I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. | John 17:14–19
On Sunday, we talked about the issue of conscience in the Christian life. Sadly, the conscience is sometimes forgotten in our conversations about faithfulness; but understanding our conscience, and the role that it plays in our lives, in integral to navigating this world. It is worth asking: what exactly is a conscience? For many, the idea brings up cartoon images of either a cricket or an angel on the shoulder. In the Bible, the conscience is defined for us by what it does; there are 3 actions that the Bible attribute to the work of the conscience, all of which can be seen as an outworking of the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus for His people (above):
1. The conscience is an internal check on our motives and actions | they are not of this world
This is where we most often hear the term conscience in our modern vocabulary; the idea of having a clear conscience is a shorthand of saying that: I find nothing wrong with what I have done. Our conscience is how God works within us to both free us from shame (when we hold things against ourselves that we should not) and convict us (when we do things that we should be remorseful of). Our conscience helps us to look at ourselves more accurately. Paul uses it in this way in Acts 24:
But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. | Acts 24:14–16
If we look at what Paul is saying here, we see that this is about more than a personal assessment. Paul’s view of himself is based in the Law and Prophets, it begins with God’s standard, so it is connected to His purposes. Our conscience is not just operating to make us feel better about ourselves or to make us more successful people; its purpose is to align us with God’s purposes. It both frees and condemns us in order to bring us into deeper relationship with Him.
2. The conscience is an evidence of the Spirit’s work | sanctify them in truth
While all people have a worldview, a set of beliefs which will challenge them, the conscience of the Christian is unique because it acts in accordance with God’s will, not our own. When a person without the Holy Spirit talks of conscience, it will always be in alignment with their idea of truth. For the Christian, the conscience fights many aspects of their accepted truths. It sanctifies and shapes the person toward holiness. It brings God’s law to bear on their life. We see this in Romans 2:
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. | Romans 2:14–16
The idea here is that the Gentiles do not have the written law, but they are obedient to the law of God because law has been written on their hearts. This is applied by the work of the conscience, and it is the conscience that will bear witness to their motives on the last day. The conscience makes us aware of the Spirit’s presence in our life now and assures us of His presence in the future. It bears witness to our belonging.
3. The conscience applies God’s value system to the individual | keep them from the evil one
We have seen that the conscience frees and convicts us and that in this we have evidence of the presence of the Spirit and our place in God’s family. The third action of the conscience helps us to live this belonging out in the world. The conscience helps us to be discerning in how we choose to live toward holiness. The law gives us the guardrails and connects us to God’s ends, but in the trenches of life, each of us will have unique temptations and struggles. While the law is absolute and universal, we may need to set additional boundaries to help us in our pursuit of holiness. While all that God has created is good, we may have to abstain from some of these good things because of their tendency to pull us away from Him. The conscience helps us to know ourselves and understand the unique challenges we face; it is the way that God personally applies His truth to each one of His children.
There are some dangers of this (specifically legalism) which I will address in another post, but I just want to take a moment to think through what this tells us about Jesus. One of things we know about Jesus is that He was perfection. This means, of course, that He lived without breaking the law of God, but it also means that He was always fully in tune with His conscience. Not only was every action perfect, but so was every motive. Not only did He follow the letter of the law, but He also hit every note in between. He did this so this so that we could have the opportunity to follow our conscience. His prayer above ends by saying:
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Jesus gave up everything so that we could be redeemed. Part of this process is the sanctification of our souls. This should motivate us to be more intentional with how we act as citizens of heaven living as exiles in the world.