Principle of Responsibility

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Principle of Responsibility Gaining a Clear
Conscience
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Why is a Clear Conscience important?
Paul advice to Timothy
1 Tim 119 - Timothy, my son, I give you this
instruction in keeping with the prophecies once
made about you, so that by following them you may
fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a
good conscience. Some have rejected these and so
have shipwrecked their faith.
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What is a Clear Conscience?
A good conscience is one that allows me to look
every person in the eye knowing that not one of
them can point a finger and say, You wronged me
and you never tried to make it right.
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A Good (agatos) Conscience

• A strong and healthy conscience

• 1 Tim 15 - The goal of this command is love,
  which comes from a pure heart and a good
  conscience and a sincere faith.

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A Good (agatos) Conscience

• 1 Pet 316 - keeping a clear conscience, so that
  those who speak maliciously against your good
  behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their
  slander.

• Void of Offense - Acts 2416 - So I strive always
  to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

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A Pure (kataros) Conscience

• 1 Tim 39 - They (deacons) must keep hold of the
  deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

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A Pure (kataros) Conscience

• Not stained with guilt toward God

• Heb 914 - How much more, then, will the blood of
  Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
  himself unblemished to God, cleanse our
  consciences from acts that lead to death, so that
  we may serve the living God!

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What does a good conscience involve?
1. Every Thought - 2 Cor 105 - We demolish
arguments and every pretension that sets itself
up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ.
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What does a good conscience involve?
2. Every Word - Matt 1236 - But I tell you that
men will have to give account on the day of
judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
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What does a good conscience involve?
3. Every Deed - 2 Cor 510 - For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
each one may receive what is due him for the
things done while in the body, whether good or
bad.
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What does a good conscience involve?
4. Every Attitude - Pro 613-14 - who winks with
his eye, signals with his feet and motions with
his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his
heart-- he always stirs up dissension.
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What does a good conscience involve?
5. Every Motive - Jer 179-10 - The heart is
deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who
can understand it? "I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind, to reward a man according
to his conduct, according to what his deeds
deserve."
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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
Examples of those we may have offensed

• God

• Spouse

• Father

• Mother

• Pastor

• Teacher

• Children

• Friend

• Stepfather

• Stepmother

• Neighbor

• Employer

• Brother

• Sister

• Relative

• Business Associate

• Store owner

• Government

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
1. List their offenses toward you

• Avoid balancing guilt and blame

• Avoid concentrating on blaming others

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
Matt 73,5 - "Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye? ... You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own
eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the
speck from your
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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
2. List your offenses

• First pray to God to reveal our faults
• Psa 13923-24 - Search me, O God, and know my
  heart test me and know my anxious thoughts. See
  if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me
  in the way everlasting.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• If I were to ask those who are offended with me
  what I did against them, what would they say?

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
What did you do that caused others to be offended
by you? List words which were

• Critical

• Judgmental

• Slanderous

• Untruthful

• Harsh

• Disruptive

• Vulgar

• Profane

• Contentious

• Indiscreet

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• Careless

• Dishonest

• Improper

• Sensual

• Disrespectful

• Slothful

• Destructive

• Indulgent

• Tardy

• Wasteful

• Hypocritical

• Unjust

• Forgetful

• Disobedient

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
More importantly that wrong attitudes be
confessed before wrong actions?

• Wrong attitudes are usually more hurtful and
  offensive.

• If offending attitude is not corrected, the
  person who is being asked for forgiveness is
  instinctively aware that the same offenses will
  probably be repeated.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
What were the attitudes that caused the wrong
words and actions? List attitudes which were

• Proud

• Deceptive

• Willful

• Presumptuous

• Selfish

• Ungrateful

• Unreliable

• Disloyal

• Unconcerned

• Insensitive

• Angry

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
Importance of working out a plan of restitution

• Exo 221-5 - "If a man steals an ox or a sheep
  and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay back
  five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for
  the sheep. "If a thief is caught breaking in and
  is struck so that he dies, the defender is not
  guilty of bloodshed ...

