The Conscience
The “Fall” dramatically impacted the way we experience moral issues. A drastic change took place in the way Adam and Eve saw their choices. Rather than love and trust being the motivation behind their choices, the conscience, our organ of the knowledge of good and evil, began to dominate the moral atmosphere surrounding their choices. It took on the role of judgment, with right and wrong becoming the standard for that judgment. Man began to see things from that right and wrong perspective. Avoiding judgment became a motivating factor. No longer did they act simply because they wanted to. Freedom was lost (Gal 4:21-26).
The conscience originally involved our ability to discriminate qualitatively between two options. The “Fall” shifted this. Doing wrong now became associated with judgment. The conscience then, assumed the role of judge, administering judgment through guilt and the specter of punishment. This perversion of the conscience distorted man’s relationship with God. Adam and Eve confused the judgment they were experiencing from their conscience with God’s attitude toward them. Fear of judgment now tainted that relationship. They hid when they sensed His presence in Eden. Confronted with their disobedience, they became fearful and defensive and
sought to deflect the judgment they felt by blaming something other than themselves.
We generally think of the conscience as a good thing. This is true if it sticks to its intended job of discrimination. However, in its altered role as moral policeman, it tends to push and prod our behavior. Like a dictator, the conscience seeks to ENFORCE what faith and love alone must INSPIRE. Goodness is a quality, not simply and action. It must come from the inside; it can't be simply learned or coerced.
The Covenants and the Conscience
The bible talks about two covenants, the old covenant of law and the new covenant
of grace. These are two ways of relating to God regarding our performance or works.
They fundamentally impact the way we deal with right and wrong and are critical in defining the nature of our relationship with God.
The old covenant mirrors our fallen moral nature in the way it relates to moral
issues, through reward and punishment (Lev 26). This covenant was most clearly defined at Mount Sinai (Ex 19&20) and has to do with the way we deal with right and
wrong apart from grace. It was, however, first established when Adam and Eve ate of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. This conscience-DOMINATED morality constrains bad behavior through moral authority and rules (I Tim 1:9, Gal 3:23).
It is our default covenant. It is activated when we are disconnected from a trusting relationship with God.
When we decide to make doing right an issue, our conscience seeks to dominate the process. However, our conscience confronts us legally. It lacks the ability to deal with us relationally, through the principles of love. It doesn’t relate to us with understanding, acceptance or compassion. It doesn’t factor in our circumstances
or maturity. The conscience doesn’t worry about our freedom or dialogue with us.
It simply points out the right and then pressures us into compliance. This doesn’t allow us the room we need to make free choices, choices that are truly our own.
Distortion follows. The authoritarian nature of our conscience warps the way we see our relationship with God. Believing that He supports this conscience dominated morality, we tend to attribute the attitudes we experience through our conscience with God’s attitudes toward us. However, the principles the conscience brings to bear regarding our choices are counterproductive. Simply put, in its fallen state, our conscience has a bad attitude (II Cor 3:6).
Our conscience-dominated morality is also the basis for bigotry. It drives us to justify ourselves by being right. That judging nature extends to those who don’t see things the way we do, condemning those who don’t agree with us or live like we do.
There is no freedom in a conscience-dominated morality. Jesus consistently showed sinners mercy and compassion, traits that are alien to the conscience. Yet, it is these qualities that heal. Jesus accepts us unconditionally (Rm 11:6, Eph 2:8). His grace sets us free to be “ruled” by faith and love alone (Gal 5:1).
The conscience must bow to the superiority of grace. However, it can’t be tricked or bullied. We cannot buck the attitudes of the conscience unless we have seen its ineffectiveness. We won’t turn to the moral authority of grace unless we believe it’s the right thing to do. We must buy into the principles of redemptive love as the power for change before we will repudiate the pressuring and prodding of the old
covenant.
Some will say that the conscience is never referred to negatively in the Bible. Not so. In the issue of meat sacrificed to idols (I Cor 8), it is clear that the "weak” (immature) conscience is the source of the problem. The gospel itself stands against our condemnation, the great lever of the conscience (Rm 8:1). When we ask a person to accept the forgiveness offered through grace, we are asking them to stand against the guilt they feel from their conscience. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a clear symbol of our fallen conscience. Man was not to touch or eat of that tree (Gen 3:3).
