By
Shelby
G. Floyd
October,
2008
According to
Paul's method of reasoning, no man can know the things of a man except the
spirit that dwells in that man. In the same
sense, no man can know the things of God except the Spirit of God that searches
the mind of God and has revealed them to man in the Bible. (1 Corinthians 2: 10-13). Man is a living spirit with a body. This spirit was made in the image of God.
Solomon, the
wise ruler of
Definition of the Term Conscience
The term
conscience comes from a Latin word which means to be conscious of, to know and
is defined by Webster to mean: "Sense or consciousness of the moral
goodness or blame worthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character,
together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good. Hence, a faculty, power, or principal
conceived to decide as to the moral quality of one's own thoughts or acts,
enjoining what is good." (Webster's
new Collegiate dictionary, page 176).
In the New
Testament the term conscience usually translates the Greek term, [suneidesis--suneidesis], which is defined by Thayer to be, "The soul as distinguishing
between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the
latter, commending the one, condemning the other; conscience." (Thayer, page 602).
The English
term conscience is derived from the Latin word conscientia,
which literally means joint knowledge.
South gives the following definition and excellent illustration of the
meaning of the term conscience:
"'Conscience' is a Latin word, though with an
English termination, and, according to the very notation of it, imports a
double or joint knowledge --to wit, one of a divine law or rule, and the other
of a man's own action --and is properly the application of a general law to a
particular instance of practice. The law
of God, the example, says, 'Thou shalt not steal;'
and the mind of man tells him that the taking of such a thing from a person
lawfully possessed of it is stealing.
Whereupon the conscience, joining the knowledge of both these together,
pronounces in the name of God that such a particular action ought not to be
done. And this is the true procedure of
conscience, always supposing a law from God before it pretends to lay any
obligation upon man. Conscience neither is nor ought to be its own
rule." (J. M. McCaleb,
Conscience, Biographies and Sermons, page 301).
The work of
the conscience then is to you enjoin what one believes to be right, and to
forbid what one believes to be wrong.
However, if one believes that to be truth which is false, or believes
that to be false which is truth, then the conscience
clearly cannot be an infallible monitor of what is right or wrong. A man's conscience is governed by the
knowledge which one has of right and wrong.
If that knowledge be incomplete or faulty then the conscience cannot
supply those deficiencies. But let us
make a closer examination of what the Bible teaches concerning the office and
function of the conscience.
The Office and the Function of Man's Conscience
Every man
has a conscience, and the design of man's conscience is to either commend or
condemn one's actions. The conscience is
a faculty or power within man to either disapprove or approve of our
actions. Paul, in his letter to the
Romans, clearly established this proposition when he said, "For as many
as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have
sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law
are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the
law, do by nature of the things contained in the law, these, having not the
law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while
accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God
shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." (Romans 2: 12-16).
In these
verses Paul is making a contrast between the Jew and the Gentile. The Law of Moses was given to the Jew and to
the Jew alone, and by that law the Jew would be judged. The Jews had placed great emphasis upon the
reading and hearing of the Law of Moses and had neglected the practice of the
things which the law enjoined. But the
apostle reminds them that not the hearers of the law are just before God, but
those who do the law shall be justified.
On the other
hand, the Gentiles were not under the Law of Moses, but were under the
patriarchal laws which had been passed down through the families for hundreds
of years. The sense of right and wrong
had been instilled in the Gentiles by their oral teaching and laws for
centuries, and Paul states that when they did by nature or by long practice,
the things which are contained in the law, this became a law unto these people
and their conscience bore them witness whether they had violated or kept the
law of their nature. And their thoughts
(conscience) accused their actions or excused their actions as being proper and
right.
In this
argument we see the role of conscience which is to bear witness to our thoughts
and to either excuse or accuse our actions.
If one does that which he believes to be right, then his conscience
bears witness to that fact and excuses his actions as being proper. If one does that which he believes to be
wrong then his conscience will accuse his actions as being improper. The conscience of the Gentiles accused them
when they failed to live up to their standard of right and excused them when
they did the right as they had been taught.
Years ago,
our airplanes flew across the country by a radio beam. The radio beam signaled whether the plane was
on course, or had veered to the right or to the left of the course. Every man's conscience is like a radio beam. It indicates according to what it has been
taught whether a man is on course or whether he is bearing to the left or to
the right. That is the office of
conscience.
Every man
has a conscience, the design of which is to steer him away from conduct which
he believes to be wrong and to encourage him in conduct which he believes to be
right. Man is a spirit, a living spirit
with a body. The spiritual principle of
man has the power to know a man’s thoughts and heart. Solomon said, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the
inward parts of the belly.” (Proverbs 20: 27).
Let us continue our investigation concerning the office and the
function of man's conscience.
The Office and Function of Conscience
The office
and function of a man's conscience then is like that of an umpire in a baseball
game. The umpire calls the plays as he
sees them. His calling of those plays is
governed by a set of rules or instructions.
