HAVING A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
Conscience is like a window that let's in the light. When the window becomes soiled, the light gradually becomes darkness.
We all have an innate sense of morality and ethics. This is often referred to as conscience, and it can be found in all cultures. This inner sense of right and wrong, as well as a fear of judgment and sin, leads us to attempt to appease God.
Paul says, even those who have not heard the gospel, have this innate sense of morality,
“So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel” (Romans 2:15-16)
Our conscience acts as an internal judge, accusing and condemning when we do wrong and approving and commending when we do right. The level of sensitivity of our conscience depends on our knowledge and understanding of right and wrong. Those who have a deeper understanding of God's word have a more sensitive conscience.
But the sensitivity of our consciences can be reduced or hardened when we repeatedly commit sin, such that over time we become less sensitive to the sinfulness of sin. Paul says, when we reach this state, then our conscience has been “seared like scar tissue” (1 Timothy 4:2). This is akin to how leprosy can destroy nerve fibers and cause injury without the person realizing it. As a result, the "sin sensitivity" of one's conscience can vary from person to person, as it can be corrupted through the actions of the individual. So we hear people often repeat the phrase, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”
We all desire to have a “clear conscience”. To have a "clear conscience" does not imply that I have never sinned or that I do not commit sins. Instead, it means that my primary aim and motivation in life is to obey and please God. To this end, whenever I commit a sin, I immediately acknowledge it as such and confess it to God for forgiveness.
So, in the Scriptures, we hear Paul say,
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate (Romans 7:15).
We would expect Paul to be filled with guilt, or have his conscience seared with a hot iron because he repeatedly failed to do what is right. Instead, he says,
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit (Romans 9:1)
Why is that so?
It is because when he falls, he does not pretend he has not fallen. He does not hide his sin, and push that others be punished for the same sin he is committing (John 8:3). Instead, he quickly comes before God’s throne of grace so that he would obtain mercy.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
David understood that a seared conscience can affect his walk with God, and render him ineffective in God’s kingdom and on the spiritual battlefield. So, he calls on God Himself to search him, and search him thoroughly, till every point of his being is known, and read, and understood,
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)
He knew the dangers unconfessed sins pose to the believer,
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:13)
Let us pray with the same honesty and humility as David, recognizing that true salvation can only be found by openly confessing and turning away from our sins. May we also desire this kind of self-reflection, as it is essential to identify and remove any sin that may be present in our hearts.
Think and be careful what thou art within,
For there is sin in the desire of sin:
Think and be thankful, in a different case,
For there is grace in the desire of grace.
--John Byron, 1691-1763.