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 A Christ-centered Conscience (June 21, 2023)

“Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.” (Hebrews 13:18)

The human conscience is our inner sense of what is right and wrong, the moral compass that guides our conduct and shapes our character. Fans of the delightful Academy Award-winning Walt Disney animated classic “Pinocchio” will recall that Jiminy Cricket famously admonished the film’s long-nosed title character to, “Always let your conscience be your guide!” As a Christian, I consider that to be great sound if your conscience is finely tuned to the “still small voice” of the LORD, grounded in the absolute truth of God’s Word and guided by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Only through trusting obedience can we avoid the devil’s deception and maintain consciences that are keenly sensitive and immediately responsive to God’s promptings.  

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

In a world in which good is quickly becoming evil and evil good, each of us needs to make sure that the compass of our conscience is calibrated to the highest moral standards that have been revealed by God in Scripture and exemplified in the flesh by His Son Jesus Christ. We must also train our spiritual ears to hear, above the noisy deception and distractions of the world, God speaking to our inner being through His Word, His Spirit, our circumstances, and other people, especially like-minded Christians. We keep our consciences clear by habitually and obediently applying God’s Word to our lives, and seeking daily to grow in the likeness of Jesus. Only with Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit, can you “let your conscience be your guide!”

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14)



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