Scripture has much to say about conscience. Romans 2:15 indicates that a conscience is part of the basic human software package. Since even unsaved people have an intuition for whether their actions are right or wrong, the ability evidently comes pre-programmed from birth. Part of the Holy Spirit’s work, according to John 16:8, is to convict the unregenerate human conscience of the truth of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Believers, on the other hand, should maintain the position that Paul exercised himself in, “to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men” (Acts 24:17).
At the same time, the conscience is fallible; it does not necessarily run true. Unbelievers can sear their consciences (1 Timothy 4:2) or defile them (Titus 1:15) so they are neither convicted by sin nor intuitively approve what is good and right. Though the Holy Spirit indwells believers, His influence does not necessarily perfectly overlap with their consciences. A believer can have a weak conscience (1 Corinthians 8:10, 12), for example. Though it remains a sin to violate one’s conscience, believers are still required to grow in discernment of good and evil (Hebrews 5:11-14), and a more mature understanding of Scripture may change a believer’s conscience. The point is that the conscience is not static, and conviction of the conscience is neither an objective nor permanent standard of right and wrong.
It is difficult to discern areas where the conscience should grow. Part of the reason is that the feeling of condemnation is so effective. This work of the conscience is God-given and good, but when the conscience is misfiring, it can be hard for the Christian to realize it. There are indications from Scripture, however, that our consciences are often not as tuned to Scripture as we think. Here are three symptoms that someone’s conscience needs more training from God’s Word.
A first symptom of a defective conscience is a greater concern over small things than big things. Jesus’ illustration of this condition is quite memorable: “strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). In Matthew 23, Jesus was pronouncing judgment on the Pharisees, whose priorities of right and wrong were wildly disordered. “Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin,” Jesus said, “and have omitted the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith” (Matthew 23:23). The problem wasn’t what the Pharisees did, but the significance of what they didn’t do. “These ought ye to have done,” Jesus went on to say, “and not to leave the other undone.” Being convicted to stop to pick up a candy wrapper is not wrong, but if the same man’s conscience has also allowed him to hold bitterness against his wife for years, there is a serious problem. Only a person with a defective conscience would feel compelled to put food out for the neighborhood stray cat while she slanders someone over the phone without a twinge of guilt. This kind of hardening doesn’t happen overnight, of course; a person comfortable straining out gnats and swallowing whole camels has become progressively accustomed to suppressing his moral gag reflex. The aggressive words of Jesus against the Pharisees demonstrate the seriousness of their condition. Imbalanced consciences of this sort require immediate attention.
A second symptom of a defective conscience is a feeling of generalized guilt. This kind of guilt persists even after a wrong (or perceived wrong) has been reconciled, or when it is not associated with a specific offense. Divine conviction does not work that way. Consider God’s questions to individuals in Scripture: “Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat” (Genesis 3:11)? “Where is Abel thy brother” (Genesis 4:9)? “Who is this that darkened counsel by words without knowledge? (Job 38:1)? “Doest thou well to be angry” (Jonah 4:4)? “Why persecutest thou me” (Acts 9:4)? The Holy Spirit addresses specific sin issues. A heart that condemns (1 John 3:20) without specifics is not following the lead of the Holy Spirit. Its conviction is not the work of a healthy conscience and does not help the believer.
A third symptom of a defective conscience is that it changes its conviction based on the influence of other people. Healthy consciences are guided by Scripture. The Spirit may use another believer to explain the proper interpretation of a passage of Scripture and clarify a matter of conscience so that the individual’s conscience may be biblically persuaded. Sometimes, though, the persuasion is not biblical, but merely interpersonal. Pressure from the opinions of others can be quite persuasive and convincing. Such pressure convinced Peter to flipflop on his position of eating with the Gentiles, a sin for which Paul rebuked him to the face (Galatians 2:11-14). Paul warns against similar pressure in 1 Corinthians 8:10; “if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols?” Pressure we might yield to and pressure we might exert on others are both prohibited in Scripture. Paul asks two important questions on these matters. “For now do I persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). “Why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience” (1 Corinthians 10:27). While the Scripture teaches that it is sometimes necessary to refrain from a permissible action so as not cause another believer to violate their weak conscience in that same way, it does not teach that either conscience should be persuaded by that act of deference alone. The Lord binds consciences through Scripture. A Christian who changes the conviction of his conscience on the authority of another’s opinion, even if that person is hard to contradict, and even if they bring their friends as backup, is not a strong Christian.
No doubt there are more indications of a defective conscience in Scripture. If this particular topic is of interest, a Bible search for “conscience” would make for a helpful study. There’s more information on this topic than we might think.
The above article was written by Jonathan Kyser. He is a pastoral assistant at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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