The Value Of A Good Conscience
The Value Of A Good Conscience
The early church was faced with a dilemma - should they eat meat that was sacrificed to idols. Much of the meat that was sold in markets had been offered as sacrifices and then re-purposed for human consumption.
Those who had grown somewhat in their faith knew that idols had no power over them; they knew something of the position and authority we have in Christ. Less mature Christians, however, had not had their faith developed in these areas and so still had an element of fear over idols and other gods.
Paul's, and through him the Holy Spirit's, instruction to the church was: when fellowshipping with immature believers, do not eat sacrificed meat- for the sake of their conscience (1 Cor 10:23-31).
Evidently, God considers our conscience more critical than being legalistic about doctrinal correctness! The Apostle Paul wrote in Acts that he always strove to keep a good conscience (Acts 24:16). Peter wrote that it is a source of grace in our lives to honour a good conscience (1 Peter 2:19).
Why is our conscience so important?
Our conscience is the voice of our spirit; our spirit is born again and is learning to fellowship with God.
'I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit.' Romans 9:1
Our fellowship with God is of the utmost importance. A guilty conscience brings with it a sense of unrighteousness that dissuades us from going confidently to God. It destroys our awareness of God's righteousness in us and toward us.
'How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!' Hebrews 9:14
Every time we go against our conscience, our heart is hardened somewhat toward God, our conscience becomes seared. The tragedy is, some peoples consciences become so hardened that they can fall into all kinds of deception and sin and their Christian walk eventually become shipwrecked (1 Tim 1:19, 4:2 and James 1:13-15).
The value we place on our conscience should be, in effect, the same value we place on our relationship with God. A good conscience will protect our faith and our relationship with God and with others. As Christians, it is our responsibility to train our conscience with the Word of God and to allow ourselves to be led by the voice of our conscience.
