The Conscience
Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.
- The Definition of Conscience
The Greek word for conscience is suneidhsiv suneidesis (soon-i’-day-sis),
which means "a knowing with oneself." The conscience is the
knowledge of good and evil which God has put in man.
- The Function of The Conscience
Proverbs 20:27 "The spirit of man is the candle of the
LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly."
Adam Clark gives a good explanation of this
passage. He says, "God has given to every man a mind, which he so
enlightens by his own Spirit, that the man knows how to distinguish
good from evil; and conscience, which springs from this, searches
the inmost recesses of the soul."
Matthew Henry writes, "Conscience, that noble
faculty, is God's deputy in the soul; it is a candle not only
lighted by him, but lighted for him. The Father of spirits is
therefore called the Father of lights. 2. It is a discovering
light. By the help of reason we come to know men, to judge of their
characters, and dive into their designs; by the help of conscience
we come to know ourselves. The spirit of a man has a
self-consciousness it searches into the dispositions and affections
of the soul, praises what is good, condemns what is otherwise, and
judges of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This is the office,
this the power, of conscience, which we are therefore concerned to
get rightly informed and to keep void of offence.
Romans 2:15 "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;)"
As in the previous verse, the word
conscience means the judgment of the mind respecting right
and wrong; or the judgment which the mind passes on the morality or
immorality of its own actions, when it instantly approves or
condemns them.
The design of our conscience is to serve
the purposes of an ever present witness of our conduct. The
conscience compels a person to judge his own doings, and therefore
motivates him to honorable deeds. The conscience gives comfort and
peace when we do right, and deters us from evil actions by making
us, whether we want to or no, our own executioner. (See John 8:9;
Acts 23:1; 24:16; Romans 9:1; 1 Timothy 1:5). By nature, because of
the conscience God has put in man, every man thus approves or
condemns his own acts; and there is not a profounder principle of
the divine administration, than thus compelling every man to
pronounce on the moral character of his own conduct. However, I
should also note that our conscience may be enlightened or
unenlightened, and its use may be greatly perverted by false
opinions as we will see later in this study.
The Conscience Convicts of Sin – John
8:9; Romans 2:15
The Conscience Must Be Cleansed by The Blood
of Christ -- Hebrews 9:14; 10:22
The Conscience Should Be Kept Pure and Void
of Offense -- Acts 23:1; 24:16; 1 Timothy 1:5,19; 3:9; 2
Timothy 1:3; 1 Peter 3:16
The Conscience Motivates The
Christian To Do Right -- Romans 13:5; 1 Peter 2:19
The Conscience Can Be Seared -- 1
Timothy 4:2
Greek scholar says this: The phrase "seared
with a hot iron" is but one word in the Greek - kauthriazw
kauteriazo (kow-tay-ree-ad’-zo). That is where we get our
word cauterize. The ones referred to here are branded in their own
conscience. The metaphor is from the practice of branding slaves or
criminals, the latter on the brow. These deceivers are not acting
under delusion, but deliberately, and against their conscience. They
wear the form of godliness, and contradict their profession by their
crooked conduct (2Ti_3:5). The
brand is not on their brow, but on their conscience. Robertson says,
their conscience is "branded with the mark of Satan.
The Greek word translated is miainw miaino (me-ah’-ee-no),
which means to dye with another colour, to stain.
Be Saved -- Hebrews 10:22
Have Faith in God's Word -- 1 Timothy 1:19
Obedience The Bible -- Hebrews 5:14; 13:18; 2
Corinthians 1:12
Keep Your Conscience Clear Before God & Man -- Acts
24:16
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