Jam 48-50, 3/4/90; Eph 863ff; 5/3/78
A. Definition and Description.
1. The Greek word for conscience is SUNEIDESIS, which means to know with a norm or standard. To have a norm or standard and be conscious of that norm or standard in thinking, motivation, decision making and action.
2. The English word conscience comes from the Latin word CONSCIENTIA, meaning joint knowledge; hence, to know with preconceived standards. There is no reference to the conscience, as such, in the Old Testament.
3. Definitions from other theologians.
a. SUNEIDESIS is defined by Kittel’s Theological Dictionary as, “percipient and active self-awareness, which is threatened at its heart by the disjunction of acknowledgement and perception, willing and knowing, judgment and action.”
b. Conscience is that mental faculty by which one distinguishes between right and wrong, and urges the individual to do what he recognizes to be right and to restrain him from doing that which he recognizes to be wrong.
4. The conscience is a sense or consciousness in the right lobe related to either moral or spiritual goodness of one’s thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions. Therefore, conscience is a faculty, a power, or a principle conceived in the right lobe to determine the quality of one’s thoughts, intentions, decisions, and actions.
5. In the conscience of the believer, the norms, standards, and priorities must originate from Bible doctrine. The conscience stores norms, standards, priorities, and values in life.
a. The conscience is the place for the norms and standards that are developed from Bible doctrine. The only thing that makes a Christian conscience work is Bible doctrine.
b. The conscience extrapolates from doctrine the norms and standards for life. You have to know something to have a conscience. When you know something you develop standards. Whatever you learn in the right lobe becomes a part of your norms and standards.
c. You must have vocabulary and thought to establish norms and standards. The conscience must be built on a vocabulary that begins with one word: no, or don’t .All consciences are built with negative words which forbid doing something. So the conscience of man is first established by negatives, although eventually there are explanations in both positive and negative terms.
d. The preconceived norms, standards, and priorities of the believer must originate from Bible doctrine. This is the only possible way for the believer to have a conscience that honors God.
7. Scripture: Rom 9:1, 13:5; 1 Cor 8:7; 2 Cor 4:2, 5:11; Tit 1:15; Heb 9:14.
8. While the Old Testament does not have a word for conscience, it does tell how conscience worked in the Old Testament. Rom 2:14-15, “The law printed [written] in your hearts [right lobes], their conscience confirming the testimony and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending themselves.”
a. All normal persons develop some form of norms, standards, priorities, and concepts of life in the right lobe of the soul.
b. Believers develop divine norms, standards, and priorities in the right lobe through perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.
c. Example: Dan 1:8.
9. Conscience is a part of the soul.
a. It is the most basic attribute of the soul related to self-consciousness, and is located in the right lobe of the soul.
b. It is your norms and standards related to everything.
(1) It is the standards which you have learned.
(2) These standards set up your own personal honor code. They must recognize authority to have freedom, privacy and property.
c. Everyone has a system of norms, their conscience; e.g., giving your word, not welshing on an obligation, the fact that all women are ladies.
d. Honor is more important than anything else. A society without standards is no society at all. The Roman Empire destroyed itself because it rejected its own standards and the better standards of Christianity.
e. You were born into an aristocracy of honor as a believer. You have to develop new standards now. Your first standard should be recognition of authority, so that all of us may have freedom.
f. Your standards don’t make you spiritual or advance you to maturity; God’s standards do.
g. People have the right to learn their own standards and make their own decisions. No one has the right to superimpose their standards on anyone else. Privacy means you are allowed to hold any opinion until you grow up spiritually. You have the privacy to take in doctrine without anyone setting standards for you.
h. As you learn doctrine your norms and standards will change. At every stage of spiritual growth you have a consolidated conscience so that you regulate your own life on the basis of your own standards.
B. False standards of legalism produce a weak conscience. 1 Cor 8:7, “Not all men have this knowledge [about food offered to idols], but some being accustomed to idol worship until now [when saved] eat the food as if it were sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.”
