The conscience
The conscience (sense of right & wrong, ethics, scruples, morality , principles, integrity,)
It is my understanding that the conscience has much to do with morals. It is important however, to understand morals in a two fold context rather than just a morality that comes from human understanding. Earthly morals can be established by men rather than God which when accepted negate the morality or consiousness that come from God. For example; homosexuality is widely being accepted as an accepted moral of human society. Yet, we know that it is not accepted by God’s standards and so it should affect our conscience. If it does not, then we are in serious trouble because the Bible says very clearly that it is seared or becoming seared. 1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Once something is seared, there is no come back because the blood of Jesus has no effect on a seared conscience. Having a consience is what saves us through the blood of Jesus. Faith alone does not do it. Faith accepts the Holy Spirit conviction of the conscience that we are sinners and points us to redemption through Jesus the Christ. One can even be considered a Christian and have an evil conscience that gets seared by worldly morals. Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
It seems we have an evil conscience according to the word of God and can have it come upon us at any time even when we may have been walking perfectly for a very long time. This happens because of the eroding morality of the world. True conscience is rapidly being lost by the world because Godly conscience as affected by the word of God hardly exists. People who feel that they are not subject to the word of God ask; If the world can do it, why can’t I? They indulge in temporal pleasure that the devil offers them and lose out on an eternity with God. The reason many Christians are in major sin and even in homosexuality or approving of it is because they are tossed between two moralities. This is the battle of the flesh and the Spirit and never the twain shall meet.
Incredible pressure is being applied on all forms of morality by the devil because he knows if he can erode morality, he can destroy man a lot faster and even cause many Christians to fall. The reason we have such evil killers like the ISIS group is because they have no conscience. Their consciences are mostly seared. Yet, this kind of barbarism is nothing new. It has been in existence through the ages. On another level, bringing it home to our turf in modern times we see the wide spread decline of morality. We see sex between consenting children, between adults before marriage, breakdown in marriages through adultery, de-facto relationships, killing and drinking, drugs galore just to name a few incidents. All this, because there exists a breakdown of society through the non-existence of God’s morality in human thinking, laws and government. It even permeates the very atmosphere of the Church worldwide because Churches at large are unable to cope with what is really happening to society. This is then brought into the Church under the guise of Christianity. So, when Christians begin to sin freely and demand that they should not be corrected in anyway, there is a real problem in the Church to contend with.
This intense pressure on the thinking within the Church has begun cracking the last bastion (fortress) of morality on a larger scale than one can imagine. Churches worldwide are approving divorce, homsexuality, fornication, entertaining witchcraft, drinking and any other thing that is evil and which wants a leg in. It is like there is no defence left in the Churches. The very word preached is watered down and weak to the extent that it has no power to achieve the things that they preach about. In most practices of Christianity today it has become another religion. Truly, the remnant, is a concept in the Bible that is now more vivid than ever before. What is next? Sodom & Gommarah?
I believe when there is large spread of a lack of conscience in society, the breakdown will be so great that it will affect all levels and walks of society. A new morality will rise up. After this nobody will be safe. Violence and murder will become a way of life like never before. Even now, many countries are in the grip of severe breakdown of every moral fibre and safety for its citizens. You may say to me; ‘Noble, you are painting a bleak picture’. Actually, I am painting what is said in the Bible. The future for those who do not know Jesus will be bleak and it will be worse still when they are left behind. I do believe that there will be a very big revival to bring in the souls but after that, there will be chaos like never before seen on earth. It is not business as usual anymore.
So, what do we do in the meantime? I believe we have to do the following;
- Safe guard your conscience in the face of moral decay in society
- Stand firm for your faith within the Church and face any persecution that may result
- Do everything within your power to pass on your standard of morality to your own family and friends
- Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first and spread the gospel at all times
- Do not allow yourself to become depressed over what is happening but pray
- Stay close to believers who truly believe
- Allow the Holy Spirit to check your heart constantly and change what you are convicted of in your own life
The consciene is such a big deal with God that it took the blood of Jesus to wipe it clean. Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Forgiveness is only truly felt when your conscience is clear. If you still hold conviction for sin after your confession to Jesus and receiving His forgiveness, it means you are sufffering condemnation by the devil or self condemnation and you have not truly received the forgiveness of Christ. There are many who do not think they are worthy because of the sins they have committed. Well, the truth is; if you want to hold onto your sin consciousness then you cannot enjoy the freedom in Christ consciousness.
The greatest battle ground for the Christian is his mind. If he can come to the understanding of his morality which in this case is dictated to by his conscience, he can overcome all things. What you are not condemned of by God becomes your freedom Rom 8.1. What keeps the Christian from winning this battle is simply the inability to accept the Christ consciousness in himself in spite of forgiven sins. The exchange of Christ on the cross removes from us the need to forgive ourselves because we simply can’t do that. No one else could really forgive us of our sin either. So, Christ in this context is needed to wipe away our sins and its subsequent effects. When I went back to my friends in India some five years after I had become a Christian in Australia, they accused me of being a hypocrite. What they did not know was, I was a sinner just like them but saved by grace. Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and who walk after the Spirit. They tried to get me back to their ways but couldn’t. I had stood on human and spiritual moral ground and had overcome both by the blood of Jesus, the word of God and the strength of the Holy Spirit in me. It is possible to live a moral life with a clear conscience in everything we say and do. The problem ony arises when we shut out the word and the convictions of the Holy Spirit. God wants to take all of us to a higher moral ground. When the enemy sends in a flood, God raises a standard. That standard is Jesus in us.
The conscience is a very real part of our make up as human beings. Moral laws of a country were made up on this truth. Man was capable of behaving in a moral way and knew the difference between good and evil. His choosing was the problem. It says of Jesus that He knew how to choose. Isa 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. This verse speaks of the conscience of Jesus.
Thayer Definition of this verse: (1) it is the consciousness of anything (2) the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other
At the end of the day, when we choose like Jesus did, what we have is a clear conscience that not only allows us to exist in the midst of evil and be untouched by it but be able to go before God and receive the righteousness that comes from Christ. If you want to display Christianity to the world, what has to be done is, show a Christ like character that stands for righteousness. Not everyone in this world will be touched by evil that much that they cannot choose Christ. I know this to be true because I was a miserable sinner and I was washed clean in my conscience by the blood of Jesus and now, I am able to stand up and say, ‘not by might or my strength but by the Spirit of God’. Even though I am capable of sin, I am not deliberately sinning because I now have a greater consciousness than ever before through the word which I feed on daily. By the renewing of my mind each day, I can look evil in the face and say ‘no’ to it. This is the authority of the conscience that is cleansed in the blood of Jesus.
Lots of love
Pastor Noble
31/05/2015