Ask Your Preacher - Archives
“The Conscience Compass”
Categories: RELATIONSHIPS, SELFYou’ve often mention obeying your conscience on this website, but shouldn’t my conscience just conform to whatever the truth is?Sincerely,
Mind Over Mind
Dear Mind Over Mind,
Your conscience is not a perfect guide, but offending it is not okay either. Your conscience makes you feel bad when you do what you think is wrong, and it makes you feel good when you do what you think is right. Notice how we emphasize ‘think’. Your conscience is your mental guide in all matters moral, but it can be wrong. Paul had a clear conscience his whole life (Acts 23:1), yet Paul also killed christians (Acts 26:10). That is because Paul used to think that killing christians was a good thing (Acts 26:9). “There is a way of a man that seems right, but the end is death” (Pr 14:12).
Your conscience is merely a compass; it will begin to point whatever way your knowledge tells it. If you think killing christians is a good thing, you will feel good when you kill christians. If you think killing christians is a bad thing, you will feel bad if you kill them. Paul followed his conscience his whole life; it was his knowledge that changed.
Many people think they are serving God, but they will be sent to hell on the Day of Judgment (Matt 7:22-23). Jesus made it clear that many people with clean consciences will end up in hell because their conscience was clear, but their minds and lives were corrupt. We must fill our minds and lives with the Bible if we want a firm foundation we can trust (Matt 7:24-27). It is only through God’s Word that we can have salvation; a clear conscience is not enough (Rom 1:16).
Having said that, it is important that we do have a clean conscience. It is impossible to serve God without one. Wicked people sear their conscience (1 Tim 4:2). If you obey your conscience, you may do the wrong thing, but if you don’t obey your conscience, you will ALWAYS do the wrong thing. If someone believes something is wrong and still does it, they are in for real problems. It is always a sin to disobey your conscience (Rom 14:23). A pure conscience is not the only requirement for service to God, but without it… you won’t go anywhere.
