THE CONSCIENCE

Jun6

“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:” (1 Tim. 1:5).

  • The conscience is an important part of us. It is involved in fulfilling the end of the commandment, the ultimate of what God wants of us.  To attain unto the end, there must be love coming out of a good conscience.
  • Therefore, understanding about the conscience must be pretty important. What is the conscience, where is it, what can it do, what can be done to it, what’s the significance of it, the importance?
  • Even one of those concepts is somewhat hard to grasp, hard to define, especially in just a few words. We want to try to learn as much as we can through a study of God’s word.
  • We’ll start by noting the conscience is part of the heart, that unseen part of man, the inward and eternal part of man. But what is it, what does it do (Heb. 10:22)?

ACTS 23:1  KINDS

  • Let’s note the different kinds of consciences the Bible speaks of. One kind is good.
  • Acts 24:16 Void of offence.
  • 1 Tim. 3:9
  • 9:9 Perfect.
  • 9:14 Purged.
  • 1 Cor. 8:7   Defiled.
  • 1 Cor. 8:12
  • 1 Tim. 4:2
  • 10:22 Evil.

HEBREWS 13:18  DEFINING THE CONSCIENCE AND ITS KINDS

  • There is no passage that just comes right out and defines the conscience, but there are passages that describe the different kinds of consciences. Through these, we can begin to grasp the idea of what the conscience is and what the different kinds of consciences are.
  • Here a good conscience is defined; one who has a good conscience, in all things is willing [to determine] to live honestly [well](well). So the conscience has something to do with determining or deciding how we will live, what we will allow or not allow ourselves to do.  A good conscience is one in which we have determined or decided that we will only do good, and is what we allow, or want.
  • Acts 23:1  Paul could say he had lived in all good conscience before God; he had always lived determining to do that which was good.  For a while he was wrong about what was good (persecuting instead of supporting Christians), but he was still determined to do good.
  • 10:22 What is always contrasted with good?  Evil.  If a good conscience is one always determined to do what is good, what is an evil conscience?  Where one hasn’t determined to always do good; one allows evil in their life, no conscience about it.
  • Acts 24:16 Here is described a conscience void of offence.  Wouldn’t this mean being able to always live by ones conscience.  With my conscience, I determine to live a certain way, to do what’s right and good; if I successfully live by my conscience, then it is void of offence.
  • 1 Cor. 8:6-7; 1 Cor. 8:10-12 Here we have described the weak, wounded, and defiled conscience.  The context is one doing something against their conscience.  In this case, one doesn’t have the knowledge that it’s okay to eat meat offered to idols (they think it’s wrong, that it isn’t good).
  • If such has a good conscience (a determination to do good), will they eat? But if their conscience is weak [strengthless], they’ll give in, go against their conscience.  When that happens the conscience is wounded (beat, smite, strike) and defiled [soiled].
  • By contrast, a strong conscience (though not referred to in the scriptures) would be where one is able to overcome any such temptation and live by their conscience.
  • Titus 1:15 Here, contrasted with a defiled conscience is a pure [clean]conscience.  So it would seem a pure conscience has something in common with one void of offence.  It would seem to denote a conscience that is both good and void offence.
  • 2 Tim. 1:3 Paul could say he served God with a pure conscience (good and void of offence).  I can have an evil conscience (where I allow and okay myself to do what’s evil) and still have a conscience void of offence.  If it’s not against my conscience to do evil, then it won’t offend my conscience to do evil.
  • The Lord doesn’t want us to simply have a clear conscience void of offence, He wants us to have a good conscience, one that will only allow good and right. He wants it pure [clean], not simply clear.
  • 1 Tim. 4:2 This speaks of a seared conscience.  This perhaps denotes a conscience that doesn’t work any more, doesn’t care.  However one determines to live, one can go against that determination (against their conscience) and it doesn’t bother them.
  • We’ll get to purged and perfected conscience later, but the definitions of these words should help us. To purge is to cleanse or make clean or pure.  Again, not clear, but clean.  Perfected is completed, fulfilled, a conscience that’s everything God would want of a conscience.

ACTS 23:1  THE CONSCIENCE AT WORK

  • So what are some things the conscience does or accomplishes? For one, it determines (at least partly) how we live.  Paul’s good conscience caused him to live a certain way before God.
  • 13:5 We must be careful what we do, for conscience sake.  Our conscience helps keep us in check, walking the line, the strait and narrow way (like being subject to the government).  How?  If we don’t do right, we’re going to have to live with our guilty consciences.  So our conscience helps us do what’s right.
  • 1 Pet. 2:19 Again, it helps determine our walk in life.  Our (good) conscience that is so determined to do right and so much wants to avoid the guilt of doing wrong, helps keep us doing right even when it causes us to endure grief and wrongful suffering.
  • Of course, if our conscience is weak, we might give in and do wrong. But even in this, our conscience is helping determine how we live.  Examples of evil, good, strong, weak.
  • John 8:9 Our conscience will convict us.  If we’ve done some wrong (or are about to), the conscience can convict [to confute, admonish] (rebuke, reprove) us.  Without such a conscience, we’d just go right on unchecked.
  • 2:14-15 The conscience will also bear witness or give testimony; the conscience of these gave witness or testified of their good hearts and determination to do what’s right or good.
  • 9:1 Not that it’s necessarily always easy to see the conscience of others, but if we could, it’d tell us a lot about the person; we’d know a lot about them.  To know what a person will or will not allow – that says a lot about a person.

1 COR. 10:27-33  THE CONSCIENCE OF OTHERS

  • What about the consciences of others; do we have any responsibility there? Do I have to take the consciences of others into consideration in regards to what I do or don’t do?
  • Most certainly. I will let my liberty (to do something that’s entirely lawful) be judged (essentially limited) by another’s conscience.  The situation here is when my doing something might encourage someone else to do something they think is wrong (to go against their conscience), I’m not to do it.
  • 1 Cor. 8:9-12 Doing such places a stumblingblock in ones way.  So if such a thing makes my brother to offend, then we aren’t to do it.

HEB. 10:22  OUR CONSCIENCE AND CHRIST

  • Let’s talk about our consciences as it relates to becoming and being a Christian. We are to draw near to God with a true heart, cleansing ourselves of an evil conscience.  What’s this all about?
  • Is it just getting rid of guilt, giving us a clear conscience? We’re talking about taking one who doesn’t have a good conscience (determined to do only good) and making it into such.
  • 9:9, 13-14 Regarding the conscience, what didn’t the OT sacrifices do; what did the blood of Christ do?  The OT sacrifices only purified the flesh and didn’t perfect the conscience, the NT purged the conscience.
  • Do we really think this is only talking about clearing the conscience of guilt? Is it not cleaning the conscience of that evil conscience (a conscience that allowed dead works and sin), that it might be good (one that’s simply set on serving the living God)?
  • 1 Pet. 3:21 Baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God.  Not a clear conscience, a good conscience, one that’s always determined to do what’s good and right.  Ro 6 teaches us that baptism would be such an answer [an inquiry] or appeal; one puts to death the old man to rise up and walk in newness of life, serving righteousness, living unto God.
  • Coming to Christ demands having this purged conscience, a true turning from any sin and wrong, to righteousness and service to God. The Old Testament sacrifices didn’t, in and of themselves, demand such.

1 TIMOTHY 1:5  CONCLUSION

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