What we do has to come out of who we are. This daily devotional looks at how disciples of Christ use sincerity and a good conscience to ensure our actions are consistent with our Christian character.
Nuggets
- In order to be blameless, blessed, and perfect, we need to be sincere and genuine.
- Our actions should stem from the integrity of a good conscience.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Moralities Lead to Godliness series
Our actions are just as important as our words. It is also important that our actions and our morals are consistent.
We are stepping through Manton’s sermon entitled The Moralities of Christianity (along with some others) to see what we can glean to aid us in redoing our character to be more like God’s character.
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Let's Put It into Context
“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things” (Phil. 4: 8 CSB)
The definition of moral, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.” Morality, then, is “a doctrine or system of moral conduct.” When it is the plural form — moralities — it is a “particular moral principles or rules of conduct.”
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Our morals determine our character. Character, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.”
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Our conscience is the part of our nature that impacts our moral decisions as it points us to what is right and gives us pain or pleasure depending on the choice.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Being Sincere and Genuine in Our Walk
“Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Ps. 32: 2 ESV)
In order to be blameless, blessed, and perfect, we need to be sincere and genuine.
At first glance, we might read blessed as our actions bring us happiness. I don’t think that is the case.
Blessedness means we have been perfected. The perfected state indicates the combination of the graces which, when all are present, form spiritual wholeness or completeness.
Glossary
That makes the rest of the first part of the verse understandable. “Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity …” (Ps. 32: 2 ESV)
Oops. One more. Iniquities are sins of wanting to be like everyone else instead of God.
Let’s substitute. The person who is spiritually complete is the one who wants to be like God.
When we are like God, we aren’t like Satan. Satan is the father of lies (Jn. 8: 44). So, when we are children of God, we don’t lie.
Glossary
God commands us to be godly. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless’” (Gen. 17: 1 NIV).
The King James Version translates the blameless as perfect. Oh, yeah. We are talking about the same thing: blameless, blessed, and perfect — being godly.
To be godly, we have to take this down to heart level. Taylor wrote, “If [our actions] be single and pure, so is thy heart.” It has to regenerate our hearts.
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When are our hearts regenerated? That happens at conversion.
Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Taylor brought up another good point. Being blameless has to be coupled with a sincerity of heart. We have to submit to God as Sovereign Lord. We have to genuinely be trying to obey God’s laws and commandments.
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We can’t discount sincerity. Yes, we are still going to sin. Yes, God will still forgive us.
But look at the example of Asa. “Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the LORD throughout his life” (I Kgs. 15: 14 NLT).
If Asa would have been perfect, he would have removed the idols. He didn’t.
But it was Asa’s heart that God was concerned about. He still remained completely faithful.
What? You think that is a contradiction? I don’t.
God knows we are not going to remove sin from this world. Only He can do that. That will only happen on judgment day.
The way I read it is God wants us to be faithful in those things in which we have control. Sometimes, He may put it in our plans to try to remove the idols. If He does, we have to choose to be faithful there.
We need to choose to be completely obedient to God. If we are faithful, it will cover our sins.
It is all about the walk. Walking is the term used to describe how we live our lives. Do we live our lives by choosing to be like God?
Everything we do is written down in our book of life. We won’t get to cook the books in order to influence God’s judgment on our lives. We have to live godly lives now.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
The Integrity of a Good Conscience
“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you” (II Cor. 1: 12 ESV) Our actions should stem from the integrity of a good conscience.
Our conscience is more than just our intelligence. Raleigh wrote, “The moral life is higher than the intellectual, and the dignity of conscience is that it is the governing element in the moral life.”
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Oh, yeah. Our consciences can steer us wrong sometimes. We use reasoning to make our judgments.
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If we look at the King James Version’s translation of this verse, it says, ‘For our rejoicing is this …” (II Cor. 1: 12 KJV). All the modern versions translate it either as boast or confidence (NLT, NASB, and HCSB).
I really like the rejoicing. That is tied to worship. We are giving God the recognition that He has helped us to live godly lives.
I am okay with confidence. We have the assurance that we are living in line with how God wants us to live.
Boast really doesn’t do it for me. I know Paul says we need to boast in God, but too many times, we follow the worldview opinion and boast in ourselves.
This is all about glorifying God, worshiping Him. We want to keep us out of it.
Emmons wrote that we have a clear conscience when we have been obedient for the right reasons.
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Robertson had an interesting take. We know we are not going to be perfect in this life because we are still in our sinful bodies. So, Paul wasn’t talking about being perfect/sinless here.
Paul was talking about something else. Robertson wrote, “He is not speaking of personal character but of ministry; and again not of the blamelessness of his ministry, but of its success.”
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Let me process this. God wants us to change our character to be more like His. He wants us to have His morals.
But God knows that we aren’t going to be 100% fruit-of-the-Spirit perfect. If that was the requirement, no one would make it to Heaven. God wants us to be successful in our ministry.
But when we witness to others, we aren’t going to have a 100% conversion rate. In fact, there is more to ministry than just witnessing.
So, that can’t be the definition of successful. How in the world do we show success?
- We are sincere in seeking Him.
- We are consistent in seeking Him.
- We are 100% consistent in asking His forgiveness when we do disobey Him.
Ooo, baby. Isn’t that totally opposite than what some worldview people think disciples should be? They think we have to be perfect — but by their definition of perfect, i.e., a good person.
Paul told us that we are judged “… not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God …” (II Cor. 1: 12 ESV). In order to be godly, we have to imitate God. Anything else is being worldly.
We wound our way back to being sincere. Burgess wrote, “That sincerity and uprightness of heart in our motives and ends is a sure and infallible sign of our being in the state of grace (1 John 3:21, 22).” He said, basically, that uprightness = obedience.
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That sincerity is to give us a simplicity in life. Raleigh describes that as “… singleness of mind, purpose, character, life …” Beard called both sincerity and simplicity virtues.
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The focus of that simplicity should be God. If we live “…by the grace of God …” (II Cor. 1: 12 ESV), being judged by that standard will be a piece of cake.
Making the Connections
Let’s look at it this way. Our consciences are internal. In fact, Vaughan stated that “conscience is, perhaps, the greatest power in the world.” He said it perceives everything from words and actions to motives, thoughts, and feelings.
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But Paul talked about the testimony of conscience.
How Do We Apply This?
Vaughan believed that we can train our conscience. It will take prayer and study of the Scriptures. We need to follow it when it give us godly advice and not follow it when it is ungodly advice. This guidance can be regarding our physical life or spiritual life.
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Taylor suggested we daily reaffirm our purpose of following God’s Will, laws, and commandments. We must ensure our love for God and others. He wrote, “An honest heart ever aims at God’s glory directly, whereas a guileful heart ever propounds bad ends of good actions.”
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Emmons felt we must be ever mindful of our duty and not be afraid to accomplish it. Oh, yes, our shortcomings may be showcased, but so will God’s love and forgiveness as He uses us to expand His kingdom.
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In our walk, we need to be consistent in our moral character. We need to be obedient to Him.
Father God. You are holy and righteous. We want to be like You. May our actions to bring glory and honor to You. Amen.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Related Links
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
Don’t know what your spiritual gifts are?
Take this Spiritual Gifts Inventory
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
Job Duty #2
Work Out Our Salvation (Philippians 2: 12)
Job Duty #3
Bring Him Glory (Matthew 5: 16)
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #5
Love People (John 15: 12)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #7
Other Duties as Assigned
(Ecclesiastes 3: 1)
It Was Enough
Vocalist: Elaine Guthals
Keyboard: Chris Vieth
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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