1. Some of the best food in Corinth had been offered to idols and then sold as the choicest meat in the temple market. Food is food and meat is meat. So it was alright to eat that food, once you sanctified it.
2. But for those with an idolatrous background and a weak conscience, eating food offered to idols was very offensive. The one with the weak conscience has legalistic norms and standards in his conscience from his religious background.
3. So there is a conflict between those with a strong conscience and those with a weak conscience. A strong conscience has Biblical standards from metabolized doctrine. A weak conscience lives by standards acquired from its background, which may or may not be good, or which may be distorted in the spiritual life. Eating is a physical issue, and has nothing to do with the spiritual life.
4. The weak conscience assumes he’s strong, because legalism always assumes it is strong. Yet legalism is really weak. The invasion of guilt into the conscience is one of the biggest problems in legalism, and becomes motivation for legalistic believers.
5. So the conscience is a very sensitive thing. It can be erroneous in its concepts apart from doctrine. If doctrine does not feed the conscience, instinct will. And instinct develops legalism in a hurry.
6. Guilt is a sign of a weak conscience.
C. The Balanced Conscience of the Apostle Paul.
1. Paul had a balanced conscience regarding establishment and the principles of Bible doctrine, or theology. The norms and standards located in the conscience are directed toward both God and man, but primarily toward mankind until you become aware of the existence of God and what He has done for you.
a. Acts 23:1, “Then Paul, looking intently at the Sanhedrin, said, `Brethren, I have conducted myself as a citizen with a good conscience before God up to this day.’”
b. Acts 24:16, “In view of this, even I myself keep on practicing to maintain even a blameless conscience, both before God and before men.”
2. You must have a balanced conscience in order to have a blameless conscience. Paul had two sets of norms and standards from Bible doctrine. He had one set related to God and one set related to man. True strength is to develop your standards toward both God and man from the Biblical standards of doctrine.
3. Paul’s conscience before God originated from the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. His conscience before people originated from Codex Three of the Mosaic Law plus everything he had learned related to Bible doctrine of the Church Age.
D. Carnality and the Conscience.
1. Believers in two categories of extended carnality have destroyed their conscience: extended carnality, resulting in life in Satan’s cosmic system; extended carnality, resulting in the believer’s involvement in the three stages of Christian degeneracy.
a. 1 Tim 1:19-20, “keeping doctrine [faith] and a good of intrinsic value conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck regarding their doctrine [faith]. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.”
b. Tit 1:15, “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving [those who reject doctrine], nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”
c. 1 Tim 4:1-2, “But the Spirit explicitly states that in latter periods of time [the dispensations of the Hypostatic Union, the Church Age, and the Tribulation], some believers will become apostate from doctrine, paying attention to deceitful spirits and concentrating on doctrines from demons [cosmic involvement] by means of hypocrisy of liars [false teachers], seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.”
2. False teaching sears the conscience like a branding iron. It destroys the conscience. This searing refers to scar tissue of the soul and cosmic involvement.
3. A great deal of your strength comes from having the proper norms and standards in the conscience of your right lobe. Therefore, it is important to understand how apostasy can destroy the conscience.
E. The Conscience and Dead Works.
1. The Bible has something to say about the conscience and dead works. The conscience is purified from dead works to serve God as a result of believing in Jesus Christ according to Heb 9:14, “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit [omnipotence of the Holy Spirit] offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
2. There is no work we can perform for salvation; salvation is by grace. Therefore, our conscience must be purified from dead works. Dead works are human works, like faith plus anything for salvation. At the moment of salvation, the new believer has the potential for the purification of his conscience; the conscience can be purified from dead works by avoiding dead works through the filling of the Holy Spirit. All dead works will be burned at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
3. In other words, anything performed outside of the divine dynasphere is dead works. Dead works are from a bad conscience seared with legalism. Christian service that involves dead works is not Christian service at all. The great power experiment of the Church Age and the execution of the protocol plan of God demands the use of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere.
