A Blameless Conscience (4)

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  (Romans 12:2 NLT)

We need to examine the “truthfulness” of our society’s values and messages as we seek to form a blameless conscience before God.  Since our minds have been trained over time by the ethics of our culture we need to renew our thinking and ensure that what we rely on, and base our actions around, is actually in accordance with God’s principles and truth.

The apostle Paul says, "The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God.  Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves."  (Romans 14:22 NASB)  What views do we hold in our hearts about the moral issues around us and the political decisions which are passed in our parliament? What is enriching or inspiring in the sit-com jokes we laugh at or in the internet sites we visit?  The beliefs we form in our hearts, which enlighten our conscience, need to be compared with what God says is right and good and not by what is acceptable in our culture.

God defines sin this way:  When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT)  What difference do I notice between values of our common culture and God’s word? 

From God’s view point, sex outside of marriage is wrong even though our culture leaves that decision to personal choice.  Pornography is wrong, even though courts allow the possession of some forms of pornography and call it ‘art’ or ‘literature’. Anger and rage are wrong, even though we pardon our behaviour, blaming our outbursts of anger and rage on the injustice done to us by others.  Any kind of wild partying is wrong, even though at the time it seemed like fun, and we excused our actions based on the need to “let loose” once in a while.  Many people are consulting psychics and mediums and having fortunes told, tarot cards read, etc.  God says that kind of information will harm us, and we need to avoid it.

Our conscience needs to be reprogrammed by surrendering to God’s way of doing things and by following God’s principles for a healthy life. Then, in a situation where we need discernment, the Holy Spirit will bring the truth of God’s word to our minds, and work through our conscience, to guide us in making right choices.

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