. I am standing upon this earth as someone who is wholly for His purpose.” If we can say this, I believe we are those who can confidently say we have a pure conscience, or that our conscience is peaceful in recognizing we are pure. Many may be able to joyfully say, “I am not going to hell. God must accept me into His presence. Jesus has died for my sins. Hallelujah!” They have a cleansed conscience. Praise the Lord for that. But some can say further, “I am living according to the purpose God has me here on earth for.” Until we are marching in God’s army alongside those who likewise have given their lives to live according to His purpose, we know in our conscience that something else is mixed in, indicating our existence is impure. We are still holding something back from the One who has redeemed us by His blood. (In other words, idols are leeching away something that should be God’s.)
When everything is truly “in” and nothing more holds us back from completely following God, our inner witness will grant us boldness to testify there exists nothing in our heart to prevent God from gaining His full satisfaction in us. At that point, we can claim with a pure conscience that we are for God and God alone. Until then, we should keep ourselves under the blood of Christ for whatever we are holding onto besides God, maintaining an honest fellowship with Him until He is able to purge out whatever is frustrating us and we be able to stand purely for Him upon the earth.
Until we can say, “I know what God’s purpose is, and I am standing on this earth for that,” we cannot peacefully say our conscience is pure. We must be able to say, “I am living on this earth for God’s purpose. I am not just here so I can have a good Christian life. I am not just here for my own good or the good of my family. I am not here just so I can be comfortable or gain something for myself. God is doing something, and I am one with what He is doing. My life, my living, and my standard are now according to that.” Such a person can say he has a pure conscience, for his living and standard are according to what he knows to be in God’s heart.
Our conscience is set to the standard that has been revealed or accepted in our hearts as being authoritative from God. If the standard you have for yourself is to live a life that does not offend God, then your conscience will operate according to that standard, and that standard can always be maintained by the blood of Jesus. God will always receive us based on what was accomplished through His death upon the cross. God, however, desires to bring us into the highest existence, which is a life purely lived out in His plan. Unless we can say we live such a life, our conscience will be aware that we still come up short when it comes to the best God has for us.
We have to allow the Lord to be the Lord of our conscience just as He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8). The Sabbath was created for a purpose which He had the right to define more clearly. It should be the same with our conscience. The Lord has the right to be the Lord of our conscience. There will be times when He may say, “Stop being so concerned about this or that. You have My blood! Go forward. Do not allow Satan to divert or hinder you by accusation and guilt. Come forward by My blood until you arrive at the altar of incense where you can operate with Me for My purpose.” [Heb.4:9-16. The goal of our coming into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus is that we might co-operate with Christ at the incense altar, not merely abide in the Holy of Holies.]
The Conscience that Ushers Us to the Gospel Must Ultimately Become the Conscience that Ushers Us into God’s Purpose
This present geneation has been lied to more than any before it, which means it is the most confident and comfortable in its function apart from God. God has never been felt to be less necessary, and conscience has never been more easily cast off. More than ever, young people have been “educated” by what is declared “scientific” or “progressive” or “outmoded”. As Satan’s lies grow in number and sophistication, the role of the conscience becomes more easily quashed.
Touching people’s conscience thus seems to grow more difficult with each passing generation. Those whose consciences have remained sensitive need to know that the blood of Jesus can cleanse them from every sin (Rom. 11:32; 1 John 1:9). Eventually, however, we need to find out from God what His purpose on the earth is, and give ourselves to it. That should become the standard of our living, rather than simply what is right or wrong. We should be able to tell the Lord, “You got me here, and I now realize Your purpose is why You created me. That purpose has become my standard for my existence. One day, if not yet, I am going to have the boldness to declare before all creation, and even before You Yourself, ‘I gave myself for Your purpose. I consecrated myself to follow You and to live according to what You are after. I refused to settle for anything less.’” Those able to declare this could surely say they lived their lives in a pure conscience.
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