How Do You Get a Good Conscience?

Considerable time, effort and money have gone into materials designed to answer the question: “Should Your Conscience Be Your Guide?” Pages in pamphlets and pulpit pounding proclamations have emphatically answered, “NO!”

I do not wish to sound argumentative, but let’s face it, your conscience IS your guide. That’s just how God designed us. So, the real question is, “Since the conscience is my internal moral guide, how can I make sure mine is a good, pure conscience?”

When comparing the old covenant with the new covenant, the author of Hebrews stated that the gifts and sacrifices offered under the Law of Moses could not “make the worshiper perfect (complete) in conscience” (9:9) (Note also that the Law was given by God and described as holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12).) He posed a question saying, if the old covenant could cleanse the flesh,

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 
—Hebrews 9:14

So, man needs outside help in the cleansing of his conscience, and that help comes in the sacrifice of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

Of course, not every soul on earth automatically gets a cleansed conscience. So, how is the distinction made? How do YOU obtain a cleansed conscience through Christ?

The Apostle Peter answers...

Baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. —1 Peter 3:21

Simply put, the believer appeals to God for a good (cleansed) conscience. His appeal is not made by crying out or praying some sort of man-devised statement, but rather, in baptism. (No explanation; let the text stand.)

The point is that when a believer is baptized into Christ he is actually asking God to bring about a change to his conscience; that part of the mind that deals with moral decisions.

Let’s take this thought a step further...

The Apostle Paul wrote about the gospel of Christ saying that it had been revealed to him through the Spirit of God. He then explained that the spirit of man knows the thoughts of a man. Likewise, the Spirit of God knows the mind of God. And…

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. 
—1 Corinthians 2:12

The connection I wish to make is that the mind and spirit are inseparable. In addition, the spirit of the believer is intimately related to the Spirit of God. Finally, the Apostle Peter instructed...

Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. —Acts 2:38

The final connection I wish to make is that the gift of the Holy Spirit and the appeal for a cleansed conscience both occur at a believer’s baptism into Christ. These scriptures suggest that, at least in part, the gift of the Holy Spirit involves the cleansing of the conscience.

The believer who does not have a cleansed conscience will simply not be able to avoid sin. We can overcome sin only with help from the Holy Spirit. 

So...How was your conscience cleansed?

Mark Stinnett

November 10, 2019