Articles
All Good Conscience Acts 26
All Good Conscience Acts 26
Paul has stated several times that he always lived ‘in all good conscience’ (Acts 23:1; 24:16). YET, here he makes a remarkable confession: “So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 "And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.” (Acts 26:9-11)
One can have a good conscience while opposing God! One can do so while thinking he is serving God! Hence the problem of conscience:.. it can be WRONG. Our conscience is based upon what we have learned about right and wrong. Our conscience can and must be educated and trained by us. We must LEARN from God what is right and wrong. Such learning comes from God’s revelation – from God’s word.
We must always live by doing what we know (think, understand) is right. Only this course of action gives us a good / clean conscience. BUT let us also continue to study and correct our understanding. Many will stand before God’s judgment only to find that their conscience was wrong. Hopefully, we can learn to correct such while in this life. Paul did. He turned from persecutor to proclaimer. His principle of living according to his conscience remained the same, but his conscience was corrected.
Hugh DeLong
