A Good Conscience

‘...I have lived in all good conscience before God...’ Acts 23:1 NKJV

Commenting on the Watergate scandal, Nixon aide Jeb Magruder told the Senate Investigation Committee, ‘We conned ourselves into thinking we weren’t doing anything wrong, and by the time we were doing things that were illegal, we’d lost control.’ Paul speaks of those ‘…whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.’ (1 Timothy 4:2 NIV) In Bible times it was common to cauterise a wound with a hot iron, resulting in an ugly scab with a hard top on it. Are you getting the picture? Paul is saying, ‘Don’t become hardened and callous toward sin.’ Your conscience is like a motion detector, letting you know that a thief has entered your home intending to rob or even kill you. Speaking of conscience, Paul tells Timothy: ‘Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked…’ (1 Timothy 1:19 NLT) In other words, keep your conscience in good repair. Respond to its warnings; be guided by its instructions; make sure that at all times it’s grounded in Scripture. Martin Luther said, ‘My conscience has been taken captive by the Word of God, and to go against conscience or Scripture is neither right nor safe.’ Because ‘everybody does it’ doesn’t mean you should. Because you ‘get away with it’ doesn’t mean there will be no consequences. Because ‘it feels right’ doesn’t make it right. To be truly committed to walking with God, you must make Luther’s formula for living, your formula: ‘My conscience has been taken captive by the Word of God.’