THE PROTECTION OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE
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According to 1 Timothy1:19
19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
two thing you rout have
I to keep from being shipwrecked in the Christian life: faith and a good conscience.
Initially, the apostle Paul requested Timothy so that this young follower might "wage the good warfare" (v. 1Timothy 1:18
18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
If we look briefly at the setting for these words, we can understand why a clear conscience is so important in our spiritual lives. Paul told Timothy to be on his spiritual guard. Why? Because Timothy was serving the Lord in a hotbed of pagan religion and demon activity, the great city of Ephesus. Even the church at Ephesus was being infiltrated by false teachings.
If Timothy was going to fight a good spiritual war, he needed first to hold on to "faith,» which in this setting probably refers to the faith, the truth of the gospel, as opposed to false teachings like those Paul refers to earlier in the chapter.
The Importance of a Clear Conscience
Timothy also needed a good conscience to fight a good spiritual war. The spiritual battle at the end of the twentieth century remains the same: along with faith we need a good conscience to encounter temptation.
The word conscience takes in a lot of territory in the New Testament, but I want to focus on one aspect that I believe is critical to victory over the enemy: the need to keep our conscience clear.
Paul himself said he worked hard to keep his conscience clear of any offense toward God and toward others
16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
How important is a good conscience?
Paul listed it in 1 Timothy 1:5
5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
as one essential for effective ministry. That, plus the discipline inflicted on Hymenaeus and Alexander for abandoning their consciences along with their faith (v. 20), suggests that it's crucial.
20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Paul is saying, in effect, that one of the several errors these men were propagating was that it's not important for believers to maintain a good conscience.
For this they were turned over to demons in a step of drastic church discipline designed to bring about their repentance.
Remember, these men were believers. You don't have to turn unbelievers over to Satan. They're already his. I can't see any believer saying that faith isn't important. But I can see believers saying that clearing your conscience isn't important, because it's a challenging thing to do.
The Other Side of the Coin
Why is that? First, though we may be willing to forgive a person who hurts us if he or she comes to us asking our forgiveness and seeking to make things right, many times that never happens. The other person inflicts a wound on us and never does anything about it. Second, we may hurt someone else and never deal with it ourselves. Maintaining a clear conscience demands that we pay attention to each situation. This is the other side of the coin of bitterness and unforgiveness, discussed in the previous chapter.
Yes, though the offense is against us, and the offender does not confess the wrong or ask forgiveness, we may forgive the per-son-and perhaps ask the person for forgiveness as well if we have created hurt in our response. In forgiving my dad and asking him to forgive me, even though Dad had not asked me to forgive him, I received a clear conscience, as did he, calling our subsequent time together "the best week of my life."
FREEDOM FOR THE OFFENDED
That is the other wonderful thing that happens when we clear our conscience. When we seek forgiveness for the hurt we have caused others, we free them from the bitterness they hold toward us.
By allowing others the opportunity to release their bitterness, we may even be helping to remove an excuse from their lives for the enemy to torment them.
That's why I ask my people to list those who have something against them. Until they have done this, they don't have a clear conscience. I'm not talking about endless introspection or public airing all their dirty laundry. That's not the idea at all. There are things in all of our lives that need to be kept among the people involved. What happened is not everyone else's business.
The guideline I use is that the scope of the forgiveness need be no greater than the scope of the offense. If we share things about ourselves with people who are not part of the problem or the solution, we may live to regret it.
How to Clear Up Old Offenses
So I'm very careful here, because the people who come to my office often carry extremely heavy baggage from the past. It's like a time bomb hidden in a suitcase on an airplane. If that thing goes off, it's going to hurt an awful lot of innocent people. We're only dealing here with people with whom we have yet to make things right.
Even in these cases, though, there are times when it's the better part of wisdom to leave some things unsaid. In other words, we don't have a right to spill out all of our confessions if it wreak needless pain and havoc in someone else's life. I tell the people I'm counseling, "If there are people from your past you need to forgive, God is big enough to bring them back into your life."
Prayed and realized that this was how God had let forgiveness take place. He was willing to confess his wrongful past if necessary, but in that instance it would not have been appropriate. He accepted God's provision, becoming free of the responsibility to share their past with anyone else. To go on from there and insist on confessing this sin regardless of what the friend or his wife thought would have been very damaging. God knew he was willing to make it right, and he was able to clear his conscience.
As a pastor, I once argued with a fellow pastor about a particular issue. He made me mad and I said some pretty mean things to him. I was clearly in the wrong. As I was dealing with my bitterness and clearing my conscience, the Holy Spirit brought this incident to mind.
when you purpose in your heart to get right with somebody, you'd better duck because I'm going to bring him back into your life if it's important, and you need to be ready to act." When God provides you such an opportunity, if the time is right and privacy between you and the other person exists, by all means sit down and seek his or her forgiveness.
PURE LOVE COMES FROM A PURE HEART
If we don't keep our conscience clear, the enemy gains an advantage over us. That seems clear in the judgment inflicted on Hymenaeus and Alexander in 1 Timothy 1:19-20.
