How can a Christian have a clear conscience?
Can anyone have a clear conscience for that matter? Everyone has done things and thought things in their past that they regret or that they know is reprehensibly sinful. So, is it even possible to live with a ‘clear conscious,’ or is it just wishful thinking that stems from an exaggerated sense of idealism?
No, Christians–of all people–can and should live with a clear conscience.
Here is why:
Christians can maintain a clear conscience because while we are never sinless, we are nevertheless guiltless because of the redeeming, saving, and forgiving work of Christ. Indeed, while we may fall in our righteous practice for God, we will never fall from our righteous position before God. This is because one’s righteous practice is about what one does for God, which can change, falter, and fail; but one’s righteous position is about what God has done for us in Christ, which is immutably permanent and unconditional.
Let’s just rehash this real quick: Jesus died for you so that you could be saved and forgiven from your sin. Jesus’ life and death accomplished forgiveness of sins, right standing before God, and adoption into the kingdom of God. He accomplished it, he paid the price in full. But in order to claim and activate these gifts for you, you must repent and believe, accepting that what Jesus did for you was enough. There’s nothing left for you ‘to do’ to get more of what he already offers you. More of God’s love? Higher degrees of God’s grace and forgiveness? Nope, can’t be earned or added to–Jesus paid it ALL.
Think of a gift card, for example. When someone gave you a gift card, they already paid the full price. You don’t have to pay a dime or a penny more. But in order to activate their prior payment and make use of it, you must actively use it. And if you don’t use it, you simply have unused credit, untapped spending potential. Similarly, when Jesus lived and died for you, he offers you a gift of major, unparalleled credit. All you have to do is accept it and make use of it through repentance of your sin and belief in his grace. Repentance and belief is what lays hold of all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:14-19).
And this directly plays a role in having a clear conscience. If Jesus forgave you once and for all, then you can live guiltless once and for all. In light of Christ, living without a clear conscious means denying the authenticity or the power of his forgiveness over your sin.
But you may say, like many others do:
“Well, I’m glad God forgives me of my sin, but I can never forgive myself.”
I’m going to be dangerously blunt. That statement is idolatrous and heinous to God. What you just implied by that statement is that God’s forgiveness and approval over you is not as important as your own forgiveness and approval of yourself, which means that your opinion of yourself is more weighty than God’s opinion of you. Therefore, saying “I can’t forgive myself” means that you failed your greatest idol: you. And ironically, that idol is too unloving and too unable to forgive you and love you in the way that you need to be loved and forgiven. What you need is what Jesus alone offers.
Elevating self-forgiveness over God’s forgiveness, too, needs to be forgiven by God, who graciously and abundantly forgives. Realizing the weightiness of God’s forgiveness for you is what will finally crush the unreasonably high, idolatrous expectations for yourself that only God can and should have carried from the start. Accepting God’s forgiveness for you should lead you to give forgiveness to yourself. Truly, accepting God’s forgiveness also means accepting that He alone can forgive you–because you have identified God as the rightful judge over your sin, not yourself. But be at ease, because Jesus was judged for your sin in your place on the cross. And he also offers his righteous life to you, so that you can be judged according to Jesus’ perfect life. You just have to accept this gift of forgiveness (2 Cor. 5:21).
And certainly, knowing that God’s love and forgiveness for you is not based on your love for Him (righteous position) does not cause you to love him less, but more, and helps your righteous practice for him all the more. And not because you are obligated to, but because you finally want to. God’s unconditional love for you compels genuine love in return from you. It changes the heart and mind, and it truly is the solution for a clear conscience and transparent living before God and man.
