OUR CONSCIENCE


A. THE CONSCIENCE - WHAT IS IT?
  1. The conscience is that faculty of the mind which approves or disapproves of our thoughts, words, and actions:
    1. It gives consciousness of the good or the bad motives or conduct -
      1. It may react to the dictate of the powers of reason, convicting of a wrong - John 8:9
      2. Or it may give approval of what a person thinks or does - Acts 23:1; Rom. 9:1
    2. It is a wonderful gift from God which differentiates man from beast.
  2. Some men are aware of its powers and have all sorts of ideas about it:
    1. Some think of it as the voice of the Holy Spirit.
    2. Others believe that the conscience of man is just one of the faculties of the mind which reacts to what a person thinks, speaks or does.
B. WHAT WE MAY KNOW ABOUT THE CONSCIENCE
  1. It is not infallible, as claimed by some:
    1. It is dependent upon the information it has or receives.
    2. What one accepts as truth will give direction to the function of conscience - ILLUSTRATION
      1. A Catholic, brought up in the doctrine of Rome, has a Catholic conscience.
      2. A Protestant, indoctrinated in Protestantism, has a Protestant conscience.
      3. That holds true for all religions, Pagan or Christian.
  2. The conscience can be educated or trained:
    1. There was a time in the life of Saul, now called Paul, when his conscience approved of destroying Christians - Acts 7:58; 8:1; 9:1, 2
    2. But when God gave him more light, his will, his conscience, reacted differently.
    3. He now attributes his former action to the result of ignorance - 1 Tim. 1:13
    4. Paul's experience is typical of most of us.
    5. The conscience of Felix, the governor, reacted quickly upon being enlightened by the message of Paul - Acts 24:25
  3. Our conscience is subject to the treatment we give it:
    1. It can be seared - 1 Tim. 4:2
    2. It can be weakened - 1 Cor. 8:10
    3. It can be blinded - 2 Cor. 4:4
    4. It can be cleansed - Heb. 10:22
  4. The Bible speaks of:
    1. A good conscience - Heb. 13:10
    2. An evil conscience - Heb. 10:22
C. THIS BRINGS US TO THE QUESTION - IS THE CONSCIENCE A SAFE GUIDE IN MATTERS OF FAITH?
  1. That all depends:
    1. We have already shown that the conscience is dependent upon the information it has; if the information is incorrect, the voice of conscience is unsafe.
    2. If it is misinformed, it will mislead. This is illustrated in the Bible and in every day life - EXAMPLES -
      1. A Pagan may be just as sincere as the informed Christian, yet worship a god made of wood or stone - Acts 17:22, 23
      2. A Catholic may be just as conscientious as a Seventh- day Adventist when he believes that Mary is in heaven making intercession for him.
  2. The conscience is a safe guide:
    1. When it is guided by the Word of God - 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Ps. 119:9, 11
    2. When it is enlightened by the Holy Spirit; it is the Holy Spirit that uses the Word to enlighten the mind or the faculty of reason.
    3. People that do not know the scriptures are, according to Christ, ignorant - Matt. 22:29; that means that if they are ignorant, their conscience is ignorant of the truth.
  3. A good and enlightened conscience is in evidence when we sincerely live up to the light we have, but when we disobey the Word of God, then the conscience is in danger to be seared:


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