The Case for Biblical Discernment: Conscience

Prayer:

Questions:

Why is the conscience an untrustworthy resource in its natural state?

How would you define the conscience?

Read Romans 2:14–15 “14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

What two functions are mentioned in these verses?

What word is used in the OT context to describe the components of the conscience?

Read Psalm 139:23–24 “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

What were the 3 conditions can we find the human in?

What is a defiled conscience and how do we see examples of this in society today?

How does Jesus cleanse the conscience?

How does the Spirit strengthen the conscience?

Read Hebrews 10:19–22 “19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

How can we ensure that our conscience is properly informed according to God’s Word?

How can understanding the condition of our conscience impact our approach to making choices in our lives?

Intro:

Alarm siren in my old house

I eventually had to remove it just to keep it from going on inadvertantly

It was unnecessary warnings

Today, for this second sermon in our series on Biblical Discernment, I want us to think about the role of the conscience in our lives and with our choices.

The conscience of every person has been called the “warning system of soul.” But it is not like that alarm system in my house that was malfunctioning. The conscience was given by God for a purpose. My goal today is to give a systematic overview of the conscience and show how with it we can make biblical decisions and live lives for the glory of God.

Many children in the last 75 years learned about conscience from Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket. In this Disney movie, children were taught to let your conscience by your guide. From that pearl of wisdom, we watched Pinocchio ignore the wisdom of his cricket friend and get himself into a large amount of trouble and regret. From a secular standpoint, the conscience is all a person has, but can it be trusted and how should we use our conscience?

Let’s begin to answer that question today by looking at the defintion of conscience…

1. The Definition of Conscience

The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines the conscience as a

“Self-awareness that judges whether or not an act one has carried out or plans to carry out is in harmony with one’s moral standards.”

The word conscience is a compound word that means “co-knowledge” or to know oneself. We might classify the conscience as the inner voice that we hear inside of us throughout the days, weeks and months of our lives. With the reality of that faculty within us, we must try and understand its functions and why God placed it there.

We learn the most about conscience from Paul’s writings in the NT. You cannot find the word conscience used in the OT, although the concept is present.

Proverbs 20:27

“27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.”

Solomon does not call it the conscience, but the action is the spirit of the man seems to perform the same action.

When David was on the run from Saul and he hid in the cave, we secretly got close enough to Saul unnoticed that he cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. Later the Bible tells us

1 Samuel 24:5

“5 It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe.”

Now the NASB translators wrote conscience here but the HB word is leb which is usually just translated heart. What this teaches us is that the heart of a man includes the inner conscience of that man, working together.

Psalm 139:23–24

“23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

What we will see is the correlation of the conscience with the motives of the human heart and the connection of those motives to the mind and inner thoughts.

The majority of the instruction of the conscience comes from Paul. 31 times conscience is used in the NT which gives us the greatest understanding of what we are to do with this faculty within us.

Let’s look at what the Apostle Paul says to the church in Rome:

Romans 2:14–16

“14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

Paul is talking about the state of humanity and their fallenness in sin. He is stating to the Roman Church that Gentiles and Jews are without excuse before a holy God. For the Gentiles, they did not have the law of God to instruct them as to what was sin. One might consider that as an escape goat for the Gentile. One might say, “I didn’t know such and such was sin against God and therefore how can I be judged accordingly.” In Romans 1, Paul makes his case that the Gentiles who practiced gross immoralities were without excuse because …

Romans 1:19–20

“19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

God has put within every man the evidence needed for them to seek God, to know God’s presence in the world, and to understand that God as judge deems actions morally right and wrong.

This is where Paul is heading in Romans 2. Romans 2 is considered a change of subject matter. In Romans 1, Paul is stating that the most vile heaten is without excuse, but in Romans 2, Paul is also not exusing the moral Gentile either. Notice in 2:1-3

Romans 2:1–3

“1 Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Now who is passing judgement on the corrupted heathen, the legalistic heathen. Here Paul is speaking to the moralist in the Gentile world, for not all of them were homosexual, vile, violent pagans. Some loved virtue, love kindness, loved philanthropy. Here Paul also wants these to know they too are not able to escape God’s wrath with a clean sheet of goodness compared to their lewd countrymen.

