Conscience

12/20/23

The Apostle Paul wrote about conscience, the inner feeling or voice acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of our behavior. In Christian life this concerns spiritual things, the things of God and Christ.  1 Corinthians 8:1-13 is scripture addressing conscience and so is 1 Corinthians 10:27-32 .  Those who are strong in the faith should bear the weak and be willing to limit their freedom in Christ for the sake of all people.  The strong know they can eat anything even food sacrificed to idols and that all days are indeed alike. However this knowledge is not in all people.  Paul’s letter to the Galatians shows Paul’s anger over them keeping days, months, seasons and years. God, who is spirit cannot be worshipped in this way because it uses the physical to worship a God who is to be worshipped in spirit. No physical thing is to be used to worship God or His son because physical things are not spirit.  Colossians 2:6-8  makes it very plain that deception based on human traditions and the spiritual forces (Satan) of the world ,  2 Corinthians 4:4 , are not of God and Christ. Even weak Christians are not to remain weak but rather grow in grace and knowledge to become strong.  Strong Christians have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them, expose them for what they are to the weak Christian but not to the world because they will turn and rent you to pieces.  Ephesians 5:6-7 .  We can associate with people of the world but it is very wise to not get involved in their spiritual practices.  You could find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation.  If anyone at a function you attend that is of their spiritual practices says this food was offered to an idol or this day God was born then,  1 Corinthians 8:7  &  1 Corinthians 1027-29   Do we not know the Father is the only true God but most people in the worlds understanding say Jesus is God too.  They think God died for them and if at a meal this is said to you for their conscience sake, not your own,  you should probably excuse yourself and go home. The world has its ways and the church has its ways, which of these ways do you think are of God ?  

Proverbs 1:10 , Romans 13:12 , 2 Corinthians 6:14 ,  Romans 12:2

Yes, we are to love God and our neighbors but should we love our neighbors more than God.  This is a question that should be easy to answer but with a babe in Christ it may not.  A babe only recently was converted and needs to grow and God is able to make him Stand or fall as he is the Lords servant not ours.  The strong can help the weak in love, careful not to offend their developing conscience in the Lord who in time will strengthen them.  Politics and religion are said to be things not to discuss as both have the potential to produce bad results. We know this ,so why open ourselves up to even that possibility.  Matthew 7:6 is the chance your taking when you mix it up in the worlds politics or religion. Years ago, before I learned this lesson I got myself into numerous troubles, Jesus was right, they rent me into pieces. Wisdom is learned over time and through experiences. 1 Peter 2:2