The umpire knows the instructions and calls the plays according to the
rules. Man has an umpire within him
called conscience, and that umpire calls the plays of man's conduct and action,
and it calls the plays according to the standard of right and wrong by which it
has been instructed. With a figure of
speech the poet but the following words in the mouth of the creator: "I
will put mine umpire 'Conscience’ in his breast” (
A man's
conscience can be set by a standard of information like a man who sets an alarm
clock. Suppose a man wants to get up at
A man's
conscience can either be set by the divine standard or by human standards. If by human standards, then a man's
conscience will encourage him to do that which is human. But, if by the divine standard, then the
conscience will encourage man to live by that which is divine. The apostle Paul had great love in his heart
for his kinsmen according to the flesh who were lost in sin because they had
rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ. In
the book of Romans, Paul emphatically affirms his heaviness and sorrow of heart
concerning his people. He said, "I
say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart.” (Romans
9: 1-2). In these verses the word conscience is used in the
classical sense which simply means that as an inspired man of the Holy Spirit,
Paul bore witness and was conscious of the fact that he was telling the truth
concerning his great sorrow and unceasing pain in his heart for his
people. He was conscious of telling the
truth, and his conscience bore him witness. In like manner, every man's
conscience will bear witness whether he speaks what he believes to be true or
speaks that which he believes to be false.
Every man
must live with his conscience. If a man
violates his standard of right, then his heart will condemn his actions, and he
must live with that condemnation. If a
man lives in agreement with his standard of right, then his heart will commend
him, and it is better to live a life commended by one's heart rather than a
live condemned by one's heart. The
apostle John stated,
"And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and
shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we
have confidence toward God." (1
John 3:19-21).
In the
immediate context from which these words are taken, the apostle John had
enjoined his readers to love in deed and in truth rather than in word and in
tongue. He had just stated that if a
brother with this world's goods saw his brother in need and yet refused to help
him, closing up his bowels of compassion, that it was impossible for the love
of God to dwell within him. And then
John states that we can know whether we are of the truth, and can even assure
our hearts before God. If it has been
within our power to help someone in need, and we have helped them, then our
heart will commend us in those good works.
But if it has been within our power to help someone and we have refused,
then our heart will condemn us in that refusal.
In these
verses we again see the role and the function of the human conscience. It is that of commending or condemning. If we do what we believe to be right, our
heart commends us; if we do that which we believe to be wrong, our heart
condemns us. If a man lives with a
conscience that condemns him, then God will condemn him, for God is even
greater than our own heart and knows all things. But if a man lives in such a way that is
heart condemns him not, then he has confidence and hope toward God.
Oh, conscience!
The conscience!
Man's most faithful friend,
Him canst though comfort, ease,
relieve, defend;
But if he will thy friendly checks forego,
Thou art, Oh!
Woe for me, his deadliest foe!
—Crabb
Robertson L.
Whiteside gives the following fine comments on the function of the
conscience.
"We are getting at conscience when we think of it
as that feeling of pleasure when we do what we think is right, and of pain when
we do what we think is wrong. It is that
which backs up our moral judgment. Saul
of Tarsus always did what he thought was right, and therefore always had a good
conscience. But his information was
wrong, and therefore his moral judgment was wrong. Our judgment may be wrong because the ideas
upon which we base our judgment may be wrong. But no matter how we have been
taught, we can expect our conscience to urge us to do what we have judged to be
right, unless it has been deadened by long indulgence in things we know to be
wrong. It seems to me that a live,
tender conscience is infallible. But as
to moral judgment, no man can safely say that he is right on everything. Gain all the information you can so that you
can form correct judgments, and give heed to the urge of conscience." (Robertson L. Whiteside, Commentary on
Romans, page 59).
Previously we have noticed that God
has placed within every man an inward power or faculty called conscience, whose
office and function is to encourage man to do that which he believes to be
right, and to discourage him from that which he believes to be wrong.
On one
occasion, Jesus came into the temple and taught the people. While he was teaching them, the Scribes and
Pharisees brought a woman taken in the act of adultery and set her before him.
And they stated that the law Moses commanded that she should be stoned, and
they wanted to know what Christ thought should be done. Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote
on the ground as though he didn't even hear them. But when they continued to ask him, he stood
up and said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone
at her.” (John 8: 7). Again he stooped down and wrote on the
ground, and the Bible says, "And they which heard it, being convicted
by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even
unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the
midst." (John 8: 9). This means that they could not live with
their conscience and cast a stone at this guilty woman. The reason they could not do this was because
they were either guilty of the same sin, or sins which were just as bad. Therefore, they could not live with
themselves, and put this poor woman to death, knowing that they also were
worthy of death. The only difference
being, she had been caught, and they had escaped the knowledge of man, but not
their own knowledge or the knowledge of God.
One of the punishments of a guilty conscience is fear and cowardice:
"Thus conscience does make
cowards of us all."
(Shakespeare, Hamlet)
When the
conscience is kept tender, pure and alive it will do its work well. But the conscience may be defiled, seared,
mistaken and weak, and when it is in these conditions, it cannot carry out its
God-given function and work as God intended.
The Conscience May Be Defiled
First, let us notice that man's conscience may be
defiled or polluted. To the young
preacher Titus, Paul affirmed, "Unto the pure all things are pure: but
unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind
and conscience is defiled." (Titus
1:15).