Instead, he writes,

Romans 2:9–11

“9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.”

Now he enters into the theme that there is no partiality with God when it comes to sinful actions against his name. That which condemns the Jew in this judgment from God is that they were given the law of God and they violated that law daily.

But the Gentiles, moral or immoral in their minds, were also guilty. Why? Because God gave them a conscience that imprinted on that conscience a moral framework of right and wrong.

Romans 2:14–15

“14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

Notice the term “instinctively” that Paul uses. They do lawful things, although never receiving the law, because the law was written on their hearts. This is the conscience at work in their human nature.

Therefore, all human beings have a conscience, that conscience generates a morality within in them, but the faculty of the conscience is tainted and ruined by sin. Because of the fall of man, the conscience has become an untrustworthy guide. Its a train in motion but without tracks underneath it directing it where to go.

Let’s spend some time thinking about the condition of the conscience further:

2. The Condition of the Conscience

A. The Defiled Conscience

Titus 1:15

“15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”

Sin defiles the mind and the conscience where judges the mind and the actions. This is the state of every believer.

Let me be very clear that the conscience is not a trustworthy guide because the conscience can be conditioned to believe many things that are not violations of the law of God are in fact sinful. For example, in our world today, the consciences of many young children are being improperly informed that a family with two dads or two moms is the proper loving function of the family. When these peopel hear the biblical stance that nuclear family was created with the components of one man and one woman in faithful marriage it violates that person’s conscience. Why? It irritates their conscience because in its fallen condition, it has been defiled by sin and the perverse condition of this world.

Spurgeon writes these words,

“I believe in the fall of man, and I believe it to be total, and that conscience is a power that has fallen with all the rest, and that there does not exist in the world a pure conscience except so far as God has purified it by the work of His Spirit. Conscience itself is a defiled thing. So far from being a representative of God, I could not think for a moment of comparing it with that ever-blessed and pure being. The fact is that conscience, although it must practically be to man his guide, is not a safe one ever, for the true guide of every man is the Bible, the revealed will of God. That is true and pure and right, but my conscience may often be a dark conscience, an ignorant conscience, a perverted conscience. My business is not to follow my conscience as I find it, but to go to God and ask Him to enlighten my conscience and guide it”

There is no remedy for a defiled conscience outside of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

B. The Cleansed Conscience

The second condition is the Cleansed Conscience

Hebrews 10:19–22 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Because of the work of Christ, the conscience can be renewed to function towards the goodness and holiness of God. Sin does not have its final say in the matter. Christ is victorious over the conscience as a good gift from God. With this redemptive work, the conscience is cleansed from its defilement of sin and can be used for God’s glory in this world. Because of Christ, the conscience is a tool in conjunction with the illumination of the Holy Spirit to guide us into truth and along the right path.

C. The Weak/Mature Conscience

Paul also mentions the weak conscience.

We looked at the weak conscience in 1 Cor 8-10. The weak conscience is the immature conscience. This describes a person in Paul’s mind that is new to their faith in Christ. Their heart has been regenerated by the finished work of Christ. Their mind and their conscience are still weak, fragile and needing to grow in maturity. A weak conscience is one that judges the new Christian about their old paths of guilt and shame.

When we wrestle with the shame of past sins as a believer, we are dealing with a weak area of our conscience that must be renewed with our minds to think on the new realities of what Christ has done for us. If our mind remembers the grossness of that sin, out conscience casts judgment on that sin declaring us guilty, but the Holy Spirit engages the heart and corrects us to see that the finished work of Christ demands a new evaluation.

Paul’s example is 1 Corinthians 8:7–12

“7 However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. 8 But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.

Paul is talking to the church in Corinth that needed more consideration for the weaker brothers in the body. Many in the church who left pagan religion of the Gentile world, often considered the meat offered to idols as an extension of their worship of the gods. In their new transition to Chirst, they wrestled with the idea that the meat that was once offered in pagan temples, offered to false gods, still was connected to these false gods or demons. They in essence struggled to think demons possessed that meat. But for the mature Christain, that meat was just meat and it contained no threat to the believer.

What they need was the correct information of the mind that comes via the Holy Spirit so that mind is being renewed and the conscience would judge rightly.

