Articles
Is Your Conscience Right?
An individual’s conscience can be a very tricky thing. It serves as our inner guide as to what is right or wrong in life (Romans 2:15). Everyone’s conscience is certainly not the same. One person’s conscience feels guilt when they tell a lie (John 8:9), while another individual may feel no guilt whatsoever (I Timothy 4:2).
Some folks even allow their conscience to be their guide in life. But what if their moral compass is off? What if their conscience steers them incorrectly in matters of faith? After all the Bible warns: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
The frightening thing is that we can live “in all good conscience before God”, and still be wrong (Acts 23:1). Saul (Paul) thought he was doing exactly what was right and pleasing unto God when he persecuted and killed Christians (Acts 26:9-11). Boy was he wrong (Acts 26:12-20)!
So the important question that must be settled is this: is your conscience guided solely by the Word of God (I Peter 4:11; Col. 3:17), or by what you think, feel, and believe?
Do you base your salvation on what you feel is right or what God’s Word says will save you (Mark 16:16; Eph. 2:8)? By the way, did you know that baptism, which “saves us”, is “the answer of a good conscience toward God” (I Peter 3:21)? Are you guided by your conscience in how you worship God, or do you only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24)? Do you base your moral decisions on your personal conscience or upon the righteousness contained in the gospel (Romans 1:16-17; Eph. 4:17-32)?
Your conscience will be well-pleasing to God if you: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-7). Let us say and live what the apostle Paul confessed, “I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men” (Acts 24:15).
So, is your conscience right? It only is when it is in perfect harmony with the perfect will of God (James 1:25).
