How to keep a clean and clear conscience, How to get rid of a guilty conscience: according to the Bible

The current population of the world is 6.87 billion (Oct. 2010 est.) but no one in all the mortal and reasonable people of this world can stand up and say "I did not sin.", "I have not sinned.", or "I did not do anything bad or evil in all of my life.". At numerous points in our lives, we did the wrong things and made the wrong decisions, followed the wicked path, listened to senseless ideas and thoughts that led only to sin and misery, caused injustice to others, oppressed fellowmen and fellow women, abused our power and freedom, and countless other transgressions leaving us a dark conscience and a terrible feeling of guilt. But, inspite of all this, we ask ourselves, "Is this how it all ends?", "Are we really made to sin?", or "Is there any hope left?"...

Consider this...

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GRAND PLAN OF GOD:

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Eph 1:9 God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ.
Eph 1:10 This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.
Eph 1:11 All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose (predestinated) us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning.

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.
Joh 14:2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.
Joh 14:4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.

Rev 21:3 I heard a loud voice from the throne say, "God lives with humans! God will make his home with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God.
Rev 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won't be any more death. There won't be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared."

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, even the Lamb.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they might shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

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clear conscience of Abimelech

Gen 20:4 Abimelech hadn't come near her, so he asked, "Lord, will you destroy a nation even if it's innocent?
Gen 20:5 Didn't he tell me himself, 'She's my sister,' and didn't she even say, 'He's my brother'? I did this in all innocence and with a clear conscience."
Gen 20:6 "Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience," God said to him in the dream. "In fact, I kept you from sinning against me. That's why I didn't let you touch her.
Gen 20:7 Give the man's wife back to him now, because he's a prophet. He will pray for you, and you will live. But if you don't give her back, you and all who belong to you are doomed to die."

Gen 20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could have children.
Gen 20:18 (The LORD had made it impossible for any woman in Abimelech's household to have children because of Abraham's wife Sarah.)

David's conscience bothered

1Sa 24:5 But afterward, David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the border of Saul's robe.
1Sa 24:6 He said to his men, "It would be unthinkable for me to raise my hand against His Majesty, the LORD'S anointed king, since he is the LORD'S anointed."
1Sa 24:7 So David stopped his men by saying this to them and didn't let them attack Saul. Saul left the cave and went out onto the road.

After David counted the people, his conscience troubled him

2Sa 24:10 After David counted the people, his conscience troubled him. David said to the LORD, "I have committed a terrible sin by what I have done. LORD, please forgive me because I have acted very foolishly."
2Sa 24:11 When David got up in the morning, the LORD spoke his word to the prophet Gad, David's seer.
2Sa 24:12 "Go and tell David, 'This is what the LORD says: I'm offering you three choices. Choose the one you want me to do to you.'"

2Sa 24:23 All this Araunah gave to the king and said, "May the LORD your God accept you."
2Sa 24:24 "No!" the king said to Araunah. "I must buy it from you at a fair price. I won't offer the LORD my God burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 1 1/4 pounds of silver.
2Sa 24:25 David built an altar for the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. So the LORD heard the prayers for the country, and the plague on Israel stopped.

Weak conscience, feeling of guilt, and having a guilty conscience

Jas 2:10 If someone obeys all of God's laws except one, that person is guilty of breaking all of them.

1Co 8:7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are so used to worshiping false gods that they believe they are eating food offered to a false god. So they feel guilty because their conscience is weak.

1Co 8:8 Food will not affect our relationship with God. We are no worse off if we eat that food and no better off if we don't.
1Co 8:9 But be careful that by using your freedom you don't somehow make a believer who is weak in faith fall into sin.
1Co 8:10 For example, suppose someone with a weak conscience sees you, who have this knowledge, eating in the temple of a false god. Won't you be encouraging that person to eat food offered to a false god?
1Co 8:11 In that case, your knowledge is ruining a believer whose faith is weak, a believer for whom Christ died.
1Co 8:12 When you sin against other believers in this way and harm their weak consciences, you are sinning against Christ.
1Co 8:13 Therefore, if eating food offered to false gods causes other believers to lose their faith, I will never eat that kind of food so that I won't make other believers lose their faith.

