Living with Integrity: The Journey of a Good Conscience
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"Walking in a good conscience is not easy for me since I share Arnaldo's deep awareness of my ongoing indwelling sin. That's Paul's term in Romans 7:17, 7:20, 7:23. That's his term. We all have remaining corruption and indwelling sin, and so the more keenly you are aware of that, the more you will feel embattled at the level of needing a good conscience." [00:03:14]
"The whole New Testament does assume that in this life nobody attains sinless perfection. We need to just settle that. That's one of the premises. Nobody attains sinless perfection in this life. Jesus said that we would pray, 'Forgive us our sins,' right after 'Give us this day our daily bread.' That go together every day, say both of those." [00:03:54]
"If we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin. Now that is staggeringly amazing. If we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us." [00:05:24]
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and the word is not in us. Now, what's amazing about this passage is that it says we must be walking in the light for the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our sins." [00:06:19]
"A good conscience is virtually the same as walking in the light. Christians should be able to say, 'I'm walking in the light,' and mean it, and mean by that, 'I'm walking in a good conscience,' which means I don't think we should equate having a bad conscience with having indwelling sin. Now, that may be the most important thing I say." [00:07:21]
"I think both Paul and John inherited this conception of ongoing indwelling sin that nevertheless co-exists with a good conscience from the Psalms in the Old Testament. For example, in Psalm 25, David confesses three times that he's a sinner. Verse 8: God instructs sinners in the way. Verse 11: Pardon my guilt, for it is great." [00:10:04]
"In David's mind, there is an integrity and an uprightness that is aware of indwelling corruption that breaks out at times in sins. It does, and that ongoing reality of indwelling sin does not nullify what David calls his integrity and his uprightness. And I think Paul and John saw that. They were immersed in the Old Testament." [00:11:09]
"I do think Arnaldo is right to say that justification by faith is not the same as walking in a good conscience or walking in the light or having integrity. Those are real character traits, not imputed righteousness. Nevertheless, it's the covering of all their sins by the blood of Jesus that enables them to look upon their conscience." [00:12:22]
"Suppose a pastor is accused falsely of being unfaithful to his wife, and the reason he's accused is because someone in the congregation hates him and wants him to be dismissed. And when he comes before the church or the elders to state the truth, with his children present and his wife looking on, that is not the time for him to say to the church, 'Well, yes, I am a sinner like everybody else.'" [00:13:07]
"What you need to say at that moment is this: 'My conscience is clear. I am a man of integrity. I have walked in the light. I have never touched that woman or any woman sexually besides my wife, and this accusation is not true.' So I think that is one of the implications of what Paul is saying when he says to the elders and to the rest of us that we should walk in a good conscience." [00:14:17]
"Walking in the light is not a life of sinless perfection. That's a profound connection. Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for joining us today. Ask a question of your own like Arnaldo did today, or search our archive, or subscribe to the podcast outlet at askpastorjohn.com." [00:14:54]
"While I love to find sermon clips where Pastor John pastors his congregation by illustrating how he does certain things in the Christian life from the pulpit, he will sometimes break into an example of, say, what it looks like for him when he meditates on the word or focuses his heart on Christ. And I just found another example of him doing this very thing." [00:15:39]
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"The whole New Testament does assume that in this life nobody attains sinless perfection. We need to just settle that. That's one of the premises. Nobody attains sinless perfection in this life. Jesus said that we would pray, 'Forgive us our sins,' right after 'Give us this day our daily bread.' That go together every day, say both of those." [00:03:54]
"If we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin. Now that is staggeringly amazing. If we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us." [00:05:24]
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and the word is not in us. Now, what's amazing about this passage is that it says we must be walking in the light for the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our sins." [00:06:19]
"A good conscience is virtually the same as walking in the light. Christians should be able to say, 'I'm walking in the light,' and mean it, and mean by that, 'I'm walking in a good conscience,' which means I don't think we should equate having a bad conscience with having indwelling sin. Now, that may be the most important thing I say." [00:07:21]
"I think both Paul and John inherited this conception of ongoing indwelling sin that nevertheless co-exists with a good conscience from the Psalms in the Old Testament. For example, in Psalm 25, David confesses three times that he's a sinner. Verse 8: God instructs sinners in the way. Verse 11: Pardon my guilt, for it is great." [00:10:04]
"In David's mind, there is an integrity and an uprightness that is aware of indwelling corruption that breaks out at times in sins. It does, and that ongoing reality of indwelling sin does not nullify what David calls his integrity and his uprightness. And I think Paul and John saw that. They were immersed in the Old Testament." [00:11:09]
"I do think Arnaldo is right to say that justification by faith is not the same as walking in a good conscience or walking in the light or having integrity. Those are real character traits, not imputed righteousness. Nevertheless, it's the covering of all their sins by the blood of Jesus that enables them to look upon their conscience." [00:12:22]
"Suppose a pastor is accused falsely of being unfaithful to his wife, and the reason he's accused is because someone in the congregation hates him and wants him to be dismissed. And when he comes before the church or the elders to state the truth, with his children present and his wife looking on, that is not the time for him to say to the church, 'Well, yes, I am a sinner like everybody else.'" [00:13:07]
"What you need to say at that moment is this: 'My conscience is clear. I am a man of integrity. I have walked in the light. I have never touched that woman or any woman sexually besides my wife, and this accusation is not true.' So I think that is one of the implications of what Paul is saying when he says to the elders and to the rest of us that we should walk in a good conscience." [00:14:17]
"Walking in the light is not a life of sinless perfection. That's a profound connection. Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for joining us today. Ask a question of your own like Arnaldo did today, or search our archive, or subscribe to the podcast outlet at askpastorjohn.com." [00:14:54]
"While I love to find sermon clips where Pastor John pastors his congregation by illustrating how he does certain things in the Christian life from the pulpit, he will sometimes break into an example of, say, what it looks like for him when he meditates on the word or focuses his heart on Christ. And I just found another example of him doing this very thing." [00:15:39]
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