“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” 1 Timothy 1:5
Blessed be God for that inner provision, and mechanism, of the Spirit by which God gives to man to realize that first, there is a Creator and a Redeemer, but also, that man is not. Man is a sinner, born with a nature that is in opposition to God. Praise God for the dissonance, that awareness that one is not at peace with God, because there is some thing, some idea, action, or attitude that stands in the way of man walking with God, and having communion with God. This “provision” of God is called the conscience. When it has not been so marred and scarred by the effects of sin, the conscience is the means by which God convicts and convinces man of what is right and wrong. Even without a knowledge of the Scriptures, there is that “pull,” that means by which God brings man to a knowledge of his lost condition. With the knowledge of the Scriptures, the power of the working of the conscience is greater, especially as the Holy Spirit takes the word of God and convicts man of his sin, who is in opposition to that word. A bad conscience is an act or attitude of defiance of God and the knowledge of Him. It is a refusal to acknowledge what is true, good, and holy. A good conscience is one where, in attitude and action, there is an alignment with Christ according to the truth, and the submission to His will. The confirmation of a good conscience is the peace that God gives, that settled calm of spirit and soul, resulting in confidence before God, a holy boldness in entering into the presence of God to worship, and the strengthened resolve to follow Christ by the Spirit. How then does one have a good conscience before God?
First of all, there has to be a knowledge of the basis of a good conscience, because sin as a principle and action, is not just the only issue. When Christ gave his life on Calvary, and shed His precious blood, He accomplished a perfect work before the Father whereby all sin could be forgiven, washed away, and remembered no more. Not only did His precious blood deal with the entirety of sins, but with every individual sin. In the life of the believer, who has been brought by the Spirit to the new birth, there has been a washing away of all sins, the believer having been made just and holy before God. However, in the experience and daily walk of the believer, individual sins are a real issue. Though the believer has been fully forgiven in Christ, all sins washed away, with regard to his eternal state or position IN Christ, there must be a referring to the blood of Christ for current, or ongoing, cleansing from sin, so as to have a good conscience before God. How can this be? How can an imperfect believer, obtain a good conscience before God, believing and knowing that his sins are forgiven in their entirety, and yet not be dominated by the fact that he is still a sinner, though saved? The answer lies in the washing of feet, and the “throughness” of the power of Christ’s work by the Spirit. What do we mean by this?
In God’s dealings with Israel, He spoke to them of “throughly” amending your ways and doings, (Jer. 7:3,5) then blessing would follow. When David wrote Psalm 51 concerning the confession of his sin, his prayer to God was: “Wash me “throughly” from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” (v.2) God deals with us when we are willing in humility to let Him deal with the entirety of our sin at any point in time. The evidence of a good conscience is the willingness for Jesus to reveal specific sins, then receiving repentance from them. Jesus must wash our “feet” if we are to be completely clean.
Dear Father, Wash us throughly today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.