1 John 3:21-22, Holman Christian Standard Bible

“Dear friends, if our conscience doesn’t condemn us, we have confidence before God, and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight.”

Recently, in a detective television show my husband and I were watching, one character stated, “Our conscience is our foundation, and if our conscience is contaminated, it will destroy everything.”

This statement reminded me of the Word of God in 1 John 3:18-22 (HSCB), which speaks about the conscience of man: “Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action. This is how we will know we belong to the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence, even if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience, and He knows all things. Dear friends, if our conscience doesn’t condemn us, we have confidence before God, and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight.”

Thank You, Jesus! Whoever lives according to the knowledge and standard of this world may treat their conscience as their foundation. However, whoever lives in God has this confidence: God is greater than our conscience! Instead of judging ourselves with our own minds, with uncertain and confusing measurements, and using this sinking platform as our foundation, we can have a better foundation, the best and perfect foundation, who is the Word, the Truth, Jesus Himself.

But I do agree with the second part of that statement: if our conscience is contaminated, it will destroy everything. If a conscience has no truth, no clear line between good and evil, no firm moral law, and no commands of God, then who could find a stain in the darkness?

“Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.” (Ephesians 4:18, NLT)

A contaminated conscience is the same as a mind that is full of darkness. A person who is in this state cannot stand with confidence before God, nor can they understand His hope. “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5, NKJV) Moreover, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:19-21, NKJV)

Let’s end with this question: are you standing in the light, on the firm foundation of Christ, with a conscience that has no condemnation?