1Co 10:24 People should be concerned about others and not just about themselves.
1Co 10:25 Eat anything that is sold in the market without letting your conscience trouble you.
1Co 10:26 Certainly, "The earth is the Lord's and everything it contains is his."
1Co 10:27 If an unbeliever invites you to his house for dinner, and you wish to go, eat anything he serves you without letting your conscience trouble you.
1Co 10:28 However, if someone says to you, "This was sacrificed to a god," don't eat it because of the one who informed you and because of conscience.
1Co 10:29 I'm not talking about your conscience but the other person's conscience. Why should my freedom be judged by someone else's conscience?
1Co 10:30 If I give thanks to God for the food I eat, why am I condemned for that?
1Co 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God.
1Co 10:32 Don't cause others to stumble, whether they are Jewish, Greek, or members of God's church.
1Co 10:33 I try to please everyone in every way. I don't think about what would be good for me but about what would be good for many people so that they might be saved.

1Ti 1:19 Some have refused to let their faith guide their conscience and their faith has been destroyed like a wrecked ship.

Heb 9:9 The first part of the tent is an example for the present time. The gifts and sacrifices that were brought there could not give the worshiper a clear conscience.

Pro 14:9 Stubborn fools make fun of guilt, but there is forgiveness among decent people.

Pro 28:17 A person burdened with the guilt of murder will be a fugitive down to his grave. No one will help him.

Rom 12:20 But, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will make him feel guilty and ashamed."

Warnings of the conscience

Psa 16:5 The LORD is my inheritance and my cup. You are the one who determines my destiny.
Psa 16:6 Your boundary lines mark out pleasant places for me. Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful.
Psa 16:7 I will praise the LORD, who advises me. My conscience warns me at night.
Psa 16:8 I always keep the LORD in front of me. When he is by my side, I cannot be moved.
Psa 16:9 That is why my heart is glad and my soul rejoices. My body rests securely
Psa 16:10 because you do not abandon my soul to the grave or allow your holy one to decay.
Psa 16:11 You make the path of life known to me. Complete joy is in your presence. Pleasures are by your side forever.

The clear conscience of Saint Paul

Act 23:1 Paul stared at the Jewish council and said, "Brothers, my relationship with God has always given me a perfectly clear conscience."

Act 24:15 I hope for the same thing my accusers do, that people with God's approval and those without it will come back to life.
Act 24:16 With this belief I always do my best to have a clear conscience in the sight of God and people.
Act 24:17 After many years I have come back to my people and brought gifts for the poor and offerings for God.

1Co 4:4 I have a clear conscience, but that doesn't mean I have God's approval. It is the Lord who cross-examines me.

2Ti 1:3 I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day when I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did.

Ways of how to keep a clean and clear conscience, How to get rid of a guilty conscience

Psa 38:17 I am ready to fall. I am continually aware of my pain.
Psa 51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3 I admit that I am rebellious. My sin is always in front of me.
Psa 51:4 I have sinned against you, especially you. I have done what you consider evil. So you hand down justice when you speak, and you are blameless when you judge.
Psa 38:18 I confess my guilt. My sin troubles me.
Psa 32:5 I made my sins known to you, and I did not cover up my guilt. I decided to confess them to you, O LORD. Then you forgave all my sins. Selah

Psa 51:7 Purify me from sin with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8 Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken dance.
Psa 51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and wipe out all that I have done wrong.
Psa 51:10 Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a faithful spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Do not force me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and provide me with a spirit of willing obedience.

1Pe 3:21 Baptism, which is like that water, now saves you. Baptism doesn't save by removing dirt from the body. Rather, baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience. It saves you through Jesus Christ, who came back from death to life.

Rom 13:3 People who do what is right don't have to be afraid of the government. But people who do what is wrong should be afraid of it. Would you like to live without being afraid of the government? Do what is right, and it will praise you.
Rom 13:4 The government is God's servant working for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid. The government has the right to carry out the death sentence. It is God's servant, an avenger to execute God's anger on anyone who does what is wrong.
Rom 13:5 Therefore, it is necessary for you to obey, not only because you're afraid of God's anger but also because of your own conscience.
Rom 13:6 That is also why you pay your taxes. People in the government are God's servants while they do the work he has given them.
Rom 13:7 Pay everyone whatever you owe them. If you owe taxes, pay them. If you owe tolls, pay them. If you owe someone respect, respect that person. If you owe someone honor, honor that person.
Rom 13:8 Pay your debts as they come due. However, one debt you can never finish paying is the debt of love that you owe each other. The one who loves another person has fulfilled Moses' Teachings.
Rom 13:9 The commandments, "Never commit adultery; never murder; never steal; never have wrong desires," and every other commandment are summed up in this statement: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
Rom 13:10 Love never does anything that is harmful to a neighbor. Therefore, love fulfills Moses' Teachings.

