The purpose of our conscience

DAILY BIBLE READING:

1 Chronicles 2:18–4:4 
Acts 24:1-27 
Psalm 4:1-8 
Proverbs 18:16-18

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Acts 24:16 (CSB) "I always strive to have a clear conscience toward God and men."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Disney movies are known for their sons that have catchy toons. Many years ago, Disney brought the story of Pinocchio to the big screen with a song that included the lyrics: "Always let your conscience be your guide."

While this and other Disney songs bring the warmth of nostalgia to the middle-aged and older generations, as Christians, we must reject this particular truth claim.

Ultimately, our conscience is not our guide. If it were, it would be a sorry one indeed.

Why?

Because while our conscience has a basic awareness of what is right and wrong, it can be trained or it can be shut down. The Apostle Paul said that some folks had shut their conscience down so many times that they no longer felt the pangs of guilt - it was seared (see 1 Timothy 4:2). It was like it was a piece of flesh that had been so horribly burnt that it was no longer capable of feeling anything.

So, our conscience is not our ultimate guide. The Bible is. We believe that the truth claims of the Bible (properly understood and interpreted) are the objective standards that inform our beliefs and actions. It is our ultimate guide.

Yet, what are we to make of our conscience? After all, our Verse for Today quotes the Apostle Paul as stating that he had worked tirelessly to maintain a clear conscience.

To begin to answer that question, all we need to do is look up the word "conscience" in our Bibles. In the Bible translation that I preach from (English Standard Version), the word "conscience" appears 29 times in 28 verses (once in the OT and 28 times in the NT). From these numbers, we can see that the Bible places great importance on our conscience.

Essentially, our conscience is the light on the car dashboard. It is intended to light up when something is wrong. 

The conscience can (and should) be trained by regular, daily intake of God's Word so that it can more accurately assess the moral quality of a thought, motive, or action and warn us when something is wrong. 

Rather than make this blog post too much longer, let me simply give a few insights into how we are to think about our conscience and the corresponding Bible verses:

• Paul worked passionately to live with a clear conscience (Acts 23:1; 24:16; Romans 9:1).
• Non-believers have a conscience that testifies to a moral law. Even when they do not know the Bible, their conscience makes it clear to them that they are lawbreakers. (Romans 2:15).
• We should strive for a clear conscience (Romans 13:5).
• Violating our conscience is wrong (1 Corinthians 8:7-13; 10:23-30).
• The goal of the Gospel is a clear conscience (1 Timothy 1:5, 18-19; 3:9).

There are so many more verses and insights regarding the conscience but I will end here. While our conscience should not be our ultimate guide, it must be listened to. But, it must also be trained by regular intake of God's Word. God has given it to us and it can greatly help us on the road of righteousness if it is used properly.

The Two Greatest Commands

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Exodus 17:8-19:15

Matthew 22:34-23:12

Psalm 27:7-14

Proverbs 6:27-35

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Matthew 22:37-40 "Jesus replied, 'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Have you ever wished that you could boil the commands of Scripture down to a handful of "dos" and "don'ts?" Of course you have. The list of instructions that we are called to comply with can be incredibly overwhelming.

Fortunately, Jesus did just that. He boiled all of the commands of Scripture down to two commands.

In Matthew 22:34-36, we read about an expert in the law who came to Jesus. He wanted to embarrass Jesus in front of everyone by asking an impossible question.

"Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" (Matthew 22:36)

This "expert" believed that he was boxing Jesus into a corner with this question. He suspected that regardless of how Jesus answered, He was going to divide the crowd. Virtually everyone had their own opinions about what the more important command was ... and everyone's opinion differed from everyone else.

So, what was Jesus to do? He could have refused to answer but that would have made Him look weak and indecisive. He had to answer. But how? What was the greatest commandment?

"Jesus replied, 'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)

In saying this, Jesus took the hundreds of biblical commands and shrunk them down to two. Love God with everything you've got and love your neighbor as you love yourself.

The word for "love" that Jesus used did not necessarily speak of the emotion. It primarily spoke of submitting oneself to someone else. In human relations, it pointed to the willingness to focus on the needs of someone else even if it meant personal sacrifice. 

So, we love God by submitting ourselves to Him and serving / worshiping Him from our heart. We love others by submitting ourselves to them and providing for their needs, as we are led by God's Holy Spirit, even if it means doing so will cost us.

