Having a good conscience; that whereas that, whereas they speak evil of you, as for evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation [conduct] in Christ – 1st Peter 3:16.

We all have a conscience, a sense of right and wrong, and an urge to do what is right. When one has no conscience, they will do anything and call it right.

Jesus came and died for our sins so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin (That He might present it to Himself as a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish – Ephesians 5:27). The ultimate purpose of Jesus’ love for the church is to present her to Himself as a chaste bridge. That of a husband illustrates Christ’s relationship to his bride, Christ’s church. Christ is called the Bridegroom, and His church is called the bride. Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify, cleanse, and glorify it.

Jesus did not die so that we can continue in sin, but to humble ourselves and submit ourselves to His teaching. Many take grace as a way to continue to sin, but grace keeps one from receiving God’s wrath. In the Old Testament, they took lambs, goats, and other animals to sacrifice for their sins, but when Jesus took His blood into the Holy of Holies animal sacrifices were no longer needed (How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot [blemish] to God purge [cleanse] your conscience from dead works to serve the living God – Hebrews 9:14).

The Eternal Spirit is the Holy Spirit; all three persons of the Trinity are involved in cleansing. “Cleanse Your Conscience” means repeat repentance for the same sin for months and years. The defilement is internal, not external. Jesus’ death has the power to purify a person’s mind and soul. “Dead Works” are the rituals of the Mosaic Law that could not give life.

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from past, present, and future sins, but this does not mean we continue in sin. Who you submit yourself to that’s who servant you will be (Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servant ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness – Romans 6:16)?

Let’s talk about six kinds of conscience (1) Awakened Conscience (And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst – John 8:9). This is when they brought the woman that was caught in adultery. They wanted to stone her to death, but when Jesus said” He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. After self-examining themselves they found themselves being honest to themselves that they too had sinned.

We all should be conscious as to whether or not we have sinned against God. Some of us are quick to talk about other people’s sins, but have you examined yourself? God said all have sinned and came short of the glory of God. As Christians, we should examine ourselves daily to see if we’ve sinned,

then quickly repent of that sin because we sin in thoughts and actions.

(2) Seared Conscience (Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron—1st Timothy 4:2).  Apostle Paul is speaking of predictions of apostasy that will befall the church. Many professing Christians have fallen into the doctrine of devils, which is the opposite of the doctrine of Christ. If we believe any other doctrine, we have been seduced by demonic spirits, which many have been influenced by.

These are demons expounding their doctrine, not directly but indirectly through human agents and ministers. Their consciences are seared with a hot iron and permanently defaced. The moral life of these hypocrites is scared by sin as they carry around the awareness of their guilt yet continue preaching to others. Christians must beware of the ministers they follow. Is that person teaching, preaching, and living what they teach? Do you see the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in them? If not, BEWARE!

(3) Purged Conscience (And herein [this being so] do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void [without] of offense toward God, and toward men – Act 24:16). I will not sin against God which would be an offense, nor will I do a crime against men by holding offenses against them is what he saying, I will not have resentment, displeasure, anger, attack, or seek to scare in any contest. Christians get angry with God when He does not answer their prayer as they thought He would. Many hold on to offenses against others and can’t see their behavior is keeping them from receiving what they prayed for. Sometimes we desire things God will not answer because it’s against His godly character or detrimental to our well-being.

As Christians, we should be careful of the things we allow in our ear and eye gates, what we see and hear can influence us to do the opposite of what God’s Word instructs us to do as Christians. Our conscience can be defiled by what we see and hear. We think about it, then we carry out the actions,

(4) Pure Conscience (Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things – Philippians 4:8). Keeping our focus on God’s Word will keep our minds from being bombarded with evil words and actions that are going on in the world. You can’t watch television unless advertisements influence you to think of yourself. Sexual advertisement is everything opposite of God’s Word. If we think about what we see and hear we will be far from God and His Word.

Continuing to think about things that hurt us or make us angry will keep our conscience from being pure. Thoughts that make us sad will keep us in prison in our minds, and our conscience will not be pure. Face reality, but don’t allow reality to imprison you.

(5) Weak Conscience – (But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak – 1st Corinthians 8:9). Liberty means freedom of choice or right to decide. The availability of an option does not necessitate its exercise, especially when love and concern for someone else becomes a factor. The most dangerous aspect of an unstrained approach to Christian liberty is the possibility of causing sin in the weaker Christian or causing one to not receive salvation because of our lifestyle. When we cause someone else to stumble the Lord holds us responsible for their sin (But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ – 1st Corinthians 8:12).

When we talk about our sisters and brethren, we’re talking about Christ. When we mistreat others, we are mistreating Christ. Christians are the body of Christ and when we bite and devour each other the Bible says we will be consumed by one another.

(6) Defiled Conscience (Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure: but even their mind and conscience is defiled – Titus 1:15). False teachers in Crete had identified certain foods and practices as defiled when in reality it was their minds that were defiled and nonbelieving. We’re not defiled by what we eat but by what we allow to come into and out of our hearts and minds. Sin starts in the mind and then goes to the heart, as we continue to think about things and actions that are opposite of the Word of God eventually, the thought and action will be carried out.

As Christians, God’s written Word has given us a guideline, if we want to enter into heaven, we must follow the guidelines, partial Christianity will not get you in! Read the Bible and follow the instructions if you want to bypass hell and go to heaven. We will not enter in by any other means but by the written Scriptures and applying them to our lives.