Acts 23:1 And Paul, looking intently at the Sanhedrin, said, Men, brothers, I have conducted myself in all good conscience before God until this day. 24:16 Because of this I also exercise myself to always have a conscience without offense toward God and men.
Following man's fall and his being sent out of the garden of Eden, God wanted man...to be responsible to his own conscience. But man failed to live and walk according to his conscience and fell further into wickedness (Gen. 6:5). After the judgment of the flood, God ordained man to be under human government (Gen. 9:6). Man failed also in this. Then, before fulfilling His promise to Abraham concerning the blessing of the nations in Christ (Gen. 12:3), God put man under the test of the law (Rom. 3:20; 5:20). Man failed utterly in this test. All these failures indicate that man has fallen from God to his conscience, from his conscience to human government, and from human government to lawlessness. Therefore, man has fallen to the uttermost. To conduct oneself "in all good conscience before God," as Paul did, was a great return to God from man's fall. Paul spoke this word to vindicate himself before those who accused him of being a lawless and even reckless person. He referred, in his defense, to his conscience again in 24:16. This showed his high standard of morality in contrast to the hypocrisy of the Jewish religionists and the crookedness of the Roman (Gentile) politicians. (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Acts, pp. 539-540. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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