IS YOUR CONSCIENCE STILL ALIVE? (2)
TOPIC: IS YOUR CONSCIENCE STILL ALIVE? (2)
TEXT: ROMANS 2:13-15
Conscience is a reality, the Bible tells us that the conscience is very real and that it comes from God. It did not come from behind us, outside us, or inside us, but from above us! The possession of a conscience is a fundamental part of being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Everyone has been given a conscience (Romans 2:13–15); it is a universal reality.
Although we acknowledge that the conscience exists, it is not easy to define because of its close alignment with other aspects of the inner man. The mind (intellect) and the conscience are tied together in Titus 1:15. The will and the conscience are related (compare Acts 23:1 and 26:9). Especially are the heart (emotion) and the conscience connected. The NASB says that “David’s conscience bothered him” (1 Samuel 24:5), but the original Hebrew has “David’s heart troubled him” (see KJV). Again, when Peter’s sermon touched the consciences of his hearers on the Day of Pentecost, the text says that “they were pierced to the heart” (Acts 2:37b). Nevertheless, the apostle Paul isolated the conscience and spoke of its special functions. Thus we need to ask, “What is the conscience?”
According to the Bible, conscience has two primary functions and one secondary function. Regarding these functions, the conscience might be compared to the physical nervous system: The conscience is to the soul what the nervous system is to the body. Consider the primary purposes of the nervous system: It warns the body of danger (for example: “That is hot!”) and punishes the body if it does not heed the warning (“That hurts!”). Regarding its secondary purpose, the nervous system prompts one to warn others of the danger. The first primary function of the conscience is to tell us what is right and what is wrong, encouraging us to do what is right. Hebrews 5:14 speaks of being able to “discern good and evil,” a function of the conscience.
All men instinctively know that some actions are right and some are wrong—even those who are unaware of God’s written laws. For instance, almost all societies have laws against theft and murder. What is it within men that make these moral judgments? The passage continues: “Their conscience bearing witness” (v. 15b; emphasis mine). This “witnessing” or testifying concerning rightness and wrongness is the first function of the conscience. It is this function we refer to when we say, “I cannot, with a clear conscience, do that.” Is your conscience still alive or dead? If you think nobody sees you when you carry out that act, your conscience does and will stand for or against you on Judgement Day. Check it!
Word Affirmation: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." – Psalm 126:5 (Don't just say it, mean it!)
“Conscience did not come from behind us, outside us, or inside us, but from above us."
Central Truth