A clear conscience before God is absolutely essential for us as Christians. In fact, Paul wrote that the "end of the commandment"-that is,
the purpose of ministry or the purpose of our teaching- is love that flows
5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Do you want God's love to flow out of you to others? Then a clear conscience is one of the three essentials Paul mentions. I see an interesting progression here.
A pure heart looks at the present, a clear conscience at the past, and genuine faith at the future. If your heart is pure and the past is taken care of, you can look to the future with assurance.
What would you think if you got into a car with me and I started driving down a busy street looking only in the rearview mirror? After you swallowed the lump in your throat, you'd probably say, "you're looking the wrong way!"
You're right; I can't go forward looking backward, and neither can you. But that's just where Satan wants us to look. Paul wrote that we should let go of the past (Philippians 3:13
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
You don't have to pretend it didn't happen. Just let it go.
The enemy wants you to dig up your past. But when you dig up something dead, guess what? It stinks. God says the past is buried and He will never bring it up again. It's under the blood of Christ.
When Paul says he forgot "those things which are behind," he didn't mean he tried to act as if the past never happened. The word means "to disregard the significance" of it. He put it away and moved on. When you let go of the past, you are free to reach out with both hands to receive what God has for you now. With a clear conscience you can look people in the eye, then go out and do great damage to Satan and his kingdom.
The Problem of Guilt
Whenever I talk about having a clear conscience and not allowing the enemy to torment us with the past, this question usually comes up:
"What do you do when you have terrible memories you just can't handle?" Excellent question. All of us suffer from the consequences of our sin, even after we're cleansed of that sin. One of sin's consequences is the scar left by painful memories. Another name for this is guilt.
Satan loves to remind us of the things we've done so he can keep us in bondage to guilt. "Remember that awful thing you did? How can God use a person like you?"
SWEEPING UNDER THE RUG ONLY CREATES A TRIPPING HAZARD
So we have these memories of things that we can't deny doing. But what do we usually tell people who are struggling with the guilt of past sins? Forget it, don't think about it.
"Does it help to try and forget it?"
"No, it makes it worse. The more I try not to think about it, the more I think about it."
They're right. Have you ever tried not to think of something? It doesn't work. We saw above that putting the past behind you doesn't mean trying to forget it or pretend it never happened.
OUR MEMORY IS A BLESSING
I encourage people to deal with guilt this way. First, I ask them, "Who was in charge of your life when you made that wrong decision?"
"I was."
"Then, instead of trying to forget or suppress the memory of that sin, do this. Whenever the enemy brings it to mind to accuse you, face it and say, 'God, thank You for allowing me to remember what happens when I ran my life. I want to rededicate my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I want Him to sit on the throne of my life, because I know that when He runs my life, I won't do those kinds of things.'»
If guilt is a problem for you, I urge you to follow that simple formula. It's not a magic formula, nor is it automatic-but it can be very freeing. The enemy comes with these intruding thoughts to drive a wedge between you and God, to keep you from rededicating your life to God.
The only way I know to stop these thoughts is to thank God for the memory and dedicate yourself afresh to Him. Many people have told me that after a period of doing this, the accusing thoughts stopped.
I’M NOT THE PERSON I USED TO BE
By the way, I'm not the first person to use this idea. I believe this is precisely what Paul did when Satan reminded him of his dark past.
And did Paul ever have a past? Think about the memories he had to deal with. He spent his time before conversion rounding up Christians and having them put to death (Acts 22:4
4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
I can imagine him going somewhere to preach and having some believer say, "Oh yes, I know who you are. You're the one responsible for my grandmother's death." Paul never forgot what he did to the church, but look at how he handled those memories. We have at least three examples in his writings in
9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
and 1 Timothy 1:12-15
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
15 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.
Turn to each of those texts and you'll see that while Paul frankly acknowledges his past actions, he turns those painful memories into occasions of praise and thanksgiving to God for the abundant grace He bestowed on Paul. We would do well to imitate the apostle's example.
Having a Clear Conscience
Having a conscience free from guilt means clearing all offenses against others and, where possible, seeking forgiveness and restitution.
God is involved in this process, as shown below.
1. Would you be on that list if someone you know was making a list of people who had hurt them and never asked their forgiveness? Pray, asking God to reveal anyone who might feel you hurt them
2. List all the people God brings to your mind whom you have offended and have not sought forgiveness from.
3. Go over your list with a mature Christian and identify the primary offense against each person on that list. If you need to ask God's forgiveness for these offenses, do so now. It's always the right time to get right with God.
4. Rule out those people in whose lives your reappearance now would cause serious difficulty; for example, an old girlfriend who is now
married.
5. Contact those individuals by telephone if possible, and be brief. Tell the particular person that as you have been looking back over your life, you realize that you failed him in way, naming the offense. Then ask for forgiveness.
6. Make restitution where needed.
7. If certain people have benefited you, but you've never shown appreciation, express to them gratitude for what you have gained.
If you have a problem with being grateful, send thank-you notes to people who have benefited you, sharing how God has used them to build, strengthen, or challenge you.
8. Ask God to take back all ground given to Satan because you have purposed to contact these people and make things right in your heart.