Our Conscience Is Our “Governor”
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesThere are some engines designed to run at a certain speed in order to reach maximum power output. In order to maintain a constant rate of speed, a mechanical device called a “governor” is used. When properly installed and adjusted, the governor will prevent the engine from running away, and it will speed up the engine if it slows down. If the governor is improperly set, it will cause the machine to run incorrectly and eventually ruin it. The governor is not the standard of right and wrong — it is similar to a police force that acts according to predetermined rules.
Now if we can understand the difference in this mechanical gadget and the “authority” by which it is set; we can understand the difference in man’s conscience, and the standard of truth by which it must be “set” if it is to “prick” us at the right time. In today’s world, there are thousands of folks who rely on “let your conscience be your guide” and never give a thought to the adjustment of their conscience, nor to the rule book by which that adjustment must be checked.
When Paul “thought” within himself that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 26:9-11), he acted “in all good conscience before God” (Acts 23:1). However, his honesty did not justify his actions. It didn’t hurt his conscience to persecute Christians, because his conscience was so adjusted to do so. His Jewish background, upbringing, and education, had shaped his thinking — even as our background shapes our thinking. He was honest with himself (had a good conscience), but was honestly mistaken.
If having a clean conscience is all that is necessary to go to heaven, there would have been no need for Christ to die, no need for the Bible, or no need for anything.
When Paul learned the truth about Christ, he had to act accordingly — to keep a good conscience. Our conscience is not truth, but a “governor” which urges us to act according to our conception of truth. As children, our parents taught us as best they could, and our childhood environment molded our conceptions of right and wrong — even affecting deep-seated moral tendencies. But God’s revealed truth is our standard (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
As adults accountable to God, we must now think for ourselves and “adjust” our conscience by an honest appeal to God’s standard of truth — the Bible.
Brethren and friends, the conscience itself is not the standard for anything. Its important task is to goad us into action that is associated with our very best and most honest knowledge. It is a “governor” — a moral mechanism that comes as standard equipment on every intelligent human being. It we train it correctly, it will serve us well (cf. Genesis 39:1-10), but if we sear it (1 Timothy 4:1-2; cf. Ephesians 4:19) or use it as excuse to ignore God’s word, we will “believe a lie” and as a result, be damned (2 Thessalonians 2:10-14).
Related Articles:
- Adjusting Our Conscience
- Who Determines What’s Right?
- Sent To Awaken The Conscience
- Baptism And The Conscience