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 power of our conscience

DAILY BIBLE READING:

1 Samuel 24:1–25:44 
John 10:22-42 
Psalm 116:1-19 
Proverbs 15:20-21

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

1 Samuel 24:5 "Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

In our Verse for Today, the word "conscience" appears. It is that part of us that sounds the alarm when we believe that we have done something wrong. And it is so powerful that it may cause us to subconsciously put off some signals that others may notice. (I wrote a post "Symptoms of a Guilty Conscience" in July 2011 and it continues to be accessed every day. It currently has 5,421 pageviews. People are definitely interested in what the conscience can do!)

Rather than write a post on the conscience, I will simply create a list of some of the notions I have (peppered with Scripture) about this powerful force that resides in each of us:

• Conscience is the "voice" inside our head that lets us know when we have cross a moral line and done something we believe to be wrong.
• Conscience is something that Jesus-followers and non-Jesus-followers have.
• Conscience is essentially God's law written on our hearts (see Romans 2:15).
• Conscience cannot be explained by the evolutionary worldview. This theory of origins cannot explain why humans feel utterly guilty when they do something they believe to be wrong even when they have never been told that it was wrong. (However, a belief in a divine, moral Creator aligns perfectly with the presence of a conscience.)
• Conscience is NOT the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit works with our conscience to convict us when we sin.
• Some people shut down their conscience so that they are no longer bothered by what is sinful (1 Timothy 4:2).
• The conscience can and should be trained by daily, meaningfully significant study and meditation upon God's Word.
• Our conscience is not the ultimate authority. We may be innocent even though our conscience bothers us and we may be guilty even though our conscience feels clear (see 1 Corinthians 4:4).

Our conscience had be incredibly helpful in our walk with the Lord. It is the light on the dashboard that illuminates when something is wrong. So, inform it by being a student of God's Word. And then live according to God's Word while, secondarily, listening to your conscience.

Reflections on the Jerry Sandusky verdict

Last night, the jury arrived at a verdict in the Jerry Sandusky case. He was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of sexual abuse of minors. There was an overwhelming amount of testimonies. There was a lack of overwhelming substantive evidence. And yet, the jury and most people watching the trial believe that Sandusky was lying and should spend the rest of his life in prison.

Did the jury get it right? Or, as the case proceeds through the appeals process (which almost certainly is a given), will it become apparent that the witnesses were lying? Who knows?

But, there is one person who most certainly knows - Jerry Sandusky. As the verdict was read, Sandusky showed little emotion. Yet, inside his mind and heart, he knew the truth. If he is truly guilty, there was never an acknowledgment of it as he sat silently.

This is human nature. 

Adam and Eve would not volunteer a confession until God confronted them (Genesis 3).

Sarah could not acknowledge the fact that she laughed at a promise given by the Lord even when confronted (Genesis 18:9-15).

David refused to acknowledge an adulterous affair, murder and deception until the prophet Nathan confronted him (2 Samuel 12:1-15).

Annanias and Saphirra would not volunteer the truth to the Apostle Peter (Acts 5:1-11).

This is human nature ... or rather an evidence of the sin nature. Valuing self-protection and comfort more than "truth," the sin nature lies and refuses to acknowledge truth.

And, depending upon the nature of the offense, some folks (who have an active conscience) will withhold the truth to their own harm. They will live with guilt the rest of their lives. If they don't shut their conscience down completely ("sear it" - 1 Timothy 4:2), they will begin to experience problems with their health, relationships, etc. 

In his commentary on the book of Ephesians, John MacArthur recounts the following story:

"According to an ancient Greek story, a Spartan youth stole a fox but then inadvertently came upon the man from whom he had stolen it. To keep his theft from being discovered, the boy stuck the fox inside his clothes and stood without moving a muscle while the frightened fox tore out his vital organs. Even at the cost of his own painful death he would not own up to his wrong."

It is a godly and courageous person, indeed, who will own up to what they have done. Why is it courageous? Because it is rarely if ever easy. In fact, it may be the hardest and most frightening thing someone will ever do ... and in confessing, there may be consequences.

But there is so much on the line! Why?

Because if the person is saved, God will bring discipline into that person's life until they make it right (Hebrews 12:5-11). 

And if discipline does not come in this life, it shows that someone is not God's child. Thus, they will hear the Lord say on the Day of Judgment: "I never knew you, depart from me..." (Matthew 7:22-23). The place to which these men and women are sent is a place of intense anguish (Matthew 13:41-42; Revelation 20:11-15). And it will be forever (Matthew 25:46). Horrid thought!!!

This second possibility shows that a desire to protect oneself from truth and consequences in this life may reveal that there are infinitely greater consequences in the life to come.

It's not worth it! Just meditate on the promise and joy of experiencing the truth of this verse, of being right with God:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). 

Being right with God and enjoying Him is worth whatever cost you may have to pay to get it!