A conscience void of offence

Acts 24:16

And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

Paul the apostle suffered much for our Lord. But in and through his sufferings he was given the opportunity to stand before kings. The Lord had said that he would bear His name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel, and that he would suffer great things for His name’s sake. This he did, and was constantly persecuted by his own people, and set at odds against his own countrymen. They accused him unrelentingly of many things, most of which were fallacious and spurious claims. But through all of this, Paul maintained a pure conscience. He maintained a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

Void of offense! He had to have a pure conscience. For he was standing before rulers frequently to answer for his faith, and was continuously defending the truth of Christ. How could it be effectively done any other way than with a conscience void of offense? An offended conscious is weak, vulnerable, and irritable. It does not think clearly, will not rest, and cannot be appeased. It can only be appeased through doing that which is right, and eschewing that which is wrong. It must be truthful; it must be righteous; it must be without blame. And this is necessary if we shall work for Christ. If we shall do anything for our Savior, it must be done with a clean conscience toward God and toward man.

Beloved, now is the time that our hearts should be sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies must be washed with pure water. An evil conscience is a great hinderance. It is a barrier and a barricade to the work of God. It is a stint to our Christian lives. It stultifies the progress of our Christian walk. It is an inhibitor. It will keep us from God’s blessing. God cannot use a polluted and filthy vessel. Let us strive to make it all clean. Let it be washed with pure water! The water of God’s Word and true, genuine confession of our sins. For if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins! What a glorious promise. Cleanse the conscience at once so that it may be restored to the former state of purity and tenderness, and that our sensitivity to the Lord may not be calloused and lost. Let us seek to have a conscience that is in all ways void of offense!

“Father, we praise you that we have the freedom to get all sins forgiven through Christ. If our conscience has been offended, help us, Lord, to get it made right immediately that our conscience may not be further injured. May it be devoid of all offenses. And may it be the desire of our lives to maintain a pure and holy and clean conscience in all our dealings. May our thoughts, words, and actions be conducive to a clean conscience. For we want to hear from Thee. May nothing be a hindrance. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”