Can I trust my conscience?

Is your conscience at rest or condemning or recommending you?  Can our consciences be trusted?  Recently, at our Time Out Bible Fellowship, we discovered together life-truths in 1 John 3.  The Holy Spirit impressed these verses so much on our minds and hearts, that they came up again in conversation a week later. 19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 if our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us. So, with one of those themes, ( "conscience") alive in my own conscience, Kevin de Young's writing about Luther and his conscience, leapt off the internet page and made a few somersaults!  I also post it for our far-away grown-up children, because how often don't we wish we could be chatting about these for example, with our dear ones around a kitchen table. Kevin writes: "As Christians, we don’t think about the significance of our consciences as much as we should. Of course, the conscience is not infallible. It can be evil (Heb. 10:22), seared (1 Tim. 4:2), defiled (Titus 1:15), or weak (1 Cor. 8:7). But that doesn’t allow us to ignore our conscience. There are more than a dozen occasions where the New Testament makes a positive reference to the testimony of the conscience. For example: •Romans 9:1 “I am speaking the truth in Christ-I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.” •Hebrews 13:18 “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honourably in all things.” The conscience was not the final judge and jury in matters of the heart, but it is one of the most important witnesses to bring to the stand.  Here's how the Puritans put it, “God’s spy and man’s overseer.” It is our prosecuting attorney, and just as importantly, the conscience is also our defence attorney, helping us face false accusations and slanders of the evil one (Rom. 2:14-15). Having a conscience is a mark of being a sentient adult. The conscience is what separates us from the animals, which is why Pinocchio becomes a beast when he ignores his conscience and persists in deceit. Conscience is indispensable to being a human being that lives the good life, enjoys peace with God, and lives a life pleasing to God. In a day where we are encouraged to do whatever feels good, in a day where a moral compass is thought to be prudish and narrow, in a day where the state thinks nothing of trampling on the liberty of consciences, we would do well to remember what the Bible says. •Acts 24:16 “So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.” •1 Tim. 1:5 “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” •1 Peter 3:16 – “Have a good conscience so that when you are slandered those who revile your god behaviour in Christ may be put to shame.” If you are caught in sin and your conscience accuses you, turn from iniquity. If you are smitten with regret for past mistakes and offenses, run to the cross. And if you are faced with the choice to follow the world or obey your conscience, pray for the same courage that descended upon Luther at Worms. The interrogation was no short affair, but by the end Luther had summoned his courage, concluding with these famous words: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, for going against my conscience is neither safe nor salutary. I can do no other, here I stand, God help me. Amen.” “Conscience is either the greatest friend,” Richard Sibbes once remarked, “or the greatest enemy in the world.” Don’t ignore his wisdom.  There is no friend like a clean conscience and no enemy like a conscience doing its God-given work. Turn from sin and turn to Christ. Stand your ground. Get on your knees. Be a captive to the Word of God which setst you free and shows you how you can set your heart at rest in His presence. I do hope you have time to follow this link to Kevin de Young's article, here.