The Softened Conscience

In yesterday’s study, we noted that the conscience can change in two ways, one of which is by becoming seared or calloused, so that it is less sensitive to God’s requirements. The second way in which the conscience can change is by becoming more sensitive to divine precepts. This, obviously, is the preferred direction in which believers’ consciences should be changing.

As Christians, we know that we are called to live righteous lives, emulating Christ to the fullest extent that we can. To understand what God requires of us, we turn to the Scriptures, where His commands are revealed and the example of Christ is held up for us. It seems simple—read the Bible, grasp what God is telling us, then do it. But as we all know, the reality is far more complex. As we have learned from Romans, our sinful natures cause us to seek to fulfill the desires of our bodies rather than the desires of God, so we rebel and violate God’s commands. But if we have truly sought to know the will of God, our consciences should be sensitive and should kick in to show us our sin. In other words, our consciences should act as tools for God the Holy Spirit to call us back to obedience to Him.

But the complexity of the Christian life extends even to understanding God’s Word. The Bible presents an “ethical continuum.” Between that which is clearly evil and that which is clearly righteous, there are gray areas. In these areas we find matters of behavior that are adiaphorous—morally neutral. Already in Romans 14 Paul has mentioned two such matters—eating certain foods and observing certain days. Some believers stress that the New Testament clearly grants us liberty in these areas, that it doesn’t matter what we eat or how we conduct ourselves on Jewish feast days. Others, however, question whether there are any gray areas at all. They point out that the Bible calls us to do everything to God’s glory, which means nothing is without ethical bearing. Indeed, as we will see in the second half of Romans 14, Paul does restrict us from eating certain foods if another believer has a problem with it or if eating violates our own consciences. Thus, principles apply even to seemingly neutral matters. Clearly, Christians must study God’s Scriptures with diligence if they would develop a truly sanctified conscience.