In All Good Conscience

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

IN ALL GOOD CONSCIENCE

Acts 23:1-5

23:1 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!" 4 Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?" 5 Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'"

NIV

Paul makes a very bold statement about fulfilling his duty to God in all good conscience to this day. What we know about Paul as a Jew is clear. He testified that he was a Jew of Jews, a Pharisee of Pharisees, from the tribe of Benjamin and that he was a zealot in regard to Judaism. In all good conscience, he obeyed God and even spent much effort in the persecution of the people of the Way. He did not say that he fulfilled the law, that he was perfect in his obedience to the law, but only that he fulfilled his duty to God in all good conscience in regard to the law. Now as a Christian, as one who had an encounter with Jesus, he has a clear conscience in regard to fulfilling his duty to God. What does it mean to have a clear conscience or fulfilling our duty to God in all good conscience to this day? Since we have been Christians, however that happened, as each of us may well have different experiences to remember when we first made that choice personally to follow Jesus. Some of us were raised in a Christian family, but that did not make us Christians, for, at some point in our lives, we have to make that personal choice. Others of us lived as sinners in our earlier years and at some point in our lives, we encountered Jesus, and changed the course of our lives, deciding to follow Jesus. Still, others, may not have encountered Jesus until the later years of life. However, the point is still the same, how do we fulfill our duty to God in all good conscience to this day? What we do know is that without faith it is impossible to please the Lord. We know that great faith chapter 11 of Hebrews and all those men of old were commended because of their faith. They then fulfilled their duty to God in all good conscience, and that leads us to believe that not one ounce of good deeds has anything to do with fulfilling our duty to God. If that were the case, how could we know how many good deeds it takes to fulfill our duty to God in all good conscience? However many good things we have done and will do, that may never be enough, and therefore we would never be able to say that we have fulfilled our duty to God, much less in all good conscience. That is how those who practice Islam live, never knowing if they did enough, and then God makes the judgment anyway, no matter how much they did. No, the only way to please God is through faith in Jesus Christ. We know from Peter’s letter that God is not slow in keeping his promise, that it is his desire that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That is everyone should have a change in their mind, change in their thinking, to come to faith in Jesus Christ. If then we have faith, we have fulfilled our duty to God in all good conscience. Now, that also means that we do whatever God directs us to do, whatever that is, which is simply following Jesus, being his disciple, and acting in accordance with our faith. However, it always comes done to faith so we can fulfill our duty to God in all good conscience.