Sermon # 18 A Good Conscience Series

We read in Acts 23:1, “And looking intently at the council, Paul said, "Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day."(ESV)

As the apostle Paul stood on trial before the council of religious leaders, he bravely testified that he had lived his life before God with all good conscience. These leaders who tried Paul, were those who adhered to the Law of Moses meticulously, who were bound by religious traditions, but in reality had no personal relationship with God. No wonder then, that Jesus when He was here on earth, was indignant with these religious leaders, and referred to them as white-washed tombs. Outwardly they were doing it all right, but inside they were filled with evil and sin. When Paul was confronted by these leaders, whose conscience was actually defiled, he courageously announced that his conscience was clear and untainted before God. Paul understood these religious leaders better than anyone else as he himself as a Pharisee had once been a part of this group before He met the Lord.

We have looked at our conscience as a good thing God has placed inside of us, which serves as an internal audit to help us assess ourselves and live right. That is also the reason why when someone behaves unjustly, we refer to them as those who act against their conscience or have no conscience at all. Therefore, if we claim to have a good conscience, it would mean that all of our words, thoughts and actions that we engage in all through the week seen and unseen, are totally pleasing to God, and have the Lord’s approval. Our desire must be to strive to lead lives that are transparent which the Lord favors and approves of, so that we can stand before Him with a clean conscience. The evil one’s crafty scheme is to trap us into sin, and then accuse us of wrong doing and in order to be overcomers we need God’s grace and strength, for only those who are victorious can stand before God with a good conscience. We must be determined to do nothing that would displease or dishonor the Lord in any way.

Paul’s testimony

In Acts 22:3 we read, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today.” (GNB)

In Acts 22:4, we read, “And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.” (NLT)

This is the testimony of Paul that he shared with the members of the council. Paul, (who was earlier named Saul), was a religious Jew who underwent strict religious training and instruction in the Law of Moses under Gamaliel. Not only was he zealous about the traditions of his fathers, he was antagonistic to Jesus and his teachings and his only goal was to arrest, persecute and put to death those who followed Jesus and His Way. Strange as it may seem, Paul did not think it wrong to even kill those who believed in Jesus, though he believed in the Law of Moses which forbid murder, because Paul believed that he was doing God a favor by eradicating those who believed in Jesus. All of what Paul did, he did with a good conscience, in ignorance, not realizing he was doing wrong, because he believed with all his heart on what he had been taught.

Traditions that bind us today

Let us list some of the traditions that people follow today, all of which is done with a good conscience but do need to be scrutinized to see if they are in keeping with God and His word. Many people observe lent, they fast for 40 days in a year, abstain from meat, drinking alcohol and try not to indulge in any sinful habits for that period of time. Some observe this strictly with the anticipation that by so doing, they can please God somehow, and can thereby receive favors from God. There are those who believe that irrespective of how they earn their money, if they go to church, and give their tithes to God regularly, He will be pleased with them. Many others have been taught that by repeating the Lord’s Prayer for a certain number of time or certain phrases repeatedly, they will be blessed by God.

There is another tradition followed by many on what is called ‘Palm Sunday’. If we recall that day Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowds followed him shouting ‘hosanna to the Son of David’ casting their garments and palm branches before Jesus. But sadly it was the same people who when Jesus stood trial before Pilate, shouted along with the Pharisees that Jesus be crucified. Not understanding the significance of what Jesus really did, many today observe Palm Sunday and then take the palms that are distributed, make a cross out of it and fix it on their door frames with the hope that this palm cross will ward off all attacks from the evil one. Some have the habit of keeping their Bibles next to their pillow when they sleep, hoping that evil spirits will be kept at bay.