“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.
Whereas the object and purpose of our instruction and charge is love, which springs from a pure heart and a good (clear) conscience and sincere (unfeigned) faith. 6 But certain individuals have missed the mark on this very matter [and] have wandered away into vain arguments and discussions and purposeless talk. 7 They are ambitious to be doctors of the Law (teachers of the Mosaic ritual), but they have no understanding either of the words and terms they use or of the subjects about which they make [such] dogmatic assertions. 8 Now we recognize and know that the Law is good if anyone uses it lawfully [for the purpose for which it was designed] 1 Timothy 1:5-8 AMP
As we grow in God and the knowledge of His word, we also grow in the love of God. Genuine love springs from a heart that is pure, a conscience that is clear, and faith that is real. Before sin came into the earth, man had unbroken fellowship with God Almighty. Man’s heart was pure and righteous and there was nothing to separate him and God. However, after the fall, Adam was filled with guilt and shame and felt unable and unworthy to be in God’s presence, and so he ran away and hid from God. Ever since that time God has endeavored to bring man back into His presence. Jesus died so that sin, with its accompanying guilt and shame, could be washed away in His blood and man could once more be dressed in robes of righteousness, having a good, clear conscience, and once more fellowship with God, Himself.
Some people completely miss the point of the Law. The Law was given to make man aware, not only of what God expected of him, but also that he could not keep the whole Law and needed a Savior. Some people spend so much time arguing about the Law that they forget to keep it themselves. The Law is not about petty rules and regulations; it is about loving God, loving your neighbor, and being kind and merciful.
When Gentiles who have not the [divine] Law do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, since they do not have the Law. 15 They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there, with which their consciences (sense of right and wrong) also bear witness; and their [moral] decisions (their arguments of reason, their condemning or approving thoughts) will accuse or perhaps defend and excuse [them] 16 On that day when, as my Gospel proclaims, God by Jesus Christ will judge men in regard to the things which they conceal (their hidden thoughts). Romans 2:14-16 AMP
When God created man, He created him with a conscience. One of the things that sets man aside from all other creatures is his conscience. The fact that man has a conscience, that is disturbed when he does wrong and at peace when he does right, is one huge reason to doubt the theory of evolution. The essential requirements of God’s law are written in every man’s heart no matter what country he lives in, what language he speaks, and what he has been taught about God. His own conscience alerts him not only to God’s principles, but to the very reality of the existence of God.
In John 8:1-9, when the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery, trying to trip Him up with the Law so that they could accuse Him of something and arrest Him, Jesus did not argue over the Law. He simply directed them back to their own consciences, to do what their heart would let them do. Of course, they could not deny their own short-comings and they dropped their stones, hung their heads, and walked away. Verse 9 (AMP) says that, “They listened to Him, and then they began going out, conscience-stricken, one by one, from the oldest down to the last one of them, till Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing there before Him in the center of the court.”
To the pure [in heart and conscience] all things are pure, but to the defiled and corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are defiled and polluted. Titus 1:15 AMP
When your heart is pure, your conscience is clear and clean. Because you have pure motives, you expect that other people do as well. However, someone who is not submitted to God or His word, and has allowed sin to defile and corrupt him, expects the same from others. He thinks that everyone is as corrupt in his thinking and doing as he is.
This charge and admonition I commit in trust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with prophetic intimations which I formerly received concerning you, so that inspired and aided by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 Holding fast to faith (that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting and thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith.
1 Timothy 1:18-19 AMP
The devil does not want you to have a clear conscience, because if you do, you will come boldly into God’s presence to fellowship with Him, be filled with Him, and be like Him! God wants you to come boldly into His presence and ask for what you need. The devil can’t fight with God and he doesn’t want you teaming up with God. The devil wants to defeat you, so he tries to separate you from God by means of guilt and condemnation. That is why he tempts you with sin. Do not refuse to hear and obey your conscience or you will shipwreck your faith and the devil will succeed! This is the war we fight. You must submit to and obey God, so you can live with a clear conscience. Allow God to purify your heart by His word and His Spirit. Allow God’s Word to wash you clean and produce in you a good, clear conscience!