In contrast, the word of God informs and strengthens the conscience to work as God intended it. You can not have a perfect conscience but you can continually strengthen in with the word of God.

Paul stood before his accusers in Acts 23:1 and testeifed

Acts 23:1 “1 Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.””

As I stated last week, Paul had been arrest on false accusations that he had defiled the temple by bringing Gentiles into restricted areas. Paul knew that he had not done so and he weighed his actions according to the commandments of God in regards to the temple. The resulting verdict was that he could stand before his accusers and say that he lived his life BEFORE GOD as he should have.

3. The Function of a Sanctified Conscience

Let’s wrap this up with the function of the conscience. We have looked at a definition and the condition of it in every person. Now how does it work.

A. The Conscience: A Good Historian and Judge

Let’s go back to Romans 2 again

Romans 2:14–15 “14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

Now here I want to highlight the end of v 15…that the conscience accuses or defends. Based on the information that you have fed your conscience, the conscience judges within based on that information.

As I previously stated, your conscience can be a poor judge for you if it is defiled and weak. If you feed your body garbage, don’t expect to feel great and live a long healthy life. What are you feeding your conscience? How is it being informed? If you feed it with the word of God, it will operate by accusing you when you violate His word or it will defend and encourage you that you have done well before God in your life.

1 Peter 3:15–16

“15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”

Peter makes the point that a heart that is sanctified with Christ as Lord is directly correlated to keeping a good conscience. Peter goes on to make the connection that a good conscience that judges a person innocent within will pay dividends when your enemies slander and accuse you. In that moment, a mature conscience surveys the history and makes a proper judgment, regardless of what others say.

B. The Conscience: An Encourager

2 Corinthians 1:12

“12 For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.”

Paul writes in his last letter to the Corinthians that because of mature testimony of his work in the world, Paul is encouraged in his heart and confident in his ministry. We all know what it feels like to have a guilty conscience, but Paul says that we can also gain confidence from an encouraging one.

How did Paul’s conscience look back and tesify about him….that he lived in holiness and godly sincerity. Does your conscience testify about you in this way if this was your last day on the earth? Could you say you are living in holiness and godly sincerity before God and with your neighbor?

C. The Conscience: A Good Guide

Not only does the conscience look backwards but in its maturity, it can also help us move forward in our Christian lives and make healthy biblical decisions.

1 Timothy 1:18–19

“18 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.”

Paul tells Timothy to fight the good fight of faith by keeping faith in what he believes from the truth of God’s word and to keep a good conscience. Keeping or maintaining a good conscience is directly correlated to our daily lives of faith in Christ. Not only does the conscience look to the past but it helps us in the future. It helps us make decisions based on the word of God that informs it and the Holy Spirit who guides the conscience of man.

Let me close with Paul’s words in Romans 14

Romans 14:20–23

“20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. 22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.”

Remember that the weak conscience of the man who thought the meat offered to idols was still flavored with demons. Paul’s point to the Romans is that if we violate our conscience, we do so not in faith to God and therefore it is sin. They believed wrongly about idol meat and were uninformed but they would be guilty of sin if they violated their conscience because God has given to the conscience to be rightly informed and obeyed.

We must then :

Equip our minds with the word of God so that our conscience is strengthen

Listen to our conscience as we live by day. It may be looking back to lead us to repentance and faith over past sin. It may be guiding you forward along the path of light that has been shone in your hearts by the truth of God’s word and the Holy Spirit.

Rest in Jesus Christ who has cleansed your conscience from dead works and who by his power equips you with the tools necessary to live holy lives.

The Vanishing Conscience Recovering the Doctrine of the Conscience

Charles Wesley wrote this hymn about the conscience:

I want a principle within

Of watchful, godly fear,

A sensibility of sin,

A pain to feel it near.

Help me the first approach to feel

Of pride or wrong desire;

To catch the wandering of my will,

And quench the kindling fire.

From Thee that I no more may stray,

No more Thy goodness grieve,

Grant me the filial awe, I pray,

The tender conscience give.

Quick as the apple of an eye,

O God, my conscience make!

Awake my soul when sin is nigh,

And keep it still awake