A man's conscience and mind may be defiled by false doctrine
and by worldly concepts and ideas. The
conscience is therefore defiled when we violate what we believe to be right, or
when our conscience has been taught that which is false. Some people say it doesn't make any
difference what you believe just as long as you are sincere. But this is not correct. It is not the mere act of believing that
saves man, but it is both what and in whom one believes that saves man. Jesus said, "And ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free."
(John 8: 32). Therefore one
must know, believe and obey the truth in order to be made free from sin. Those who have never obeyed the gospel have
both a conscience and a life that is defiled by sin.
The Conscience May Be Seared
It is also conceivable that person might hear,
understand and know the truth and yet resist that truth to the extent that
one’s conscience would become callous and indifferent to that truth. To Timothy, Paul said, “Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter time some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot
iron." (1 Timothy
4: 1-2).
We notice in these verses that there were certain persons whose
conscience had been seared with a hot iron.
The term seared is from a Greek word [kausthriazw] that means, "To burn in with a branding iron." (Thayer, page 342). This is a use of figurative language that denoted
the applying of heat to form a callous or of constant use that does the same
thing. The conscience of these people
had become callous by their constant rejection and indifference to the
revelation of God's word. We notice the
steps by which their conscience had become seared. First, they had departed from the faith;
second, they had given heed to seducing spirits, or false teachers; third, they
had listened and accepted doctrines of devils; fourth, this led them to speak
lies in hypocrisy. The specific devilish
doctrines that they had accepted were celibacy and the restriction of eating
certain meets. Therefore their
conscience had become callous and indifferent to the truth of God's word.
Many people today have a conscience that has been seared
or callous to the truth. The apostle
Paul spoke of such people when he said: "Preach the word; be instant in
season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and
doctrine. For the time will come when
they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap
to themselves teachers, having itchy ears; and they shall turn away their ears
from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4: 2-4). When one becomes dull of hearing the truth,
then that one is in danger of having his conscience seared and callous
concerning the truth. In view of this
danger:
Then keep thy conscience sensitive,
No inward token miss;
And go where grace entices thee,
Thy safety lies in this.
The Conscience May Be Mistaken
Every man has a conscience, but that conscience may be
mistaken. One may strongly believe that
to be truth that is actually false. Or
conversely, one may strongly believe that to be false which is actually
true. The apostle Paul lived in all good
conscience toward God, and toward men, and yet, he believed and practiced that
which was false.
Paul’s Conscience Was Mistaken
Paul was a man of immaculate
character, for he never violated his conscience, even though that conscience
was governed by mistaken information. In
an earnest statement to the Jewish ruling body, the Sanhedrin, Paul said, "Men
and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this
day." (Acts 23:
1). One chapter later, he
affirmed: "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience
void of offense toward God, and toward men." (Acts 24:16). But, it was with this good conscience
before God and this conscience void of offense toward God and man that Paul
shut up saints in prison, and gave his voice against them when they were put to
death; and with this same good conscience he punished the saints in every
synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme, and was so exceedingly mad against
them that he persecuted them even unto strange cities. (Cf. Acts 26:9-11).
Why did Paul do all of this in good
conscience? He did this because he
thought this was the right thing to do.
And believing this to be the right thing to do, he did not violate his
conscience. But Paul's conscience was
mistaken. Paul was wrong in what he
believed to be right. Paul was wrong in
that he thought Christ was an impostor.
Paul’s conscience was later
converted or set different. The Holy
Spirit reveals the conditions of pardon in the word. Pardon comes from obeying that word and not just
our feelings. Paul felt like he was
right, even when he was persecuting Christians, but he wasn’t right.
Ananias, a pioneer preacher, told
Paul what to believe. He preached the
gospel to him, and commanded him to be baptized to wash away his sins. (Acts
Jacob’s Conscience Was Mistaken
In the Old Testament we have the
record of Jacob, whose name was later changed to
Our feelings therefore are only in
harmony with what we have been taught, whether it be truth, or whether it is
false:
"The feelings and emotions as commonly experienced
are nothing more than the struggling of an aroused conscience for the
light. Jacob was conscious that he saw
the bloody coat of Joseph, that he heard the story of his sons indicating that
a wild beast had torn him into pieces, but his conscience could not go beyond
the bounds of his own personal experience and tell him that according to the
facts that took place at Dothan the boys were lying. For thirteen long gloomy years, conscience
could not convey the slightest ray of light to the sorrowing father,
that all his sorrow was caused by a story without foundation. Not till the facts to the contrary came
within his own experience was he undeceived.
But if the impressions made upon the mind come from a true source, this,
with the certainty of our own conscience with what we experience establishes
truth beyond question. As to the soul
salvation and freedom from sin the only infallible source from which to receive
the truth is the word of God." (J. M. McCaleb, Conscience, Biographies
and Sermons, p. 302).
Let us work
on having a good conscience toward God and man.*
*Shelby G. Floyd wrote this essay and it first
appeared in The Informer, August 31,
September 7, 14, 21, 1975, Garfield Heights Church of Christ,