Anchor of good conscience

1 Tim.1:5^{, ‘} Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, ⁶ from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.’

Apostle Paul, while writing to Timothy, who was like his son in Christ, counseled him on many issues including the wrong doctrines preached in the churches which seemed to threaten the purity of churches. In the process, he wrote about overcoming such issues with love which comes out of a pure heart and a good conscience, with faith unfeigned which is the purpose of all commandments. Further, in V 19, he again wrote about holding on to faith and a good conscience. The apostle warned about how dangerous it is to cast away the good conscience and how it ends up in shipwreck of faith lives. A conscience is like an inner court within one’s heart, which guides us as to know what is wrong and what is right. This is always with us, even when at times; we don’t have any particular guideline in written or oral form to guide us. It’s completely controlled by a divine power which steers our choices, which often are difficult to be handled. The only thing needed is the willingness to follow this steering voice.

Man who is made in God’s image has this conscience as a part of his soul, which reflects His image in the form of His will and His desires. A person who has trained himself to be sensitive to this conscience will be lead to the One in whose image he or she is created, even when the world around goes the opposite way. Noah was such a person, who was trained to heed to his conscience. He lived in a time, when there was no law of God in any written form. Yet he was considered as righteous in the sight of God. He saw rains and floods in faith, about which he had never heard or seen before in his entire life. He built the ark with a message of hope and lead his own family into it.

To know how closely Noah was lead by his good conscience, we need to focus on the remarkable peace which ruled him and his family while he was inside the ark. In Gen.7:16, we read that ‘the Lord shut him in’. Before the rain and the floods, God spoke to Noah. He gave him instructions about the ark and the lives who would walk into the same with him. He even told him about the number of days of rain which would cause flood. All this happened just as the Lord said. But then something happened which the Lord had not spoken to Noah. And that was about the 150 days after the 40 days of flooding rains, when the waters prevailed upon the earth. God was silent about these days when the flood waters prevailed, increased and prevailed exceedingly over the earth (Gen.7:18-19). What would have kept Noah in peace when he needed to hear most from the Lord? How do we respond when God is silent in the midst of our trials that seem to prevail and exceedingly prevail in our lives? How does our conscience guide us when it seems that the Lord has shut us in and seemed to have forgotten all about us?

Gen.8:1 says that God remembered Noah. If He had to remember, surely He seemed to have forgotten Noah for these 150 days.  God was silent over Noah and his family though He had never literally forgotten them. Noah’s faith was being tested as he was also saved from the condemnation at the same time. Every testing is a step further towards our salvation. 1 Peter 3:20, ‘……who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited^[f] in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. ‘Here we see how these eight souls were saved through water. In Genesis 7, the flood waters that destroyed every life on the face of this earth saved eight souls who were shut by the Lord inside the ark.  The same aspects that destroy the unrighteous causes salvation in the lives of righteous.  1 Pet.3: 21-22, ‘There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.’  This flood waters have been compared with the water baptism by Apostle Peter which is the response of a good conscience. Just as water baptism does not save a person unless taken in complete faith in Christ, the prevailing silence of God over the prevailing flood waters could not be overcome by Noah, except by his right response to his good conscience. It was anchored to complete faith in God. He continued to think about God as being good, merciful and mighty. He continued to wait with much hope to see the earth dry one day just as he hoped to see the floods when the earth was dry. Deep inside his heart, he knew who the Lord is. His decision to continue thinking good about the Lord just as he thought when things were good in his life was the right response of his conscience . Just as the waters of baptism that follows a true repentant heart brings in a great unseen sanctification into one’s lives, this flood waters brought in a great sanctification in Noah’s life into a more intimate walk with the Lord. When every nerve of our body seems to hang on the hope given by our Lord, when we loose every support we held on to thus far, we become like this ark, floating into unseen direction over unseen depths rising into unseen heights. As we continue to respond as per good conscience towards the Lord, the saving power of the Lord is manifested in its fullness.

After the 150 days of flood waters prevailing upon the earth, the Lord remembered Noah. And as soon as He remembered this family, He sent a wind to pass over the earth. The flood waters were subsided, fountains of the deep were stopped, and the waters returned continually. Dear friends, there are certain areas in our lives where no commandment of the Lord or any prophecy or vision, nor any closest friend can reach. And its time span seems to be unending. These, I believe are the toughest times of faith life when our thoughts & attitude towards God appear to be like a rough sea, with surging waves of ups and downs. These areas can be steered only by the inbuilt good conscience towards the Lord which stills all the waves and gives rest to our soul even in the midst of flood waters. Noah enjoyed the complete rest within himself. He had trained his conscience to be good towards God through his walk with God (Gen.6:9). And he continued to do so when cast into the flood of God’s silence. Noah’s response not only gave him rest, but also to all the 7 souls with him who looked up to him every now and then. When we are anchored to the love for God out of good conscience, we ourselves become an anchor to the faith lives of others around us. 

God broke his silence and the ark rested in the 7^th month upon the mountains of Ararat. In Gen.8:15, God spoke to Noah to go forth out of the ark with all the lives in the ark. In Gen.8:20, we see that the first thing Noah did after going out of the ark was to build an altar and offer sacrifice unto the Lord, which was a sweet savor to the Lord. There is no mention of such sacrifice done by Noah before the flood, though he did walk with God and found grace in His eyes. Now, Noah had a closer experience with God. Instead of enjoying the long awaited dry earth, Noah’s heart panted to enjoy His presence at the altar of worship. The great test through the divine silence seemed to draw Noah much more closer to the Lord. He was bestowed with many promises of blessings. All is well that ends well.

As apostle Paul wrote, the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. All these…a pure heart, a good conscience and genuine faith is part and parcel of a man’s soul, which reflects Him in whose image we have been created. The double edged sword aims at the sanctification of our soul, even as it does so in our body and spirit. Let’s absorb the Word of God deep into our hearts rather than to the ear or mind level. For the seeds of His word sown deep down is hidden from the snares of the fowls of the air, the treading feet on the earth and the prickly thorns of the world. Such lives are strong anchors of faith in the midst of any flood waters. Such lives are destined to rest on mountains of His glory. Be blessed…Amen.

God bless us all

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