A Clear Conscience
Acts 24:16 (KJV) “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.”
I want to look further into our conscience. It is the part of us given by God to help guide us, keep us from sin and error, keep us in check, and keep us away from the plots and plans of the devil. Your conscience is located in your kardia, the center of you. I have heard it described as the voice of your spirit; and really, it can only be trusted after you are born again and become a new creation with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Amplified version really helps us with this verse: “Therefore I always exercise and discipline myself [mortifying my body, deadening my carnal affections, bodily appetites, and worldly desires, endeavoring in all respects] to have a clear (unshaken, blameless) conscience, void of offense toward God and toward men.”
In order for our conscience to work at its optimal performance, we must do what Paul, by the Holy Ghost, says; we must discipline our flesh and keep it under control so that our conscience can clearly be heard and not seared by living a carnal, fleshly, and worldly life.
The Scripture is very definite that we must keep our own conscience clear. 1 Timothy 1:5 talks about a pure heart and good conscience; 1 Timothy 1:19 says, “holding faith, and a good conscience”; 1 Timothy 3:9 says to have a pure conscience; 2 Timothy 1:3 talks about serving God from a pure conscience; and 1 Peter 3:16 says we should have a good conscience and live in a way that no one could speak evil of us.
My point is this: the Epistles are full of God’s desire for us to have a good, clear, and pure conscience. It seems to be high on His priority list for us, so we must make sure our conscience stays clear.
Titus 1:15 warns of defiling our conscience and our mind. Then, 1 Timothy 4:2 is the warning of all warnings concerning your conscience. It talks about having your conscience seared as with a hot iron. The word “seared” is the same as “to cauterize.” What happens when something is cauterized? It has to do with surgery when they cauterize something to keep the blood from flowing.
The thing about cauterizing or searing your conscience is that it keeps the cleansing blood of Jesus from flowing. The blood of Jesus continually cleanses us as we walk in the light, but an evil or bad conscience not only keeps the blood of Jesus from flowing, but it will eventually cause a person to walk away; and, as Paul says, it causes their faith to be shipwrecked.