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"But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I
the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the
prophets . . . . . and herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of
offence toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24: 14-16).
Another personal testimony of the apostle to the same effect is found in II Tim. 1: 3
where he says: "I thank God, Whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure
conscience." Here the word "from" is apo, and conveys the thought of "away from"--for
the apostle had certainly not continued to worship God in the same way in an unbroken
sequence since his boyhood. The change, however, he could contemplate with an easy
conscience. "The way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers." "I
thank God, Whom I serve away from my forefathers." He had not turned from the
traditions of the fathers or from the law of Moses because of the fear of man or from
unbelief. He had not become the Apostle of the Mystery by self-appointment or by
self-seeking. In all these changes that had involved him in so much misunderstanding he
stood with a "good" conscience, a "pure" conscience and a conscience "void of offence"
before God.
To this set of passages may be added the apostle's words to Timothy in I Tim. 1: 5. In
the previous verse (verse 4) the revised text reads, instead of "godly edifying", "a
dispensation of God", which brings the passage into line with those just considered.
Timothy was to devote himself to the dispensation that had been committed to him, and
to realize that the end of the "charge" thus given included "a good conscience".
It cannot be too strongly emphasized that no change of doctrine or practice should be
accepted apart from a good conscience in the matter. We must neither allow ourselves to
continue in an undispensational attitude when once we have been convinced of the
scriptural necessity for a change, nor must we be persuaded to make any change unless
we can do so with a good conscience. When once we do see the truth, let us act upon it,
for otherwise the remainder of our days will be clouded by the shadow of a bad
conscience, a crippling and terrible thing.
Those who have been led to embrace the truth of the mystery will often suffer as the
apostle did. They will be called "heretics", but this will not move them if their
conscience is clear. While conscience, as we saw in our opening paper, is no standard, it
is a valuable monitor, and if we have seen the truth of the mystery, conscience will never
let us rest until we have "acknowledged" its separating teaching. Happy is the man who
is misjudged by others, yet whose conscience is clear. Happy is the man who is called
hard names by all, except by his conscience. Happy are they who, though "heretics" in
the opinion of men, are "saints and faithful" in the eyes of the Lord.