But, notice the last verse. Jesus said that "the entire law and all of the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." That means that each of God's commands are not whimsical. They aren't a mindless assembly of "dos" and "don'ts." They are based on the primary mentality of submitting ourselves to God and others.

Imagine, just imagine, what it would be like to be a part of a church (and a larger Christian community) where everyone obeyed these two commands! They sincerely loved and served the Lord and they were always putting others above themselves. Wouldn't that be Heaven on earth?

Well, we can work for that today. On this day, ask God to help you grow in your obedience to these two primary commandments.

When Being Sad is Very Good

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Exodus 8:1-9:35
Matthew 19:13-30
Psalm 24:1-10
Proverbs 6:1-5


BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:


Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,"


REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Imagine that someone came to you today and said: "What do I need to do to get to Heaven?" If you are a Christian, that would be exciting! People rarely come right out and ask such a question but if they did, we would assume that they are ready to ask Jesus into their life.

Right? Not necessarily.

In our time in God's Word today, we read where someone came to Jesus and asked that very question:

"Someone came to Jesus with this question: 'Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" (Matthew 19:16)

Well, we would expect that Jesus would go right into the Gospel: "Say this pray and the deal is done."

Such a thing happens all too often in contemporary Christianity. Yet, it never happened in Scripture - not once. Nowhere was someone told to simply say a prayer to be saved. Instead, they were told to repent, believe, and then demonstrate a changed life the rest of their days.

So, what did Jesus say to this guy who was asking how to get to Heaven? He didn't take him to the good news of the Gospel. Instead, He took him to the Old Testament law - specifically the 10 Commandments.

Jesus observed that the guy was a little too loose in his use of the word "good." He called Jesus "good" (Matthew 19:16) even though he had no idea that Jesus was God in the flesh. He simply thought too highly of other people. He didn't realize that everyone was a guilty sinner before a holy God.

Further, he thought to highly of himself. When Jesus treated the 10 Commandments as a mirror desiring to show the guy that he was a sinner in need of a Savior, he responded by saying that he was pretty good. 

"'I've obeyed all these commandments,' the young man replied. 'What else must I do?'" (Matthew 19:20)

Good grief! The guy was saturated with self-righteousness. He had asked Jesus how to get to Heaven but he apparently thought he was more than good enough to get there on his own merits.

The irony is that before we can be saved and made righteous, we must recognize our utter sinfulness. Before we can reach out to a Savior, we must realize that we are in desperate need of saving. Before we are prepared to reach out for a cure, we must realize that we are horribly sick. Before we can go up in forgiveness and joy, we must go down in conviction and repentance.

So, because Jesus loved him, He nailed him. Jesus knew that this man needed to recognize that he desperately needed to see himself as a sinner before he could reach out for a Savior. The guy's wealth was his god - He was breaking the very first commandment. He needed to be confronted with this sin and his sinfulness so that his heart could receive the Good News.

"Jesus told him, 'If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" (Matthew 19:21)

If Jesus had balled up his fist and hit the guy right in the nose, He couldn't have startled him anymore than this. The rich young ruler was delighting in his opportunity to demonstrate his self-righteousness before Jesus and the onlookers but Jesus had just asked him to do something he was incapable of doing. His money was too valuable to him. As much as he wanted to go to Heaven, he would not give up his money to get there.

Jesus could have said, "Your money is your god" and this man would have denied it. But, in telling this man to release his grip on his wealth by giving it away, this young man's response clearly demonstrated the point for all to see.

So, what happened?

"But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions." (Matthew 19:22)

He went away without Heaven. He went away without the Gospel. He went away without forgiveness and without being saved. He went away defeated and sad. 

But, this could have been a very, very good thing! He had been confronted with the law. His heart was exposed. He had seen that he loved the temporal much more than the eternal. Over time, he may have grown so displeased at what he had seen. He wasn't as righteous as he thought he was. He was a sinner in need of a Savior.

It is quite possible that his confrontation with the law brought about conviction in his heart. It is quite possible that after his sinful heart was exposed that he may have come back to Jesus at a later time to be saved - not as a righteous man but as a guilty sinner in need of a Savior. At that point, he would have been ready to receive what Jesus desired to give him.

Just a thought:
This man was unnamed. We don't know who he was. But wouldn't it be a wonderful story if we get to Heaven and realize that this unnamed rich young ruler was Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man (Matthew 27:57), who took Jesus body and buried it in his own cave only for it to be vacated 3 days later? We'll just have to wait and see.