4. Divine omnipotence and human power are mutually exclusive. Serving God and fulfilling His plan cannot be accomplished by human power. Human power destroys the conscience and results in dead works. Legalism cannot execute the plan, purpose, or will of God in the Church Age.
5. Serving God means the utilization of divine power and the cognition of Bible doctrine, which establishes the norms and standards for the right lobe.
6. Under the Levitical offering, the animal sacrifices were involuntary offerings. But the impeccable humanity of Jesus Christ was a voluntary sacrifice for the sins of the world.
F. The Conscience and the Problem Solving Devices.
1. The conscience is a vehicle for the problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God.
2. If the norms and standards respond to guilt, then you have a weak conscience. For example, if you rebound and still feel guilty, you have a weak conscience.
3. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Christian moral degeneracy, then the conscience is weak and can only identify with dead works.
4. However, the application of Bible doctrine to life is made through the mechanics of the problem solving devices; they also enter the conscience.
a. The norms and standards of the conscience make the proper application of rebound. The believer simply names his sins to God, and because he has a strong conscience, he knows they are forgiven immediately. Therefore, there is no battle with guilt, no penitence, no self-flagellation, no trying to make it up to God. Rebound applied to the conscience removes guilt.
b. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving device related to grace orientation, 2 Cor 1:12. “Now this is our boast [esprit de corp], the testimony of our conscience, that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially in relationship to God, both in holiness [filling of the Holy Spirit] and godly sincerity [motivation from Bible doctrine], not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God.”
(1) There a conflict in the conscience of the believer in adolescence between the motivation of Bible doctrine and the problem of fleshly wisdom. Believers hallucinate spiritually. They assume they have reached spiritual adulthood when they are really in adolescence. These believers can never handle the lust problems of the sin nature.
(2) The conscience is related to the grace of God in Paul’s conduct toward the Corinthian believers.
(3) Grace orientation as a problem solving device expresses itself through the norms and standards of the conscience constructed from Bible doctrine. There is no grace orientation apart from the norms and standards of Bible doctrine established in the soul.
(4) Grace orientation in the soul includes conscience. Conscience is the basis for grace function in the Christian life.
(5) Grace orientation related to the conscience is also taught in 1 Pet 2:18-19, “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only for the good and gentle masters, but also for the unreasonable ones; for this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God, anyone bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.”
(a) Though originally addressed to slaves, this verse came to refer to anyone who is under the authority of someone else. Some people in authority are perverse, but you are just as responsible to submit to their authority. You serve them and do your best job as unto the Lord.
(b) A conscience loaded with doctrine bears up magnificently under unfair treatment. Such a believer has a strong conscience. Instead of guilt entering the conscience to destroy it, you have grace orientation and keep on making the right application. The weak believer complains and rejects authority, and so becomes a loser.
© So it is very important to have a conscience based on EPIGNOSIS doctrine so that you can handle unjust treatment in the same manner that you handle fair treatment.
(d) Military training can be counted on to provide unjust and unfair treatment from authority. To learn to submit to unfair authority is necessary for proper function under the abnormal circumstances of combat.
c. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving device related to doctrinal orientation, 2 Cor 4:2, “But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame [false norms and standards], not walking in craftiness or watering down the Word of God, but by the unveiling of doctrine [cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine], commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God.”
(1) The “things hidden because of shame” are the previous false norms and standards in the conscience related to guilt or some other form of arrogance. This is how people justify wrong doing.
(2) The weak conscience is crafty. The weak conscience waters down the Word of God.
(3) The more doctrine you learn, the more doctrinal standards you have in your conscience.
(a) You cannot have a good conscience, if you do not know Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine is the center of all spiritual skills.
(b) Paul is here saying that there is a legitimate modus operandi that goes with the spiritual life. You will build up norms and standards related to it from Bible doctrine, and at the same time set aside false norms and standards related to legalism.
