Category Archives: Conscience

Buy the Truth and Sell It Not

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One of the most important attitudes one can have in striving to go to heaven is that of intense zeal for the truth of God. Too often, people settle on something far less than the truth. Remember, a counterfeit, though it may look relatively genuine, is nevertheless worthless.

Likewise, we cannot enjoy the benefits of truth by getting pretty close. We must take our position firmly on the truth. “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

There are many among us who, like Pilate, would ask, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Many do not believe in absolute truth. The Bible, however, is absolute, unchanging truth. “Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalms 119:89). The belief that there is absolute truth is fundamental to one who desires to “buy the truth and sell it not” (Proverbs 23:23).

One Can Be Wrong

It is a fact that anyone can mistakenly be wrong. Paul, when speaking of his past manner of life, before his conversion, said, “I have lived before God in all good conscience until this day” (Acts 23:1). Yet he was before a “persecutor, and a blasphemer, and injurious” (1 Timothy 1:13). How could he have lived in all good conscience when he had been so wrong? The answer is simple. He thought he was right. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25). The fact that we can be wrong means that it does not behoove us to close our minds to further investigation. Jeremiah said, “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).

Faith vs. Opinion

Naturally, study brings us to certain conclusions. All of us live by certain principles. But upon what do our conclusions rest? All too often they rest upon mere opinion. Realize that if something is a matter of faith, then God must have said something about it. We cannot know the words of eternal life by opinions. One man’s opinion is just as good as another man’s; but no man’s opinion is worthy to be compared to God’s.

You would not want to risk crossing the ice over a river merely because somebody thinks you can. Neither should we risk trying to go to heaven by the opinions of men. The difference between an opinion and conviction is that an opinion is usually a spur-of-the-moment conclusion someone comes up with based upon skimpy premises, if any. A conviction is a conclusion based upon evidence which has been thoroughly studied and meditated upon.

God has given us a wonderful book. It furnishes man with doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness, that he may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is our evidence. It is the truth. When believed, it becomes subjective faith. The Bible did not come from men, so there need be no question about its reliability. It was given unto men though, and designed so they could understand it when they read it (Ephesians 3:3-5). This is not to say that all the Bible is simple to understand. There are difficult portions of it that demand much study. The matters of conversion to God and everyday living are simple and easy to understand. What many find difficult about such matters is the application of that which may be so simple to understand.

Feelings – A Poor Standard

Do not base your conviction upon some peculiar feeling you might have. Feelings are a poor standard of truth. We have already mentioned Paul. We might mention Jacob also who believed with all his heart that his son Joseph was dead, but that did not make it true. Remember, God has given us revelation, facts. Our convictions must rest upon these facts or else we will find ourselves upon shifting sand.

Conscience – Not a Reliable Guide

Neither is conscience a reliable guide in determining whether your convictions are sound or not. The conscience is very pliable to begin with. Our conscience is usually formed at a tender age. At that time it may be trained to approve good or evil. When we reach maturity our conscience alters and becomes almost unchangeable. From then on it tells us only

whether we have done as we learned to do or not. Changing the conscience then is a slow, difficult project. If your conscience were trained correctly, well and good. If it were trained incorrectly, then it will approve even when you do things that are really wrong, because it was taught that which was wrong. “Let your conscience be your guide” is therefore poor advise.

This brings us back again to the fact that we must ultimately make our stand upon the word of God. Everything is to be judged by it.

By Bob Waldron

Feeling Numb

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Feeling numb can be either a good thing or a bad thing. For example, when I go to the dentist and he is about to drill on my tooth, then I want the nerve to that tooth to be numb. But if I wake up in the morning and my left arm is so numb that I have no use of it, then I am concerned about it.

Likewise, when I am numb, or indifferent, to the sins in the world around me, then that is a bad thing. “… Righteous Lot, … was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)” (2 Peter 2:7-8). Perhaps it is true that Lot made a bad choice spiritually when he chose the fertile plain of the Jordan for his family and cattle (Genesis 13:10-11), but he never grew accustomed to the wickedness of the society in which he lived! God praised him for his righteous indignation at the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah! Lot never became numb to sin!

The moral degradation of television today stands in stark contrast to the kind of shows I grew up watching. Today’s sitcoms blatantly advertise fornication, adultery, homosexuality, cursing, etc. as that which is commonplace and accepted. Christians can get caught up in a sitcom, especially a comedy, and find themselves laughing at the things they should find abhorrent. It is easy to become numb to the sin of the world, and that is a bad thing.

Interestingly, the word “numb” does not appear in the Bible anywhere, but insensitivity to sin is warned against repeatedly! Paul referred to it as a kind of spiritual sleep (Romans 13:11). Sexual sins and strong drink take away the heart (Hosea 4:11, KJV). Jesus admonished: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

The apostle Paul warned the brethren at Corinth of this moral numbness: “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34).

Things will not always continue as they do now! “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:38– 39). One day all the spiritual, moral numbness will become an acute pain that consumes one’s whole being! Christians cannot afford to get caught up in the sins of the world because they will then wind up being consumed in fire with the world (2 Peter 3:10-13)!

What should the faithful Christian do? The apostle Paul answered that question clearly: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:11–17).

Let the “light” of God’s Word inform your mind, alarm your conscience, cause mental consternation at the sins of the world, and expose sin for what it is — moral, spiritual cancer which leads to certain death! Watch your step, and avoid sin like the plague (James 1:15)! Brethren, have you become numb to sin?

By Wayne Goff