The Word That Leads to a Good Conscience

This past Sunday Pastor Jason wrapped up 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus by focusing on a “good conscience.” Because of our struggle with sin, every person is subject to a guilty conscience and the world offers 3 options for ridding ourselves of a guilty conscience: 1) hide our sin and pretend it didn’t happen, 2) shift the blame to someone else, or 3) change God’s moral law.

 

In 1 Timothy 1:5, Paul charged the church to walk in love that comes from a good conscience. We looked at Paul’s sinful past where he “ravaged" the church of Jesus by dragging men and women form their homes to be put to death. If anyone had a guilty conscience to overcome, it was Paul. He even calls himself the worst sinner (1 Timothy 1:15-16). From Paul’s own example, we see that walking in a good conscience can only come from being cleansed and set free by the mercy and grace found in the Gospel. God’s mercy redirected the punishment we deserved onto Jesus and His grace gives us what don’t deserve, a clean conscience. We challenged ourselves to submit our guilty consciences to the truth of the Gospel that Jesus saves us from our sins and completely cleanses those who believe (1 John 1:9).

Pastor Jason ended the sermon by challenging us with these questions: Are there things or people from your past that still haunt you? Do you ever tell yourself, “If the people in my life today knew the things I did in my past, they wouldn’t love me or treat me the same.” Romans 8:1 reminds us that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Do you really believe the Gospel?