Maintaining A Pure Conscience (Part 2) Series

Intro

Last week we introduced the subject of conscience. We identified what the conscience is and how it works. It is not a perfect guide because its moral judgment is based on the knowledge it has. But we are constituted in such a way that if we violate conscience, we become laden with guilt and lose our effectiveness in several ways. After an introduction about the nature of conscience, we discussed five conditions of conscience:

1. A pure conscience is sometimes called a good conscience. A pure conscience is not burdened with a sense of guilt. The person has not violated his own moral standards. In Acts 24:16, Paul said that he always strived “to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”i And in Acts 23:1, he said that he had “lived in all good conscience.” This is an essential key to his success in life and ministry. This is what we want to do. A good conscience is an affirming conscience.

2. A defiled conscience has been corrupted or soiled through violations of its moral standards (Titus 1:15).

3. An evil conscience is a bad conscience, in contrast to a good conscience. A defiled conscience and an evil conscience may be the same thing, but each term emphasizes something different. Defiled emphasized the pollution of the conscience in contrast to a pure, clean conscience. Evil emphasizes the troublesome nature of the conscience. It is an accusing conscience.ii

4. A seared conscience is an evil conscience that has been violated so resolutely and so long that it has become insensitive to right and wrong. The conscience is so calloused that there is no concern about doing right. The only concern is personal advantage.

5. A weak conscience is not adequately informed by truth. People with a weak conscience tend to go into legalism because they want to quiet the accusations.iii However, a lack of knowledge concerning the grace of God and where God has set the boundaries, leaves them setting inappropriate boundaries.

If we want to live a happy, fulfilling life, we must be informed by the Word of God and live accordingly. This is one reason we spend time in Scripture. When the conscience is well-informed by truth and the person is living according to that truth, then the conscience is strong. The person can say, “I have lived in all good conscience.” The person who lives “in all good conscience” enjoys inner peace and assurance. Sometimes people confuse an accusing conscience with low self-esteem. Rather than changing the condition through better self-talk, those people need the conscience cleansed.

With that foundation, we will now discuss how to maintain a pure conscience.

1. We must appreciate the VALUE of a pure conscience. An accusing conscience is distracting. There is the inner sense that something is not right. It is a nagging voice inside that calls for attention. Without biblical knowledge of what to do about it, some people spend thousands of dollars in therapy. Others try to quieten the voice with alcohol or drugs. Some overdose on entertainment, busyness, work, or even religion. In the long run, none of those efforts can silence conscience. A minority of people violate conscience until it becomes seared. But most people just try to tread through life with that monkey on their back.

A good conscience produces assurance in the heart for prayer. Watch a small child who has violated his conscience. He does not want to look Mom in the eye. He may even physically hide from her the way Adam hid from God in the Garden. When the conscience is violated, our tendence is to draw back from God rather than drawing near to him. We may find excuses for not going to church where the Word of God will be preached and the people around us will be worshipping. We may neglect personal Bible study. And we will likely find it hard to get into prayer. Watchman Nee says, “A single offense on the conscience may suppress and suspend the normal function of intuition in communing with God, for as soon as a believer is conscious of sin his spirit gathers all its powers to eliminate that particular sin and leaves no more strength to ascend heavenward.”iv In other words, the mind becomes so preoccupied with the voice of conscience that it is difficult to focus on God and our love relationship with him. The person becomes sin-conscience, rather than God-conscience.

In contrast, when the conscience is affirming, we look forward to intimacy with God. We enjoy getting into the Word, and we easily enter into worship. The little toddler, who did what Mom told him to do, enjoys cuddling up next to her. One indicator of the condition of conscience is one’s passion for the presence of God or, in contrast, the person’s reluctance to draw near to the Lord.v