05/13/2025
We will all be resurrected into judgement one day, so are we maintaining a clear conscience as we go about living our lives of faith? This morning, I am concerned with allowing my own conscience to guide me as I follow God's commandments and prepare myself to stand in the judgement of Christ before Him. I listen intently to it so that on the day when I account for my sins I will be perceived as pure by the profession of my conscience which was formed and reformed by my righteous spiritual knowledge and understanding. Are our consciences clean, and have they been cleansed by the blood of Jesus as we have undergone our transformation in Him… made new in Jesus Christ?
Paul spoke these words to Felix regarding the prophets, resurrection, and conscience...
“having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”
Acts 24:15-16 ESV
We all have a sense of conscience, but what is it? The dictionary defines it in two ways… 1) the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct and motives, impelling one toward right action; and 2) the complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual... but I like the more spiritually oriented definition as applied by Pastor Oswald Chambers:
"Conscience is that facility in me which attaches itself to the highest that I know, and tells me what the highest I know demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either towards God or towards what it regards as the highest, and therefore conscience records differently in different people." - Oswald Chambers
As we mature in our faith and understand the Word of God more deeply, our conscience changes. From each new level of Christian maturity and understanding comes a new, and more refined, sense of right and wrong.
I was listening as an art critic spoke of a painting by one of the great masters. He was so detailed in his criticism and praise. As he went on, my mind wandered to a painting held to my refrigerator by magnets. The painting had been done by one of my children and was signed "I Love Mommy." I remember Ann and I making over this picture when it was pulled out of a school backpack... along with a partially eaten lunch and some wadded up papers. That painting was perfect in our eyes, but apparently as one's understanding of art becomes more refined the nuances of brush strokes and colors take on new meaning. Our conscience changes as well, but there is one characteristic that sets it apart from a studied determination... it happens without our needing to think. Conscience is a sense, a subtle smell of spoil, the sound of an airplane engine that isn't quite right, such are the reminders of right and wrong that come from somewhere in the dark recesses of our minds and souls... it is a feeling more than a calculated thought.
Sin can be black or white, and bold, but quite often it is subtle to the point of being nearly imperceptible. It mixes in with the background noise of a busy room, or wafts intermixed with the carnival smells of life, and slips past our wakened minds. This nearly unperceivable notion of sin awakens the conscience of our faith and is detected with the keen nose of a hungry predator. This is the product of a mature faith that has filled every nook and cranny of our being.
I am certain that there have been times when each of us just knew something wasn't right, but couldn't put your finger on it. This is the same feeling that we get when some innocent or innocuous event is masking a cleverly hidden sin. Our spiritual sense of right and wrong is heightened to supernatural by the Holy Spirit that resides within us. God said as much to Israel and it applies to us as well... listen.
“And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
Ezekiel 36:27 ESV
We each have a conscience that is commiserate with the maturity of our faith; this is why we are not to judge others. Our conscience is as delicate as our understanding of Jesus and God the Father. We live within the parameters of our faith. Just as I would not judge my children's paintings on the fridge in the same way as a Rembrandt, neither should a new Christian be judged as if they were Isaiah. Are we able to understand and do this?
Prayer:
Thank you Father for that inner sense of right and wrong that guides me during those times when my armor of faith is hanging on the post. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that lives within me and stands guard while I sleep or while I am in unawares. You nudge me when I am about to take an errant step and you use my conscience to alert me to unforeseen danger that could harm my faith and soul. Father, you are my protector, and my champion; you are with me even in my slumber, and inattention. Holy Father, you return me to Jesus when I lose track of the way, and you are faithful when my own faith alludes me. Even in the most subtle of attacks, you speak to me of the danger... softly, nearly imperceptible, you lead me away from hidden sin. You lift my foot above the snare before I can see it... you are my keeper, my shepherd, my strong tower. Praise be your name! Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who is love, and your love for me, which often manifests itself in my conscience, comes subtly in whispers as well as boldly in loud shouts. Your holiness guides my mouth, my heart, and dwells in the innermost reaches of my soul that none can see... you are the breath of my being which moves gentle as a summer breeze within me. Great art thou in the quiet places of my soul. Praised be your name Father for keeping your hand upon me and guiding me in spirit and truth as I worship you, and on my shoulder as you guard my righteousness while I live out my life. Merciful and full of grace are you and comforting your Spirit who whispers in my ear. Thank you, Abba, for my mind’s determined obedience, but even more so for the subtle movements of my conscience and faith which guide me spiritually. Great are you, and greatly to be praised as you speak to my soul in ways that are often imperceptible and yet powerful enough to change my life, and save my soul.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah… Amen!
“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.”
2 Corinthians 1:12 ESV
“They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”
Romans 2:15-16 ESV
Rich Forbes