2Co 1:12 We are proud that our conscience is clear. We are proud of the way that we have lived in this world. We have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity, especially toward you. It was not by human wisdom that we have lived but by God's kindness.

1Ti 1:5 My goal in giving you this order is for love to flow from a pure heart, from a clear conscience, and from a sincere faith.

1Ti 1:18 Timothy, my child, I'm giving you this order about the prophecies that are still coming to you: Use these prophecies in faith and with a clear conscience to fight this noble war.

Heb 10:22 We have been sprinkled with his blood to free us from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with clean water. So we must continue to come to him with a sincere heart and strong faith.

1Pe 3:15 But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence in God when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect.
1Pe 3:16 Keep your conscience clear. Then those who treat the good Christian life you live with contempt will feel ashamed that they have ridiculed you.
1Pe 3:17 After all, if it is God's will, it's better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong.

Rom 14:21 The right thing to do is to avoid eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that causes another Christian to have doubts.
Rom 14:22 So whatever you believe about these things, keep it between yourself and God. The person who does what he knows is right shouldn't feel guilty. He is blessed.
Rom 14:23 But if a person has doubts and still eats, he is condemned because he didn't act in faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin.

God is greater than our conscience

1Jn 3:16 We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers.
1Jn 3:17 Now, suppose a person has enough to live on and notices another believer in need. How can God's love be in that person if he doesn't bother to help the other believer?
1Jn 3:18 Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.
1Jn 3:19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be reassured in his presence.
1Jn 3:20 Whenever our conscience condemns us, we will be reassured that God is greater than our conscience and knows everything.
1Jn 3:21 Dear friends, if our conscience doesn't condemn us, we can boldly look to God
1Jn 3:22 and receive from him anything we ask. We receive it because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
1Jn 3:23 This is his commandment: to believe in his Son, the one named Jesus Christ, and to love each other as he commanded us.
1Jn 3:24 Those who obey Christ's commandments live in God, and God lives in them. We know that he lives in us because he has given us the Spirit.

The conscience bearing witness; The time of God's fair judgment

Rom 2:5 Since you are stubborn and don't want to change the way you think and act, you are adding to the anger that God will have against you on that day when God vents his anger. At that time God will reveal that his decisions are fair.
Rom 2:6 He will pay all people back for what they have done.
Rom 2:7 He will give everlasting life to those who search for glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good. But he will bring
Rom 2:8 anger and fury on those who, in selfish pride, refuse to believe the truth and who follow what is wrong.
Rom 2:9 There will be suffering and distress for every person who does evil, for Jews first and Greeks as well.
Rom 2:10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for every person who does what is good, for Jews first and Greeks as well.
Rom 2:11 God does not play favorites.
Rom 2:12 Here's the reason: Whoever sins without having laws from God will still be condemned to destruction. And whoever has laws from God and sins will still be judged by them.
Rom 2:13 People who merely listen to laws from God don't have God's approval. Rather, people who do what those laws demand will have God's approval.
Rom 2:14 For example, whenever non-Jews who don't have laws from God do by nature the things that Moses' Teachings contain, they are a law to themselves even though they don't have any laws from God.

Rom 2:15

(CEV) This proves that the conscience is like a law written in the human heart. And it will show whether we are forgiven or condemned,

(ASV) in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them);

(ESV) They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

(EMTV) who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience witnessing with them, and among themselves their thoughts accuse or even defend them),

(ISV) They show that what the law requires is written in their hearts, a fact to which their own consciences testify, and their thoughts will either accuse or excuse them

(MKJV) who show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and the thoughts between one another accusing or even excusing one another,

Rom 2:15 (GW) They show that some requirements found in Moses' Teachings are written in their hearts. Their consciences speak to them. Their thoughts accuse them on one occasion and defend them on another.

Rom 2:16 This happens as they face the day when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge people's secret thoughts. He will use the Good News that I am spreading to make that judgment.

The rewards of a clean and clear conscience

Mat 5:8  "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Psa 25:10  Every path of the LORD is one of mercy and truth for those who cling to his promise and written instructions.
Psa 25:11  For the sake of your name, O LORD, remove my guilt, because it is great.
Psa 25:12  Who, then, is this person that fears the LORD? He is the one whom the LORD will teach which path to choose.
Psa 25:13  He will enjoy good things in life, and his descendants will inherit the land.
Psa 25:14  The LORD advises those who fear him. He reveals to them the intent of his promise.

2Jn 1:8  Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.

Mat 5:10  "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Luk 6:35  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Mat 5:12  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Mat 25:34  Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Mat 25:35  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
Mat 25:36  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'