Jim, a believer, has been living in sin for many years. Though many people have brought his sin to his attention, he has never repented. Typically, he reasons along the lines of justifying, rationalizing or blaming.
The problem for Jim is that his conscience has responded to his methods by hardening itself, much like a person who repeatedly toughens his/her skin by sun tanning. Whether an unrepentant sinner or a sun bather, the result is the same: their sensitivities are altered in unnatural ways.
Conscience Molding
Any conscience is moldable. It can be softened or hardened, depending on how we respond to guilt and conviction. A tender conscience has a sensitivity to God’s Word. It responds promptly and precisely to conviction and the individual lives in a continual state of love, joy, peace, holiness and victory.
But a hardened conscience becomes that way because a person chooses to resist repentance. Rather than experiencing the freedom in Christ’s work on the Cross, they choose their own methods for dealing with sin.
When a person is unrepentant, the conscience has no choice but to harden itself. It hardens in order for the individual to live with himself/herself. If I repeatedly cut my hand, eventually it will toughen to the point where I will not be able to feel the pain. A healthy body is supposed to do this. A biblically informed conscience will do the same, if there is no repentance, until it is no longer biblically informed, but hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Tender or Weak?
A tender conscience is not the same as a weak conscience. A person with a weak conscience, as described in 1 Corinthians 8, is a person on the opposite end of the spectrum from the hard conscience person. While Jim has rationalized and justified his sin away, the weak conscience person has a longer sin list than God does.
In 1 Corinthians 8, the new converts believed eating meat offered to idols was a sin. Paul said it was not, but they had a weak conscience. In such a case, their consciences would need to be trained so they could eat meat offered to idols and not be falsely convicted of their new activity. It was not a big deal to Paul and the other more mature Christians, but it was a big deal for these new, weak Christian converts.
Biblically Informed Conscience
Whether our conscience is hard or weak, it needs to be informed by the Word of God and brought in line with the truth of the Word. Our conscience and the Bible, ideally, should be at the same place as far as an interpretation of what sin really is. A person with a biblically informed conscience is a person who has been freed indeed.
Unfortunately for Jim, he has chosen to ignore his guilt, as informed by the Word of God and his friends, by using various techniques to quiet his conscience. This allows him to continue in his sin and not feel the sting of guilt.
Other Relevant Articles on the Conscience
- Speak to the Ally Within
- Investigating Legalism
- The Conscience: Friend or Foe
- Why I Struggle with Secret Sin
- Scripture or Conscience: Which do we obey?
- Re-Categorizing My Problems
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