PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

Holding a Good Conscience

God has created man with a conscience-a very mysterious part of his inward being that monitors his activities and either accuses or else excuses him concerning the things that he says and does (cf. Rom. 2:15). But although the conscience has been installed in each one of us from birth, its effectiveness depends on the attention and care that we give to its development and maintenance. Those who cultivate a clean and pure conscience have a good report before both God and man. Those who are careless, rejecting or neglecting that inner witness, will eventually damage their conscience-even making it callous as having been branded with a hot iron (1 Tim. 4:2).

In this issue of Parenthood, we are assisted by an article written by Witness Lee to reconsider the function of the Christian conscience before God and man. He tells us that many people, including Christians, live under the watchful eye of human rule in place of living before God according to their conscience:

The lowest point of the fall is that man has to be ruled by other people. If a wife has to be ruled by her husband, a husband has to be ruled by his wife, and the children have to be ruled by their parents, then this proves that they are fallen to the uttermost....Many people are truly saved, but sadly, many Christian wives still deceive their husbands and tell lies in front of their children. This is not the proper manner and conduct of a Christian. If a Christian is thoroughly saved, he should be saved from this kind of condition.

At first glance we may fail to realize that we also conduct ourselves with a view to the consequences of violating human rule rather than to the testimony of a pure conscience before God. Consider, for example: do we drive observing the speed limits according to conscience, or do we instead watch to be certain that there are no traffic officers near? Do we utilize a radar detector to help us discover "speed traps"? Do we pay our taxes according to our conscience or do we take care of our responsibility by applying questionable methods which we hope will escape detection in an audit? What is the message transmitted to our children when we neglect our consciences in these ways?

May the Lord touch us deeply concerning our exercise to hold faith and a good conscience.

Acts 24:16 says, "Because of this I also exercise myself to always have a conscience without offense toward God and men." Second Timothy 1:3a also mentions, "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience." Acts speaks of "a conscience without offense," while 2 Timothy speaks of "a pure conscience." Moreover, 1 Timothy 1:19 says, "Holding faith and a good conscience, concerning which some, thrusting these away, have become shipwrecked regarding the faith." Verse 2 of chapter four mentions, "By means of the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, of men who are branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron." Ephesians 4:19 also says, "Who, being past feeling [conscience], have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness in greediness." These verses show us the importance of the conscience in a Christian's living.

A Christian who wants to grow in life must do three things: first, thoroughly confess his sins before God; second, carefully deal with his sins before man; and third, consecrate himself to God absolutely. If the saints are willing to take these three things to the Lord and practice them in a serious way, they surely will have progress in life. However, if they only take these words as doctrines, they will not receive much help from them. These words are only guidelines; only when the saints seriously walk the way of the Lord will these words be profitable to them. The experience of these three matters-confessing our sins to God, confessing our mistakes to man, and consecrating ourselves absolutely to God-may vary in sequence. These three matters are like a threefold cord, and no one who takes the Lord's way can neglect them.

Moreover, after a Christian has thoroughly confessed his sins, carefully dealt with them, and consecrated himself to God, he also has to deal with his conscience. This is the necessary pathway for a Christian to take. After we confess our sins before God, deal with our sins before man, and consecrate ourselves to God, we will immediately have a feeling deep within us. This feeling is not merely a realization in our mind, but a feeling in the depths of our being that we have to deal with our conscience and obtain peace in our conscience. Therefore, it is extremely important to know the origin, the position, and the function of the conscience....

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