“This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” 1 Timothy 1:18-20 ESV
Paul charges his spiritual son, Timothy, to hold on to his faith in Christ and a good conscience.
A good conscience is a conscience that flows with the Spirit of God.
When we plan or think to sin, our “good conscience” says, just like the Holy Spirit, “Run away! That is a sin against your God!”
A person may have faith in God but if he, like Hymenaeus and Alexander, rejects his conscience, his life testifies on him saying, “His faith is dead.”
He goes to church, raises his hands ti worship but sleeps with his girlfriend(s).
How do we reject our conscience?
Simple!
We reject our conscience when we keep ignoring it and follow our fleshly desires and lusts! And guess what will happen to our conscience?
It will be seared! Callous! We lust, we feel nothing! We steal, we feel nothing! We lie, we feel nothing! We kill (or “hate a brother”), we feel absolutely nothing!
And when we stop feeling bad about our sin, we think God is agreeing with us, lowering His standards to match ours.
God forbids this happens to any of us!
Let’s hold to our good faith but we also need to hold on to our good conscience that helps us align our lives to the word of God.
Authentic, genuine and daily repentance of our sins helps us to do both! ///