The Importance of a Christian Conscience

Written by Wagner Floriani | Director of Grace Counseling

My retirement fund would be in excellent shape if I had a nickel every time I heard encouragements like: “Listen to your heart! Trust your gut! Follow your moral compass!” Whether it is in your kids’ soccer games or in your job’s staff development training, much motivational talk involves encouraging the hesitant and reluctant to trust their instincts and personal judgment. We are naturally persuaded to believe every human being possesses all the necessary tools to navigate life’s choices and challenges. At least in part, this confidence flows from the modern humanistic ideal that people are essentially good. However, the biblical narrative informs us that our first parents’ transgression in the garden affects human beings with a corruption of our very nature. Humanity’s capacity for good judgment experienced a severe drawback in Genesis 3.

This does not mean people are incapable of making good choices. Christianity is not a prerequisite to common sense. The effect of The Fall on our moral judgment simply means that our consciences never operate in a neutral position. Rather, we are easily subject to external corrupting influences (1 Corinthians 15:33). It is appropriate to hold our personal judgment under scrutiny and further evaluation. Everyone has had the opportunity to make the wrong judgment call, to be led astray by personal instincts, and to misinterpret the facts in any given situation. We need grace to cover our blunders, and to educate our intuitions as well. Our consciences need training.

In a general sense, the conscience is a God-given gift that is part of the human constitution of every person. God creates human beings with a capacity to know that right and wrong exists. Everyone has a proverbial moral compass, but that compass does not point North for everyone. Therefore, the redeemed conscience requires ongoing recalibration through the Holy Spirit.

The Role of the Spirit in Training the Conscience.

Part of what the Holy Spirit does in the work of sanctifying a Christ-follower is in transforming our way of thinking to align more closely to the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). However, the language of mind and conscience might mislead us into thinking that substantial change is limited to mere cognitive learning or skillset acquisition. Rather, the Spirit accomplishes this hidden work in us wholistically. He addresses our ways of thinking, behaving, and even identifying in the world.

“Similar to the way bifocal glasses correct our eye’s ability to interpret what we see across different angles, the New Testament often explains the way we experience change across three simultaneous vantage points.”

First, our minds are renewed by the light of God’s Word (Romans 12:1-2). The most obvious way in which the conscience is educated is through the learning and correcting power of God’s word. Two biblical metaphors regarding Scripture’s effect on our lives underscore this point. At times the Bible functions like a mirror, forcing the reader to wrestle with what stares back on the other side (James 1:22-25). But at times the Bible also functions like a sharp sword — capable to dissect, bring nuance and deeper understanding into our own heart, and clarifying one’s personal responsibility before God (Hebrews 4:12-13). Regular engagement with God’s word – whenever it is read, taught, or explained – will invariably challenge my preconceptions and predispositions so that my conscience learns to either loosen or heighten its priorities. Simply, the Spirit uses Scripture to adjust our way of thinking.

Second, our habits are reformed by the life of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:22-24). The conscience is trained as believers put off practices from their former way of living, and put on a new set of habits that bear resemblance to Jesus. Certainly, good works are not a pre-requisite for salvation, but a redeemed life will always point to the Redeemer. Our choices, preferences, and instincts progressively change as we grow in Christlikeness. For example, Paul distinguishes between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in part to confront the way in which believers tend to attack, rather than serve one another (Galatians 5:16-6:2). One’s manner of life prior to knowing Jesus probably made peace with several activities or ways of living in the world that no longer feel appropriate on the other side of conversion. However, while reforming one’s habits includes stopping to sin in old ways, it certainly also includes stopping to sin in new ways. Therefore, the Spirit empowers believers to behave toward each other, even during disagreement or conflict, with new priorities. A well-trained conscience is evident when Spirit-empowered habits – actions and reactions – are sensitive to gospel informed priorities like love for neighbor over personal preference.

Third, our identity is reoriented by a Christ-centered citizenship (Colossians 3:1-4). Our consciences are often readjusted over time through new perspectives and a fresh vantage point. Where much in life and everyday responsibilities tend to hyperfocus our attention to earthly and temporary priorities, the Holy Spirit produces a growing recognition that the believer’s truest hopes lie in another world. No one should ignore their present conditions, because God is the one who sovereignly places them there. Rather, the believer sets their mind “on the things that are above” by progressively loosening the grip on that which is temporary. Achieving more professional goals, getting accepted by the right school, and purchasing one’s dream home all can be wonderful gifts of God. However, experiencing the disappointment of having any of those dreams fall through along the way can also be a gift of God precisely because of the future-focus perspective of our in-Christ identity. The now late Tim Keller reminded his family when nearing his own death, “Jesus rose from the grave, so everything will ultimately be ok.” We should receive this reminder too, especially when compelled to find the drive and motivation for this life from sources that are not lasting.

“The Christian’s identity is ultimately reoriented by realities and hopes that are yet unseen and, therefore, the Christian conscience must gradually adjust with this reframed perspective.”

The Christian conscience is a powerful witness in the world. Believers and unbelievers alike must wrestle with the same questions, share similar struggles, and suffer through equally perplexing realities in life which can often feel disorienting. Yet, our instincts, preferences, and personal judgments, when properly calibrated by the power of the Spirit, testify to a watching world that there is more to life than what the eye can see. Therefore, we gladly welcome the progressive change the Spirit brings about in us. And we trust that perhaps even by our conduct He may use us to make the Gospel tangible to others.