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All good conscience - Acts 23:1
All good conscience - Acts 23:1
"And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”" (Acts 23:1). Later he said: "So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man." (Acts 24:16). Then, at the end of his life he wrote: "I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day." (2 Timothy 1:3).
The conscience doesn't make things right or wrong; it sits in judgment on how we live according to our understanding of right and wrong. As Paul wrote concerning Gentiles: "They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them" (Romans 2:15). While our conscience may pronounce us innocent, God may pronounce us guilty. Many people have done what they THOUGHT was right, but were doing what was wrong (Prov. 14:12; 12:15; 16:1; 21:2). Paul is an example of such as in all good conscience he persecuted the church. He thought that was the right thing to do, and in doing it he was without any notion of guilt for it (Acts 26:9-11). He was wrong.
Paul wrote that "the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Timothy 1:5). If we violate our conscience we are basically declaring that we are rebellious. Even though we 'know' it to be wrong, we will do it anyway. No man can serve God acceptably with such an attitude.
The conscience can be weak (1Cor. 8:7,10). The conscience can be seared and hardened so that doing what we know is wrong no longer produces guilt feelings (1Tim. 4:2). Thus we must follow this example of Paul in ever living true to our conscience. HOWEVER, knowing that the conscience doesn't MAKE things right, we must always be educating our conscience so that the judgments it makes are according to God's standard. Hugh DeLong
