So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.** Romans 7:21-25 (NIV)**
The conscience, planted deep within every soul, is truly a gift from God of both noble and divine power. It checks us, even sometimes torments us, until, prayerfully, at last we seek God’s will and His way. Sadly, not all turn. We can suffocate or quench the conscience through habitual sinning. Shrinking it in such a way that it has very little influence, if any, over our lives yet we never get rid of it. Think Lady Macbeth and her bloodstained hands. Indeed, Scripture tells us that our conscience can be seared as with a hot iron. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:1-2 (NIV): “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” Paul also goes on to say in Ephesians 4:18-19 (NIV): “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” We don’t want to go there. And our conscience quickens us to flee – to look up - to run to Jesus Who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
Through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit believers are enabled to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel. Indeed, the Spirit equips us to walk as Jesus walked and the conscience within us pricks us as our reminder when we stray from His ways. Oftentimes our spiritual miseries are attributed to a war between our desires and our conscience or a warring between our affections and our conditions. It does us well to remember that a firm grasp of God’s Word is also necessary. It teaches us the right way to walk, training us both in righteousness and Truth. Indeed, His Word is “a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” the psalmist writes. Remember, Jesus was the Word made flesh. Believers are to flee all unrighteousness seeking a clear conscience before God. It behooves us to keep our accounts short with the Lord desiring not only a clear conscience but an excellent one. We do not want to be disillusioned about ourselves rather seek to have clean hands and a pure heart through His power and for His glory.
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.** 1 Corinthians 4:2-5 (NIV)**