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Explore the significance of conscience in distinguishing right from wrong, its development, and its role in moral decision-making according to biblical teachings. Understand why having a good conscience is essential for living a righteous life.
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Teaching The Difference Between Right and Wrong • Young children have no knowledge of good and evil – Deuteronomy 1:39 • Not very concerned with matters of right and wrong • Mom and Dad handle those issues and let them know • Somewhere along the line it does become an issue. • Not enough to know this is right or wrong, need to know why
Teaching The Difference Between Right and Wrong • Gives Adults Trouble as Well • People are growing up without basic moral training • Is it any wonder most people think lying is fine if you have an excuse? • That people don’t understand sex before marriage is wrong? • Half the country thinks nothing wrong with homosexuality?
“Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide” • The Conscience Can Be Wrong • Acts 23:1 “I have lived in all good conscience” • Acts 24:16 “always strive to have as conscience without offense toward God and men” • 1 Timothy 1:12,13 “ignorantly in unbelief” • 1 Timothy 4:2 “conscience seared with a hot iron” • Titus 1:15 “mind and conscience are defiled” • Hebrews 10:22 “evil conscience”
We Need A Good Conscience • 1 Timothy 1:5 “a good conscience” • Hebrews 13:18 “confident that we have a good conscience” • 1 Peter 3:15,16 “having a good conscience” • Our Conscience Reflects Our Own Thoughts • Proverbs 3:7 “wise in your own eyes” • Jeremiah 10:23 “not in man who walks to direct his own steps”
We Need A Good Conscience • Ephesians 4:5 “one Lord, one faith, one baptism • One may decide to avoid meat & another to eat meat – Romans 14:2 • Confidence makes them right – Romans 14:3,4 • For either to teach their way must be followed would be wrong – Romans 14:10 • Only judgement is God’s – Romans 14:11,12
We Need A Good Conscience • This is an important point often missed: • It doesn’t matter if you FEEL you are right • It doesn’t matter if you THINK you are right • It doesn’t matter if you are CONFIDENT you are right • The only thing that matters is WHAT GOD HAS DECIDED
The Conscience Does Serve A Purpose • The Conscience should not be ignored • Hopefully our conscience does not permit more than what is allowed – Romans 14:20-23 • A weak conscience can be defiled – 1 Corinthians 8:7-13; 10:25-33 • The Conscience may be a guide, but it cannot be a standard • When well trained, it serves as an early warning system – Psalm 119:11
The Conscience Does Serve A Purpose • The existence of the conscience shows that man understands moral decisions – Romans 2:14-16 • No one can ever go before God and say they didn’t know there was a RIGHT and WRONG! • Each person carries judgement of himself within him, however imperfectly trained it may be • But there is no excuse to leave the conscience untrained or poorly trained • God has given His will- Ephesians 3:1-8