Mark Twain said that "a clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory." What do you think? This week we studied Acts 22:30-Acts
23:11. Read this passage and then meet
me right back here. (It wouldn’t hurt to
read it again, even if you were in Sunday school this week.)
You can probably guess (from the quote above) caught my attention in
reading this passage. In Acts
23:1, Paul said, “I have lived before God, doing my duty,
with a perfectly good conscience
until this very day.” (Amplified, emphasis
mine). I don’t know about you, but I
haven’t always felt as if my conscience was perfectly good. I will say something carelessly … and then
stew about it for days. I will remember things
from years ago – things that I have long ago repented of – and suddenly feel
bad about all over again. I know that
Christ’s work in me was perfect and complete … that, because I have accepted
Him as my Savior, my conscience is “good,” but too often Satan tries to
convince me otherwise. And too often he
is successful.
I wanted to know Paul’s secret to a “perfectly
good conscience,” the truth is it has been here all along – close relationship
to God in large part through His Word. I
know that we are all sometimes plagued by attacks of our conscience, so I would
like to share some Scriptures I found relating to the conscience. I am going to try to limit my own comments
because I want you to allow the Holy Spirit to speak directly into your heart. May God bless the reading of His Word!
Fill in the blanks below (NIV was
used).
Hebrews 9:14 (Reading vs.
13 will make vs. 14 make even more sense.)
“How much
more, then, will the of ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, our from acts that lead to death, so that may the living God!”
Hebrews
10:22
“Let us to
God with a heart and with the full that brings, having our sprinkled
to cleanse us from a conscience
and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
(Really love this verse in the context of vs.
19-25!)
Hebrews 13:18
“
for us. We are that we have a conscience and to live in way.”
Each of these verses from Hebrews tells us something
important about our consciences. Hebrews
9:14 reminds us that we have a conscience
that is good because of what Christ did for us.
It also tells us why having a
good conscience is important for the body of Christ. Hebrew 10:22 tells is where we can and should go once we acknowledge this cleansing work,
and finally Hebrews 13:18 warns us that, despite the good nature of our consciences,
there will be times when doubt creeps
in. We must be convinced!
The question we haven’t addressed yet is how.
How do we keep our consciences
“perfectly good” as Paul described his in Acts 23:1? I think I found the answer (at least in part)
during my quiet time this morning. Turn
with me to Psalm 19, and read verses 12-13.
Now What? Well, if
you feel led to, you may say the prayers along with me.
Vs. 12, “But who
can discern their own errors? Forgive
my hidden faults.”
God, I have said and done things that
are outside of Your will, and out of ignorance, I haven’t given them a second
thought. Lord, I ask Your forgiveness for
these things, and I thank You for separating them from me.
Vs. 13 “Keep your servant also
from willful sins; may they not
rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent
of great transgression.”
God, I only want to serve you – not sin! For the times I have known Your will and yet have
chosen to ignore it … Lord, I ask Your forgiveness. The next time Satan brings it back up in my
heart, I will not be downcast and ask again to be forgiven for the same thing;
instead I will lift my eyes to You and thank You again for Your forgiveness. Amen.
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