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• Exo 221-5 - ... but if it happens after sunrise,
  he is guilty of bloodshed. "A thief must
  certainly make restitution, but if he has
  nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft.
  "If the stolen animal is found alive in his
  possession--whether ox or donkey or sheep--he
  must pay back double. ...

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• Exo 221-5 - ... "If a man grazes his livestock
  in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and
  they graze in another man's field, he must make
  restitution from the best of his own field or
  vineyard.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• Matt 540 - And if someone wants to sue you and
  take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• Luke 198 - But Zacchaeus stood up and said to
  the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half
  of my possessions to the poor, and if I have
  cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back
  four times the amount."

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
3. Purpose to ask forgiveness
3a. Begin with those whom you have offended the
most???

• God

• Asking forgiveness of God requires that we trace
  offenses to violations of His commandments.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• If you have stolen -

• Exo 2015 - You shall not steal.

• If you have lied -

• Exo 2016 - "You shall not give false testimony
  against your neighbor.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• If you have caused a weaker brother to stumble -

• Rom 1413 - Instead, make up your mind not to
  put any stumbling block or obstacle in your
  brother's way.

• If you broke Gods commandment -

• Jn 1421 - Whoever has my commands and obeys
  them, he is the one who loves me...

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• If you dont love God -

• Matt 2237-38 - "'Love the Lord your God with all
  your heart and with all your soul and with all
  your mind. This is the first and greatest
  commandment.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• If you offend another Christian -

• Matt 2540 - "The King will reply, 'I tell you
  the truth, whatever you did for one of the least
  of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

• 1 Jn 420 - If anyone says, "I love God," yet
  hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who
  does not love his brother, whom he has seen,
  cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
3b. Separate guilt from blame

• Hindrance - the one we wronged was also guilty

• Tends to magnify the blame

• Percentage I am wrong - ???

Matt 73 - "Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye? ...
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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
3c. Relive your offenses through their feelings

• Picture yourself as the one whom you offend

• What you did which offended me

• How I felt when you did it

• What I did in return

• What God is teaching me through the offense

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• Josephs brothers had guilt until they relived
  their offense toward Joseph, however, they did
  not have genuine spirit of repentance - Gen
  4217-24

• They finally had genuine spirit of repentance
  years later - Gen 5017

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
3d. Choose the right wording

• Job 343 - For the ear tests words as the tongue
  tastes food.

• Luk 1518,19 - I will set out and go back to my
  father and say to him Father, I have sinned
  against heaven and against you. I am no longer
  worthy to be called your son make me like one of
  your hired men.'

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• Concise and to the point - the longer the
  confession, the more likely to justify

• Do not blame - I was wrong but you were too.

• Do not communicate pride - If I was wrong

• Do not offer excuses - I was angry because I was
  tired.

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience

• Acknowledge guilt - I was wrong

• Focus on root attitude first, then explain how
  wrong actions grow out of it.

• Do not demand forgiveness, only plead for it.

• Suggested wording - God has helped me to realize
  that I was wrong in (root atttitudes) and
  (resulting offenses). Would you forgive me?

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
3e. Means to ask for forgiveness

• Letter/Email, Phone call/Personal Visit

• Verbal assurance that you are forgiven

• Sensing sincerity of your voice

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
3f. Common rationalizations not to ask for
forgiveness

• It happened before I was a Christian

• My sins were forgiven by Christs blood

• Paul said we are supposed to for get the past -
  Phi 313 - But one thing I do Forgetting what
  is behind ...

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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
4. Example of Prodigal Son (Luke 15)
v.17 - When he came to his senses, he said, 'How
many of my father's hired men have food to spare,
and here I am starving to death!
v.18 - I will set out and go back to my father
and say to him Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you.
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Steps to Gain a Good Conscience
v.19 - I am no longer worthy to be called your
son ...
v.19 - make me like one of your hired men.'