© By learning and using doctrine without trying to run other people’s lives, you commend yourself to other people’s consciences in the sight of God.
(d) The conscience of the believer must be formed from the norms, standards, and priorities obtained through cognition of Bible doctrine. No one has a strong conscience until they reach spiritual self-esteem.
(4) 1 Tim 3:9, “Holding the mystery of the doctrine with a clear conscience.” You acquire a clear conscience by having doctrinal norms and standards.
(5) The conscience of the believer must be formed from norms and standards obtained through cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine.
d. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has problem solving devices related to virtue-love, 1 Tim 1:5, “But the objective of our instruction is virtue-love from a pure right lobe and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
e. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving devices relate to perfect happiness. This happiness and tranquility is applied through the conscience.
f. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving devices relate to a personal sense of destiny.
g. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving devices relate to occupation with Christ. 1 Pet 3:15-16, “but sanctify the Lord Jesus Christ in your right lobes [occupation with Christ], and always be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you to give an account for the confidence that is in you with grace orientation and respect [occupation with Christ]. Be having a good conscience, so that in the things in which you are slandered, those who malign your intrinsic good in Christ may be put to shame.”
(1) Note the source of occupation with Christ is epignosis doctrine in the right lobe. You handle slander through epignosis in the right lobe.
(2) If you have a strong conscience, you will leave it in the Lord’s hands. Then it will go to the supreme court of heaven. They will be put to shame without you ever trying to defend yourself or answer back.
(3) Occupation with Christ extends into the conscience and becomes the ultimate in problem solving devices. Any of the various problem solving devices can enter the conscience and solve the problem. You will never be occupied with Christ until you have a strong, doctrinally oriented conscience.
h. The problem solving devices only work through a strong conscience. Through a weak conscience, the believer distorts the problem solving devices.
G. The believer’s conscience demands that he submit to establishment authority. Rom 13:5, “Therefore, it is necessary to be in subordination, not only because of wrath [law enforcement], but also for conscience sake.”
1. In other words, the Christian doesn’t refrain from criminal activity because he’s afraid of going to jail, but because, with a strong conscience, his norms and standards refuse to let him even consider any criminal activity.
2. The conscience in the soul is far stronger than any fear of punishment from law enforcement.
H. Conscience as a motivator. 2 Tim 1:3, “I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers, day and night.”
1. So your conscience has something to do with your effectiveness in prayer. Paul’s conscience demanded that he pray for certain people, and he did so. Paul didn’t pray for people because he liked them, but for conscience sake, which is the strongest possible motivation.
2. Since the conscience is located in the right lobe of the soul, the norms and standards of the conscience are built on EPIGNOSIS doctrine, not on GNOSIS doctrine.
I. Conscience and the function of GAP.
1. You’ve learned from your entire background and, therefore you have certain norms and standards. These are non-essential applications.
2. From a standard you make application. You have a right to those standards and applications as long as it does not contradict essential doctrine.
3. An essential doctrine will come along and knock out one of your past norms and standards.
4. You have to allow for the privacy of individual standards which are non-essential. And you don’t correct people. You simply tolerate others. You don’t try to get others to agree to your non-essential standards. If you don’t get doctrine in your human spirit, you’ll not get it in your soul.
5. Once you believe a doctrine, it goes:
a. To the human spirit as building material for your edification complex of the soul,
b. To your frame of reference, where it becomes a reality,
c. To the memory center, categorical center, launching pad.
d. To your conscience to set up new norms and standards.
6. There is a relationship between your conscience and your perception of doctrine, between your intake of doctrine and your spiritual growth.
a. The mature believer has an edification complex of the soul growing out of the human spirit and a doctrinal conscience growing out of his soul.
b. Maximum doctrine feeds into the human spirit and builds your edification complex of the soul. It also feeds into the soul from which you build your conscience.
c. Every application you make in life you have to make from your own conscience. The source of all application of doctrine is your conscience. You don’t operate on someone else’s norms and standards.
__________________________________________________________