Conscience part 2

If you were present last Sunday morning we used our time to study the conscience.

We defined it, saw what it implied, and explored whether or not it can be a reliable guide.

Today we want to examine a number of passages.

Conscience is not found Matthew, Mark, or Luke. We first find the term in the book of John, John 8:9.

Scribes and Pharisees again came to see the Lord.

With them was a woman; a woman who had committed adultery.

This lady was put before the Lord and the religious elite announced her sin.

It took some guts to do what these men did.

Their actions suggest hardness in the heart.

When this account is studied, these men were really cruel to this woman.

Jesus responded to these men and verse 9 says something very interesting (the KJV):

“And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience.”

Here is a valuable point when we think about the conscience.

A person may be hardened and almost ruthless.

In almost every case, a person has a conscience which can be touched.

Our tool to reach a person’s conscience is just like the one Jesus used; the Word of God.

I know Jesus used His finger to draw something on the ground (Jn. 8:8).

Verse 9 says, “When they heard it.”

If we want to convict a person’s conscience, the Bible is the right tool.

When we think about the conscience it certainly applies to us and our dealing with non-Christians.

If we are going to reach lost people, we must let’s God work prick this part of their being.

This one way the word conscience is important to us.

Another way, and perhaps the primary way, involves our own lives.

There is an interesting text in Acts 24:16.

Paul appeared before a ruler. This apostle said he was defending himself.

In fact, it gave Paul great joy to tell about his life.

When giving this presentation, Paul spoke about his conscience.

Verse 16 – READ.

When Christians think about the word conscience, here is a goal.

We can and should strive for a “clean conscience” with both God and man.

When dealing with others, have we been kind, ethical, and practiced the golden rule?

With God, have we been respectful, appreciative, and diligent?

Have we truly dedicated our life to His service?

Acts 24 tells us it is possible for a person to have a “clean conscience.”

In saying that we have a clean conscience, we are not saying a Christian is sinless.

Paul was the speaker in Acts 24.

When writing to the Christians in Rome (Rom. 7), he had some interesting things.

In one section of Rom. 7 he presents his life as a conflict.

He wanted to do what was good, but sometimes he failed to make that choice.

When sin was chosen, something condemned him.

Not only did God’s word condemn him, his conscience pained him.

Rom. 7:16 – READ.

What does “consenting unto the law” mean?

It means he (through his conscience) agreed that his actions were wrong.

When combining these two passages we create a question.

One the one hand, Paul has a “good conscience” (Acts 24).

On the other, he is bothered by actions that are wrong (Rom. 7).

How can these verses be merged together?

Forgiveness of sins is the answer.

Guilty in the conscience is of God’s design.

Release of that guilt is also part of God’s plan.

From the life of Paul we are to see that forgiveness of sins means the release of guilt.

When Paul spoke of the conscience in Acts 24, he mentioned only two areas.

Our dealing with fellow human beings and God.

There is a third area that involves the conscience.

If you turned to Romans 7, I encourage you to find Romans 13.

In the opening verses of this chapter we read about Christians and the government.

When people involve themselves with the government, they often have a conscience problem.

A person may feel guilty because they do not obey certain laws and statues.

Notice what is said in verse 5 – READ.

As we live our Christian lives we want to let our conscience pay special attention 3 areas:

God, government, and our dealings with fellow people.

It may seem like these three areas cover every part of life. They do not.

We still have one more aspect to the conscience to introduce.

This element comes from the book of First Corinthians.

Two times in this letter (chapters 8 and 10), the subject of the conscience is discussed.

It is possible for us to “wound” the conscience of a fellow Christian.

By wound I do not mean we simply make someone uncomfortable.

Wound has the sense of so seriously offend by our actions that a Christian somehow falters.

If we do this verse 12 says – READ.

We want to be sensitive to the conscience of members of the church.

We care for our own conscience, and we pay attention to the conscience of others.

Someone might ask if the conscience is really all that important.

We might respond to this question in this manner:

What if we could produce a passage which says something like this:

A bad conscience will ruin (destroy) a person’s spiritual condition.

Would such a statement prove that a conscience is really important?

It would, and we can produce such a text.

First Timothy 1:19 is the verse.

Just after this text we read about two men who did exactly what verse 19 describes.

They “made shipwreck of the faith.”

Here is how 1 Tim. 1:19 reads – READ.

There is no Christian life without a good conscience.

A good conscience is part of our faith if we are pleasing to God.

If this is thrust from us, along goes the faith.

The result is a shipwrecked life.

Because of this, Timothy was told to “hold” on to this (verse 19) and war the good warfare (verse 18).

As we think about Christians having a good conscience, Heb. 13:18.

The Hebrew writer said, “pray for us.”

In this same breath he spoke about having a “good conscience.”

Here is a marvelous thought we might apply in so many ways.

Let’s look at it from the standpoint of a parent.

Have we prayed that our children would live lives where they would have a “good conscience”?

Most of us can point to young people who have a guilty conscience, maybe overridden with guilt.

What about grandparents praying that their grandchildren will grow up with a clean conscience?

From the world’s perspective, kids are not going to have a clean conscience.

It’s impossible because of how the world is.

If we believe the Bible, we need to reject that kind of thinking.

We can pray for the people we know that they will have a clean conscience.

After the Hebrew letter we come to James and then First Peter.

1 Pet. 3:15 tells us to have Christ “sanctified” in our hearts.

We need to be ready to answer the questions that people have about the faith of the New Testament.

Then Peter said something else (verse 16): have a good (clean) conscience.