CONSCIENCE

And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” (Acts 23:1 ESV)

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. (Hebrews 13:18 ESV)

According to Dictionary.com, “conscience” is “the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action: to follow the dictates of conscience.”

For the Christian, our God-given conscience is an inner awareness that bears witness to the Biblical values we embrace when deciding what is right or wrong. The conscience serves as a witness to what we already know about right and wrong. Our conscience, to work properly, must always be informed by what God has said.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to form our conscience as best we can with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is an important part of our progressive sanctification. When you become a Christian, your sense of conscience is heightened. This is because it is being informed both by Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit.  This is a lifelong process. We experience guilt when we have a well-formed sense of conscience. This helps to keep us from breaking God’s holy ordinances. Guilt should prompt us to confess our sins and experience the forgiveness of God.

The true Christian wants to learn biblical truth so that he is completely informed and able to correctly evaluate his response to the world by God’s Word. This happens when he habitually informs his conscience by reading God’s Word. He cleanses his conscience by the unfailing confession of sin and seeking forgiveness from God or his fellow-man.

Therefore, let us strengthen our conscience so that we may enjoy the freedom and blessing of a clear conscience before God. Paul writes, “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.” (2 Corinthians 1:12 ESV)

“A good conscience is a continual Christmas.” (Benjamin Franklin)