The public health measures put in place in Australia in response to COVID-19 have prompted a range of responses from Christians. In discussions about how to respond the ideas of ‘conscience’ and ‘freedom (or liberty) of conscience’ often come up. In this four-part series, the GiST team takes a fresh look at conscience and liberty of conscience, and asks the question, “Are they Christian ideas?’
In this, the first part of this series, we ask the question…
What is ‘conscience’ in the Bible?
Conscience is moral self-awareness – my knowledge of myself as standing in God’s presence[1]
Paul writes about conscience in Romans 2:14-16.
“14 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. 15 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 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”
The background to this passage is that God’s general revelation of himself demonstrates that He is good, and that He requires goodness from all people. For the Jews, God’s requirements were made explicit in the moral laws of the Old Testament. However for the ‘Gentiles’ (non-Jews) God’s requirements are ‘written on their hearts’ (v.15a) and their conscience bears witness as to whether or not they have met God’s requirements in any particular area or action (v.15b-16).[2]
In the Bible’s view then, conscience is not the voice of God speaking in my heart. Rather, it bears witness within me as to whether or not my actions (or thoughts or words) are in line with what I understand God’s requirements to be.
My conscience is not always right but must be informed by God’s word
In 1 Corinthians 8 the apostle Paul deals with the issue of food offered to idols. He makes it clear from the start that there is a right answer to this question:
“Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’ (v.4)
Therefore, in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul can say to the Corinthians, “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience” (v.25). The twin reasons for this are (a) “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (v.26) and (b) that the idol to which the food has been offered has “no real existence” (8:4).
However, some Christians in Corinth, through their former participation in idol worship, did not understand this. “But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.” (8:7) In other words, if one of these ‘weak conscience’ Christians eat food that has been offered to idols, their conscience accuses them, since it is operating on the (erroneous) assumption that idols have real substance as ‘gods’.
There is more to what Paul says in this passage, but the point to see here is that my conscience, if not informed accurately by God’s Word, can be wrong. We must therefore do all we can to instruct our conscience according to God’s Word.
It is dangerous to ignore my conscience but sometimes I must put it in its place
It is important to see that in the previous example (from 1 Corinthians 8) Paul doesn’t condemn the ‘weak conscience’ Christian who, on the basis of an uninformed conscience, abstains from eating food offered to idols. In fact, in a similar passage in Romans 14, Paul is explicit that the Christian who, having a weak conscience in this area, ignores his/her conscience and eats anyway, sins by doing so. “But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith.” (Rom.14:23) This is because sin has to do not only with actions but with motivation: we can do the ‘right’ thing from the wrong motives and it is still sin. Conscience is able to take motive into account, and hence we ignore it at our peril.
Having said that, if we know that something is acceptable for us to do according to God’s Word and yet our conscience still ‘pricks’ us when we do it, making us feel guilty, then conscience must be put in its place. To refrain out of conscience from doing something which we know God’s word permits, or to do out of conscience something which we know God’s word forbids, is also sin, since it puts the conscience above the authority of God’s Word. To do this can even imperil our connection to Christ (c.f. Galatians 5:2-4).
A Christian conscience not only convicts but reassures
A big advantage Christians have in relation to conscience is that through the gospel, and despite our sins, our consciences are cleansed. The apostle Peter puts it this way:
“Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” (1Pet.3:21)
In other words, despite our sins – which are like dirt on our conscience (c.f. Heb.10:22) – the merits of Christ’s death and resurrection make us clean before God, as symbolised in baptism. There is now no need for our conscience to accuse us, since our faults have been admitted, and paid for by Christ.
Our conscience will, of course, still ‘bear witness against us’ when next we do the wrong thing. But we will not be left in our guilt, once we (having confessed our sin) look to Christ’s death and resurrection and are reassured of our forgiveness, cleansing, and ongoing relationship to God. This indeed is a ‘good conscience’.
[1] The first half of this definition is from Christopher Ash, ‘Pure Joy: Rediscover your conscience’ (IVP, 2012), p.18; the second half is from JI Packer, ‘Among God’s Giants: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life’ (Kingsway, 1991), p.141, quoted in Ash, p.20.
[2] ‘Conscience’, in IH Marshall, AR Millard, JI Packer, DJ Wiseman (eds.), “New Bible Dictionary” (IVP, 1996), p.222.