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 Is
Conscience a Safe Guide?
By Jack Thompson
In Proverbs 16:25, the inspired writer
states, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death." There are many today who think that
it does not matter what one believes or does in religion just so
he/she follows his/her conscience and does the best that he/she
knows. Yet, the Bible, God's inspired Book, declares that a person
may follow a way that seems right; that feels right; and yet in
reality, be wrong. This is true in everyday affairs of life as well
as it is in religion.
It is not safe to just follow one's
conscience in secular matters. After considering the question from
this viewpoint, maybe we can better understand it from the religious
side. We certainly should strive to be as safe with our souls, in
fact more so, as we are with the daily affairs of life.
I am
sure that almost all of us have had the experience of honestly
taking the wrong road in traveling, and going several miles some
times, feeling all the time that we were on the right road. However,
our feeling so did not make it right. Our sincere honesty did not
cause us to be on the right road. We just did not check the road map
closely enough, or failed to read the signs. Maybe we did not
understand the directions that we received.
Anyway, when we
found that we were on the wrong road, we just turned around and
proceeded to find the right road and started traveling it. No, it
did not make us angry at the person who informed us that we were
going in the wrong direction. Why is it that all persons cannot be
as reasonable and appreciative in religion? Why does a person think
that one is "running him down" if he points out to him that he is on
the wrong road religiously? He would not think so if he were taking
an earthly trip. Why should he not have the
same appreciation for the friend who is trying to help him
get on the right road that leads to eternal bliss? Are we more
interested in visiting earthly friends than in gaining a heavenly
home? Maybe not, we certainly should be more interested in going to
heaven than any other place; but our conscience is not a safe guide
in traveling here upon the earth. Why then, should one think that it
is a safe guide in going to heaven?
Doctors sometimes
conscientiously treat for the wrong disease until it is too late to
save the patient. Their being honest and sincere does not change the
facts. Sometimes it is the honest mistake of the patient. although
he followed his conscience, he just went to the wrong doctor.
Suppose a person by mistake takes poison. Will his honesty save him?
In taking medicine, is it safe to just follow one's conscience? Is
it not best to read the label and follow the written instructions?
In religion, why not read the Bible and follow the written
instructions of the Lord! Yet, many disregard the written commands
and instructions of the Lord and just follow their feelings and
conscience. Sincerity does not change the physical laws of nature in
matters of health. Neither are God's other laws in the physical
realm changed by being conscientious. If a person by accident takes
hold of a powerful live electric wire, it will kill him regardless
of his conscience in the matter. Neither can a linesman tell which
wires are safe and which are not by merely following his conscience.
The spiritual laws of God are not changed by honesty and sincerity
any more than his physical laws. Merely following one's conscience
does not save from spiritual death and damnation. Both the physical
and spiritual laws of God must be respected and obeyed.
Many
business enterprises have been failures although they were entered
into with all good conscience. Maybe the investment was made without
investigating. Sincerity does not keep banks from going broke, or
the stock market from collapsing.
Many have gone to the
marriage altar and there exchanged their solemn vows in all good
conscience later to learn that they had been tragically
disappointed. The broken hearts, broken homes, and broken hopes
attest this fact. All stand as living evidence that conscience is
not a safe guide in marriage.
If we cannot safely follow our
conscience in all these affairs of every day life: travel, health,
business, and marriage, why should it be thought safe to just follow
one's conscience in religion?
Conscience is the exercise of
one's judgment or power of feeling that enables him to know when he
is doing what he has been taught to be right. The conscience either
excuses or accuses one for his conduct. It bears witness. It is that
part of the mind that enables us to know when we go contrary to what
we have been taught to be right. The conscience is similar to a
court of law. The court does not make the law. The court decides if
actions or conduct has been in accord with the established law. When
one is doing what he has been taught to be right his conscience is
referred to as "good." (Acts 23:1). Or, as "pure," (2 Timothy 1:3).
Or, as "void of offense," (Acts 24:16). If one violates the warnings
of the conscience, he "defiles it," (Titus 1:15). Or, one may
eventually "sear it," (1 Timothy 4:2). The conscience should not be
violated. We should never do that which we know or think is wrong.
However, to think a thing is right does not make it right. If we
doubt the safety of a bridge, the proper thing is to stay off of it
until we find out and know it is safe. The same principle applies in
moral and religious questions.
Conscience is formed by
teaching. Although there may be some inherent perception of right
and wrong concerning questions of morals, yet religious convictions
are only formed by teaching. Those who practice sprinkling of a
candidate as a religious practice do so because they have been
taught that it is right. Those who conscientiously try to keep the
seventh day Sabbath today do so because they have been taught that
is right. Those who live with several wives also argue that they do
it conscientiously. This does not make it right. Because a person
does a thing with a good conscience does not prove it is right,
neither does it prove that one is right with God.
Instead of
conscience being a safe guide, it must be safely guided. It must be
formed by the right teaching of God's Word. Hence, we are commanded
to teach. Only the truth can make one free. Jesus states in John
8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free."
The practices of heathens prove that conscience is not
a safe guide. Having been left to themselves, their practices are
far from being in harmony with the truth of God's Word. If
conscience were a safe guide, it would guide the heathens safely.
There would be no need for mission work, and no need for teaching.
When Paul went to Athens, he found a city filled with idols and
idol worship. They were very religious, but very wrong. They did not
know the true God nor how to worship Him. Read Acts 17:22-31. Their
conscience had not guided them correctly. They needed the truth of
God's word to guide their conscience.
Before his conversion,
Paul was a violent persecutor of the church. Listen to him in Acts
26:9, 10, "I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many
things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, And this I also
did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many saints in prison, having
received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to
death I gave my vote against them." Paul thought that he was right.
Did that make him right? He acted with all good conscience. Look at
Acts 23:1, "And Paul, looking steadfastly on the council said,
Brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this
day." This was spoken by Paul after he became a Christian and looked
back over his life. While he was persecuting the church with all
good conscience, he did so because he did not know the truth, or
else did not believe it. His conscience did not guide him correctly.
While his teaching was wrong, his conscience was not a safe guide.
By living up to his teaching he was living up to his conscience; but
he was still wrong.
So, one may live in accord with false
doctrine and have a good conscience. No, it is not sufficient just
to live according to the dictates of one's conscience. When Paul's
understanding was changed, his conscience was changed, and his life
was changed accordingly. He repented of his sins, confessed Christ,
and was baptized in order to have the guilt of his past life
removed. Although he had prayed and fasted, he could not have his
sins removed and become a child of God until he did what the Lord
commanded: "And now why tarriest thou, arise, and be baptized, and
wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).
Today, Christ has all authority in religion. He makes this very
clear in Matthew 28:18, when He states, "All authority hath been
given unto me in heaven and on earth." His written word, as guided
by the Holy Spirit through the inspired writers of the New
Testament, is our guide. We are to be guided and governed by the
inspired word, the Bible, in life; and we shall be judged by it in
the last day. Hear Christ, "He that rejected me, and receiveth not
my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). We are not
going to be judged by how we think or feel, but by the revealed Word
of God. ~
Editor’s note: The above is from a radio
address given by Jack Thompson over KSHN in Liberty, Texas. It is
not dated, but the message is true regardless of the time.
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