Conscience As A Guide? Part 1 of 2 By Jeff Smith
(Reprinted from The Watchman Magazine http://www.watchmanmag.com/)
We have heard the mantra all our lives: "Let your conscience
be your guide."
Some well-meaning person tries to help us make a choice by appealing
to the power of emotion and feelings. Make no mistake about it,
though; a conscience is a powerful and good thing. A conscience
properly trained is an effective guide, but one improperly trained
will occasionally or often lead to the wrong decision.
Consider the case of the apostle Paul, whose conscience misled him, though he obeyed it without question. After persecuting the Way of faith for many years, his conscience was confronted with its error and was cleansed and made practical again.
How can we build a conscience into a positive force in times of decision? The answer is simple. Your conscience can only be an effective guide when God is its teacher.
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines conscience as "the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.... conformity to the dictates of conscience."
In the New Testament, conscience is translated from the Greek word, suneidesei, similarly defined in Thayer's Lexicon. To put it perhaps more simply, conscience is an innate feeling of right and wrong and an equally innate but powerful sense that right should be executed. Therein lies the benefit and limitation of the human conscience, for feelings are not always trustworthy and not everyone has such a positive conscience. Conscience is not an innate knowledge of what is actually right and wrong, but a sense or response to right and wrong.
Consciences are random and subjective, often shaped more by
environment and worldly considerations than honestly moral ones.
It is likely that no two consciences are perfectly alike; the
standard changes from person to person and from occasion to occasion,
making an untrained conscience untrustworthy.
The apostle Paul had been dragged before the Jewish council to
answer charges of blasphemy and other crimes against Judaism and
Jehovah, as recorded by Luke in Acts 22. His greatest crime in
their eyes was preaching that Jesus was the Messiah and so he
began his defense by reminding them that he was once the greatest
persecutor of all. "I persecuted this Way to the death, binding
and delivering into prisons both men and women ... and went to
Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem
to be punished" (Acts 22:4-5).
His attitude toward Jesus was dramatically changed, however, when he met the Lord on the road into that city. Instead of Damascus being just another stop on Paul's persecution tour, it became the city where he obeyed the gospel, through his repentance, confession and immersion in water. Paul left persecuting to join the persecuted (Acts 22:6-16).
His life was now the opposite of what it had been previously and is confronted with the reality that he could not have been right both before and after his conversion. And yet, he tells the council, "I have lived in all good conscience until this day" (Acts 23:1). Although he obeyed the dictates of his conscience without question on both sides of the creek, it was misleading him on the far side.
Within himself, he felt a strong sense of zeal for God but
misdirected it and actually committed sin by obeying the dictates
of his conscience. Thus is the danger of obeying an untrained
conscience that it may make one chief among sinners in his misguided
zeal to do good (Romans 10:1-4; 1 Timothy 1:15).
Still, why should we assume that Paul's conscience is trustworthy
now rather than before? The high priest had Paul struck on the
mouth because he thought the apostle had digressed from a good
conscience to an evil one. A good, properly trained conscience
is one that is true to God's word and evidences the individual
as a disciple of Christ's (Romans 2:15).
When Paul obeyed the command of Ananias to be baptized and wash away his sins, he was effectively cleansing his conscience by obeying the Christ he had formerly persecuted and repenting of the misdeeds of his untrained conscience. According to the Hebrew writer (which may be Paul himself), his evil conscience was cleansed from dead works when his body was washed with that water and figuratively there sprinkled with the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:22, 9:13-14).
Moreover, we have the testimony of the apostle Peter to inform us that genuine conversion, sealed in water baptism, benefits one's conscience. Peter writes, "And corresponding to that [Noah's voyage], baptism now saves you -- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience..." (1 Peter 3:21, NASV). The New American Standard Version gives a fitting translation of the phrase, hapax legomenon, which indicates the cleansed conscience is requested in baptism, rather than possessed before and even without immersion in water.
From the point of conversion, however, the conscience must daily be trained to act not according to a subjective, human concept of goodness, but according to God's divine standard of right and wrong. Thus Paul states that he made it his aim to be well pleasing to God (2 Corinthians 5:9). We are told to discern God's will by reading and to train our consciences by living it (1 Peter 3:15-16). The Christian conscience will often oppose the world's, which is influenced not by objective standards, but traditions, situations and self-service.
Unity by Andrew Mitchell
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to
dwell together in unity!" (Ps. 133:1). Indeed it is pleasant!
But what is scriptural unity and how is it obtained?
According to the Enhanced Strong's Lexicon, "unity"
means "unanimity, agreement". Scriptural "unanimity"
or "agreement" is obtained by changing our lives to
live in "harmony" with scripture, NOT by changing the
scriptures to live in "harmony" with all churches.
Here are some scriptural mandates for unity:
1. To "be perfectly joined together in the same mind and
in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10; Rom. 12:16; 15:5; 2 Cor.
13:11; Phil. 1:27; 2:2). Many people THINK they are obtaining
"unity" by getting preachers from different denominations
together in some citywide fellowship. But is it TRUE unity when
they'll be back in their own congregations the next Sunday teaching
things that oppose each other? Can these preachers honestly say
that they are in "unity, unanimity, agreement, or of the
same mind"? No, they are only in agreement" to remain
in "disagreement". That's only make-believe unity.
2. To "speak the same thing" (1 Cor. 1:10; Rom. 15:6).
Why do so many think that four preachers who speak different
things can be in unity, but if one preacher spoke those four conflicting
things he would be a hypocrite?
3. To "walk by the same rule" (Phil. 3:16). Multiple
churches cannot obey this scripture as long as they establish
their own rules. The reason they are divided is because of their
own human inventions. They've invented their own names they go
by, their traditions, creeds, organization, etc. The ONLY way
they can ever obtain biblical unity is by GIVING UP their man-made
inventions, and go by the BIBLE ONLY.
"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).
If You've Never Been Called A Fanatic... - by Bill Hall
(Reprinted from The Beacon)
Webster defines the word "fanatic": "A person affected
by excessive enthusiasm." Its definition indicates that it
is a relative term, dependent upon one's judgment as to what is
a proper degree of enthusiasm in contrast with what is excessive
enthusiasm. Anyone who has any knowledge at all of the world and
its standards knows that to "seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness," and to "love the Lord with all
one's heart, soul, and mind," and to "present one's
body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God" is to
be in the eyes of the world a fanatic. But before becoming too
concerned, one should realize that every Bible character whom
he admires -- Paul, Peter, Eunice, Hannah, Jesus -- would be looked
upon by the world as a fanatic were he or she living today. While
on the other hand, the world would smile approvingly on those
of whom the Lord said, "So then because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I would spew thee out of my mouth."
If you've never been called a fanatic, you might need to reconsider
your spiritual condition before God!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Our weekly services are held at 1318 Griffin Road, Leesburg, Florida
34748.
Phone: (352) 365-9946 for times of services.
Web site: http://www.geocities.com/~cdillinger/cocbs/cocbshp.htm
JULY MONTHLY BIBLE READING: Exodus
GOSPEL MEETING: Alan Irwin will be presenting a series of sermons each evening July 14-19, Sunday at 6:00 PM, each weeknight at 7:00 PM.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
BIBLE INSIGHT is published for the members of, and visitors to,
the Church of Christ at Beverly Shores, Leesburg, Florida, USA.
Carey Dillinger is the editor. He can be reached at the church
address or via e-mail: dillinc@yahoo.com