Receiving a Good Conscience

Consider a window in a house. The dirtier it is, the more marred it is, the less light that comes in, and the more distorted is the view out. The clearer and cleaner the window, the more the light that floods in and the clearer is the view of the outside world. That is what our conscience is like. An unclean conscience, a bad conscience, does not let the light of God shine into our hearts so that our perception of God and the world around us is darkened and distorted. A clear conscience lets the light of God shine into our hearts so that we see the goodness of God and his world more clearly. With light comes sight.

The purpose of Christ’s human life, death, resurrection, and ascension is to give us a good conscience. He delivers that to each of us personally through baptism. Thus St. Peter declares:

Baptism … now saves you, not as the removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Pet 3:21–22)

Here Peter tells us four things about God’s gift to us of a good conscience.

First, Peter identifies our salvation with the gift from God of a good conscience and associates both of these with the sacrament of baptism. Yet even though baptism is something that happens at one time and in one place, it is not finished once the ceremony is over, just as marriage does not end after the ceremony has been completed. It is not just a past event; it is also a present endowment. It results in an ongoing relationship, a new state with increasing benefits that we receive every Sunday in the divine service. It does that here and now. So Peter declares that baptism now saves us by giving us a good conscience.

Second, when Peter says that baptism now saves us, he adds that this happens through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have a good conscience through his resurrection as well as his ascension. Jesus gives us a good conscience because he is both enthroned as King with God the Father and present with us in the divine service. He is our mediator. He intercedes for us with the Father and brings the Father’s gifts to us. He bridges heaven and earth and thus gives us access to heaven here on earth in the divine service.

Third, Peter contrasts two kinds of cleansing. We are all familiar with the first kind of cleansing by washing with water. Whenever we are dirty we remove the dirt from our bodies by taking a bath. But that is not what happens when we are washed with water in baptism. That washing provides us with a different kind of cleansing: a spiritual cleansing from sin. That happens whenever we appeal to God the Father for a good conscience by confessing our sins and asking for cleansing from the stain of sin. Baptism gives us the right to come to God for cleansing; it gives us a permanent pass, a free ticket to use that bathhouse again and again. We do not receive a good conscience as a permanent possession once for all time on the day of baptism but keep on receiving it as a gift from God the Father. This means that every divine service is an appeal to God for a good conscience.

Fourth, in the Greek, Peter speaks about an appeal to God of a good conscience. He, most likely, intends that to be taken in two ways. When we go to church we not only appeal to God for a good conscience but also appeal to God with a good conscience. The good conscience that we receive from God makes us fit for God, open and receptive to him. It adjusts us to him, like a TV set that is attuned to the same frequency as the transmitter. Once we have a good conscience, we have access to God’s grace (Rom 5:1–2). We can confidently approach God the Father and ask Him for what we need, the things that he has promised to give us.

We, therefore, participate in the divine service in order to receive the gift of a clear conscience. That is why God wants us to go to church. We cannot get that anywhere else on earth, but only there, fully from God, as he provides it for us. Yet that is not all! He gives us a clear conscience so that we can receive him and his heavenly gifts for our life here on earth. That is the purpose of a good conscience. God cleanses it so that we can serve him together with the angels and all the saints in the heavenly sanctuary.

John W. Kleinig, LOGIA 26-3: 8–9