So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. Acts 24:16

As a footnote to Paul’s defense before Felix, I have been thinking about the Apostle’s words regarding conscience. A couple of thoughts:

Conscience is not always reliable. Everyone has a conscience. This is part of what it means to be an image bearer of God. Not everyone’s conscience is equally reliable since people believe all sorts of lies, and when a person’s mind is filled with lies, that person’s conscience reflects those lies. For our consciences to be reliable…

Conscience needs to be properly programmed by the Word of God. Paul wrote in Romans 12:2 that believers need to have renewed minds. This renewing of the mind has two equally important phases: (1) Unlearning the lies we’ve believed, and (2) learning the truth as set forth in the Bible. The result is a properly (that is, biblically) programmed conscience.

Conscience (biblically programmed) needs to be obeyed. If we know the truth and habitually disobey the truth, we are in dangerous waters. Therefore, let us be serious about…

>>Learning the Word of God, which is the only pure source for truth. >>Saying “No,” to the lies the world is constantly feeding us. >>And “being doers, not just hearers of the Word,” lest we deceive ourselves.