by Keith Sharp
“Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day” (Acts 23:1).
The popular admonition is, “Let your conscience be your guide.” This is used to justify all the religious division around us, whereas the Lord prayed for believers in Him to be united (John 14:6). Is conscience a safe guide?
Definition
What is “conscience”? The English word “conscience” is composed of the prefix “con,” meaning “with,” and the root “science,” meaning “knowledge” or “to know.” Thus, “conscience” literally means “to know with oneself.”
“Conscience” is a consciousness of one’s own guilt or innocence. “For then would they (animal sacrifices – KS) not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins” Hebrews 10:2 The word translated “consciousness” is the same Greek term translated “conscience” in every other New Testament occurrence.
The function of conscience is to bear witness of one’s guilt or innocence to that person himself as he compares his own thoughts, words, and actions to whatever standard of right and wrong he has accepted (Romans 9:1; John 8:9). It’s like a speed control device on a car or truck. It is valuable as long as it is properly set and effectively works.
Our Guide?
Can conscience alone safely guide? Conscience is within each person, subjective, and we are incapable of being our own guides. “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). In the days of the judges in Israel, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). To read Judges chapters seventeen through twenty-one, examples of the way Israel lived at the time, is to be appalled by their moral and spiritual depravity. Jesus had to die for our sins because “We have turned, every one, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).
Some consciences are incapable of exerting the proper influence. Some are too weak to be a proper influence, and some lack proper guidance (1 Corinthians 8:7). Thus, some people have consciences that fail to exert proper or strong enough influence (1 Corinthians 8:10-12). Some have “defiled” consciences because they have repeatedly violated them or are just plain filthy minded (1 Corinthians 8:7; Titus 1:15). Some have so seared their consciences by continually violating them that they are useless (1 Timothy 4:1-2). They are past feeling (Ephesians 4:17-19).
Saul of Tarsus exemplifies the problem. He persecuted disciples of Christ “unto the death” (Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-2; 22:4), yet his conscience approved (Acts 23:1; 26:9). Nonetheless, he was a vile sinner (1 Timothy 1:12-15).
When Useful?
Is conscience ever a safe witness? Before Saul learned the truth his conscience was unsafe (1 Timothy 1:12-15), but after he learned the truth, his conscience bore true testimony, and he properly heeded it (Acts 24:14-16).
Conclusion
Conscience, to bear proper testimony, must itself be properly guided. That guide is not human feelings but divine revelation, the Word of God (2 Corinthians 5:7; Romans 10:17). We must not look within to subjective feelings for direction but outside ourselves to the objective, divine standard, the Bible.