Copyright Patrick Fagenstrom 12/11, edited 7/13
The conscience originally involved our ability to discriminate qualitatively between two options. The “Fall” shifted this. Doing wrong now became associated with judgment. The conscience then, assumed the role of judge, administering judgment through guilt and the specter of punishment. This perversion of the conscience distorted man’s relationship with God. Adam and Eve confused the judgment they were experiencing from their conscience with God’s attitude toward them. Fear of judgment now tainted that relationship. They hid when they sensed His presence in Eden. Confronted with their disobedience, they became fearful and defensive and
sought to deflect the judgment they felt by blaming something other than themselves.
We generally think of the conscience as a good thing. This is true if it sticks to its intended job of discrimination. However, in its altered role as moral policeman, it tends to push and prod our behavior. Like a dictator, the conscience seeks to ENFORCE what faith and love alone must INSPIRE. Goodness is a quality, not simply and action. It must come from the inside; it can't be simply learned or coerced.
The Covenants and the Conscience
The bible talks about two covenants, the old covenant of law and the new covenant
of grace. These are two ways of relating to God regarding our performance or works.
They fundamentally impact the way we deal with right and wrong and are critical in defining the nature of our relationship with God.
The old covenant mirrors our fallen moral nature in the way it relates to moral
issues, through reward and punishment (Lev 26). This covenant was most clearly defined at Mount Sinai (Ex 19&20) and has to do with the way we deal with right and
wrong apart from grace. It was, however, first established when Adam and Eve ate of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. This conscience-DOMINATED morality constrains bad behavior through moral authority and rules (I Tim 1:9, Gal 3:23).
It is our default covenant. It is activated when we are disconnected from a trusting relationship with God.
When we decide to make doing right an issue, our conscience seeks to dominate the process. However, our conscience confronts us legally. It lacks the ability to deal with us relationally, through the principles of love. It doesn’t relate to us with understanding, acceptance or compassion. It doesn’t factor in our circumstances
or maturity. The conscience doesn’t worry about our freedom or dialogue with us.
It simply points out the right and then pressures us into compliance. This doesn’t allow us the room we need to make free choices, choices that are truly our own.
Distortion follows. The authoritarian nature of our conscience warps the way we see our relationship with God. Believing that He supports this conscience dominated morality, we tend to attribute the attitudes we experience through our conscience with God’s attitudes toward us. However, the principles the conscience brings to bear regarding our choices are counterproductive. Simply put, in its fallen state, our conscience has a bad attitude (II Cor 3:6).
Our conscience-dominated morality is also the basis for bigotry. It drives us to justify ourselves by being right. That judging nature extends to those who don’t see things the way we do, condemning those who don’t agree with us or live like we do.
There is no freedom in a conscience-dominated morality. Jesus consistently showed sinners mercy and compassion, traits that are alien to the conscience. Yet, it is these qualities that heal. Jesus accepts us unconditionally (Rm 11:6, Eph 2:8). His grace sets us free to be “ruled” by faith and love alone (Gal 5:1).
The conscience must bow to the superiority of grace. However, it can’t be tricked or bullied. We cannot buck the attitudes of the conscience unless we have seen its ineffectiveness. We won’t turn to the moral authority of grace unless we believe it’s the right thing to do. We must buy into the principles of redemptive love as the power for change before we will repudiate the pressuring and prodding of the old
covenant.
Some will say that the conscience is never referred to negatively in the Bible. Not so. In the issue of meat sacrificed to idols (I Cor 8), it is clear that the "weak” (immature) conscience is the source of the problem. The gospel itself stands against our condemnation, the great lever of the conscience (Rm 8:1). When we ask a person to accept the forgiveness offered through grace, we are asking them to stand against the guilt they feel from their conscience. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a clear symbol of our fallen conscience. Man was not to touch or eat of that tree (Gen 3:3).
Copyright Patrick Fagenstrom 12/11, edited 7/13