Navarre Messenger

April 6, 2008

In this issue:

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)

When someone as important to our faith as Paul makes a statement like this, we need to pay attention. Paul addresses this statement to Timothy who had been left in Ephesus in order to teach the Christians there. In this statement Paul explains the reason (here translated “goal,” but in other translations, “end”) for the teaching of the gospel, and that is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience and sincere faith.

The love he speaks of here is agape love, a completely selfless love, the kind of love that God has for us. It is a love wholly focused on the good of the one to whom it is directed. It is not always a “touchy-feely” love in that it sometimes requires correction and chastening. It is the love of a Father for His child (Hebrews 12:4-11).

But this love comes from a pure heart, and is governed by a good conscience. Here is the focus of this article.

The conscience is a very important and powerful tool in our arsenal. It is the fountain of much pain and grief, but also of self-praise and feelings of self-worth. It is the source of our regrets in many cases, and of our feelings of guilt. No right thinking person is immune to its effects.

H.L. Menchen is quoted as saying “Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.” And it’s good to remember that Someone IS always looking, and that is God.

But can the conscience itself be a good guide to us? Some have made the statement, “Just let your conscience be your guide.” Or “As long as you follow your conscience, you’ll be OK.” The Scriptures take issue with these statements.

For instance, can an idolater’s conscience be an infallible guide to him? Will it lead him to salvation in Christ? There are stories told by survivors of suicide bomber attacks in Israel that tell of the person wearing the suicide vest filled with explosives and nails or nuts and bolts, designed to kill as many people as possible. It is said that they get this serene look of complete joy just as they push the plunger that detonates the bomb. Their conscience is clear; to them, they are doing right and will be rewarded for their deeds with paradise. Does that make them right?

There is an increasing number of people who think nothing of pairing off with their boyfriend or girlfriend and living together as long as it’s convenient, even having children together, and never getting married. If you think their conscience bothers them about it, just try to explain how they are doing wrong and see how long it takes them to “set you straight.” Their conscience isn’t bothered in many cases, but does this make them right?

If any group has been successful in convincing themselves and this nation that their way of life is perfectly fine, as an “alternative lifestyle,” it would have to be the homosexuals. Their conscience is perfectly at ease (for the most part) with their chosen way of life. Again, if you want to be “dressed down” and “enlightened” as to the new morality, just try to suggest that homosexuality is a sin and a degradation. Their conscience is their guide; does it make them right?

Of course this list of cases could go on for a long time, but let’s see what the Scripture has to say about all these, and more:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

None of these, regardless of how clear their consciences, will be included in the perfected kingdom of God. Of course the next verse says that some of the Christians at Corinth had been these things, but they had repented and been washed of their sins.

The conscience is not a sufficient guide to lead us to salvation. We will NOT be perfectly alright if we “just let our conscience be our guide.”

The conscience acts as a judge of our thoughts, words and actions. It judges us based on our STANDARD. Since the standard can be flawed, the conscience is not a good “guide” in and of itself.

So, if the conscience judges us, and it judges us based on our standard, why not make the standard it uses THE standard, that is, the word of God. Jesus said that His word will be our judge in the last day, the Day of Judgment (John 12:48). So, since while we are here in this world, our conscience is going to judge us anyway, why not have it judge us based on THAT standard?

Again, Paul said “the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience…” We are instructed in the word of God in order to have a “pure heart and a good conscience.” This means that the conscience can be changed!

Let’s use Paul as an example. In Acts 24:16 Paul said “...I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” Earlier he had made the statement “I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day” (Acts 23:1). But Paul had been a persecutor of the Church (Acts 22:4). What happened to Paul that made him change what his conscience felt?

He would later say to Timothy:

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:12-15).

Paul had come to know his actions were wrong before, and could here say he had been the “chief” of sinners. But God’s grace, through Christ Jesus, had come to Paul, and he had changed his standard. His conscience was now informed by the standard of the gospel of Christ Jesus, the Son of God.

But what could Paul do about all the wrong he had done before, even though at the time his conscience was clear? For that matter, what can you and I do about all that we’ve done wrong? We can’t just let it remain there; it’s sin, and it has to be removed or we will be condemned to hell.

To explain what happened, let’s look at some words from Peter in 1 Peter 3:21. Peter speaks of the Flood that destroyed the whole Earth in the days of Noah, and how that Noah and his family were saved from that destruction. He then makes this statement:

And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ… (1 Peter 3:21)

Peter says plainly that baptism saves us, not in removing dirt from the body, but because it is an appeal to God for a good conscience! When we obey the Lord’s commandment to believe in Him and be baptized (Mark 16:16), we are saved, and in doing so we appeal to God for a good conscience. Our old sins are taken away, and our conscience can be clear concerning all that we have done in the past.

This is exactly what Paul did when Ananias came to him in Damascus and said to him, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” This “calling on the name of the Lord” is referring to the appeal to God for a good conscience. We believe God, and obey His commands, our sins are washed away in baptism (because of the blood of Jesus Christ) and we then have a clean conscience. From that point on, we must strive to educate our conscience with the word of God, and live accordingly so that our conscience can remain at ease, or cause us discomfort when we do wrong, not according to our own standard, but the standard of the Living God. ~

By Roger Lindsey

(some material suggested by a lesson by David J. Riggs)
 

I liked the old paths, when
Moms were at home.
Dads were at work.
Brothers went into the army.
And sisters got married BEFORE having children!

Crime did not pay;
Hard work did;
And people knew the difference.

Moms could cook;
Dads would work;
Children would behave.

Husbands were loving;
Wives were supportive;
And children were polite.

Women wore the jewelry;
And Men wore the pants.
Women looked like ladies;
Men looked like gentlemen;
And children looked decent.

People loved the truth,
And hated a lie;
They came to church to get IN,
Not to get OUT!

Hymns sounded Godly;
Sermons sounded helpful;
Rejoicing sounded normal;
And crying sounded sincere.

Cursing was wicked;
Drugs were for illness;
And divorce was unthinkable.

The flag was honored;
America was beautiful;
And God was welcome!

We read the Bible in public;
Prayed in school;
And preached from house to house
To be called an American was worth dying for;
To be called a Christian was worth living for;
To be called a traitor was a shame!


Preachers preached because they had a message;
And Christians rejoiced because they had the VICTORY!
Preachers preached from the Bible;
Singers sang from the heart;
And sinners turned to the Lord to be SAVED!

A new birth meant a new life;
Salvation meant a changed life;
Following Christ led to eternal life.

Being a preacher meant you proclaimed the word of God;
Being an officer meant you would serve the Lord;
Being a Christian meant you would live for Jesus;
And being a sinner meant someone was praying for you!

Laws were based on the Bible;
Homes read the Bible;
And churches taught the Bible.

God was worshiped;
Christ was exalted;
And the Holy Spirit was respected..

Church was where you found Christians
on the Lord's day, rather than in the garden,
on the creek bank, on the golf course,
Or being entertained somewhere else.

I still like the old paths the best!

(Author unknown, but supposedly written by a retired preacher now living in Tennessee.)