…what we learn from the Bible about our “conscience”
Confident and Bold
Maintaining a good conscience makes us confident and bold when we talk to God. What a great way to live – living with confidence. We can take care of our conscience by keeping up-to-date with God about our sins and failures, and look to Him daily.
1 John 3:21
“Beloved, if our heart does not convict us [of guilt], we have confidence [complete assurance and boldness] before God”
Confession of Sin
Part of my daily routine with my soul: is to not let sins accumulate and ruin my relationship with God. Unconfessed sin blocks prayers and ruins relating with Holy God. Confession of sin is part of keeping a well-guarded soul.
I sin. We all sin. But I don’t wallow like a pig in the mud (mirriam-webster) nor accept sin as okay (Jude 1:4). I don’t accept my failures as “who I am”. I am not an amalgamation of all the sins of my past.
I am forgiven of all that. And I press-on to be more like Christ. Each day is a new beginning (Lamentations 3:22-24).
They are new every morning;
Great and beyond measure
is Your faithfulness.
Philippians 3:13-14
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I am what I am because God has been at work in me – continually [Luke 6:21; Romans 3:24; Romans 5:2; 1 Corinthians 15:10]. How’s it going with you and God?
I am what I am,
and His grace toward me
was not without effect.
The Conscience in our Soul
God does not accuse like this
The “conscience” is part of “our heart”, the place in our soul that judges our self. The soul is where “we live and move and have our being” in Christ (Acts 17:28) if we are believers. God prompts our conscience there continually (non-believers also).
←PIC: Some see pointing fingers condemning them, but God gently corrects us.
1 Peter 3:16
“see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, so that every time you are slandered or falsely accused, those who attack or disparage your good behavior in Christ will be shamed [by their own words].”
Our conscience is that “sense of right and wrong”, that helps us make “moral choices“. God made us that way from birth.
Written inside our brain, the part called our conscience, are “the essential requirements of the Law“. And, with that, our conscience either defends what we choose to do, or, condemns us because it goes against what we instinctively know is wrong (Romans 2:14-16).
If we persist and persist with going against our conscience, sinning willfully – again and again and again, God eventually gives you a free rein, and your conscience is seared and not working. That’s not a good place to be.
What the conscience is & does
- bears witness – stating in one’s mind the right and wrong of things we do (Romans 2:15; Romans 9:1)
- thoughts alternately are either “accusing or perhaps defending” one’s self (Romans 2:15)
- is “enlightened and prompted by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:1). The Spirit is active in unbelievers as well as believers – convicting them of sin.
- God works in all our consciences: “that which is known about God is evident within them [in their inner consciousness], for God made it evident to them” (Romans 1:18-19).
- gives us innate principles, so that we know without being told “what is right before God” (Romans 13:5).
- gives us “moral courage and personal integrity” (Hebrews 13:18) if we maintain “a clear conscience before God and before men” (Acts 24:16).
- a clear conscience is part of the goal of instruction in preaching and teaching – love for others, which comes “from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5).
Romans 9:1
“I am telling the truth
in Christ, I am not lying,
my conscience testifies
with me
[enlightened and prompted]
by the Holy Spirit”
Gossip? Or Pray and Help
The Bible encourages us to pray for each other, not gossip about other’s sins. Help those in sin, with care not to fall into sin yourself (Galatians 6:1; 2 Peter 3:17).
Hebrews 13:18
Keep praying for us,
for we are convinced that
we have a good conscience,
seeking to conduct ourselves honorably
[that is, with moral courage
and personal integrity]
in all things.
List of Verses About Our Conscience
_________________________
1 Peter 3:16; 1 John 3:21; Romans 2:14-16; Romans 9:1; Romans 13:5
1 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:15; 2 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 5:11
1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:19; 1 Timothy 3:9
1 Corinthians 8:7; 1 Corinthians 8:10; 1 Corinthians 8:12
1 Corinthians 10:25; 1 Corinthians 10:27; 1 Corinthians 10:28-29
2 Corinthians 1:12; 2 Timothy 1:3; Hebrews 9:14
Hebrews 13:18; 1 Peter 2:19; 1 John 3:20
Acts 23:1; Acts 24:16; Job 27:6; Malachi 2:16
Genesis 20:6; 1 Samuel 24:5; 1 Samuel 25:31
1 Timothy 1:5
But the goal of our instruction is love [which springs] from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Acts 24:16
In view of this, I also do my best and strive always to have a clear conscience before God and before men.
Hebrews 13:18
Keep praying for us, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience, seeking to conduct ourselves honorably [that is, with moral courage and personal integrity] in all things.
FOR MORE:
The non-stop work of God inside you and me
Legally Damned – Legally Forgiven
What God does to prepare you for Heaven
About past sins and being forgiven now
Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation
Read the series on Every believer’s new life in Christ, from Ephesians 1. We are made new creatures, given new life in Christ – when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
- Growing into our natural new life in Christ
- Every believer’s new life in Christ [Part One]
- Explaining the Basic Christian Experience [Part Two]
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