The conscience does not dictate the content of right or wrong; it merely witnesses to what the value system in a person has determined is right or wrong. In this regard, conscience is not a guide but needs to be guided by a thoroughly and critically developed value system.
What the Bible Says about Conscience
First, let us look at what the Bible says concerning the conscience. The Bible tells us that every man knows God from two sources: God’s creation and man’s conscience. Creation is the witness outside of ourselves, while conscience is the witness within.
What Is Conscience?
What, then, is meant by the word conscience? It is the faculty, the power of the mind, by which we distinguish between right and wrong. It is the faculty within us that testifies to us concerning the standards of God, the requirements of the law written in our hearts. Conscience is an independent witness within us. It is a gift of God and it is indestructible. It is our ethical sense organ.
Functions of Conscience
Conscience has a threefold function in our lives. First, it points us to what we ought to do. It is an interior sense of oughtness, which points us to our obligations, urges us to do what is right and tries to restrain us from doing what is wrong. In other words, it has a prophetic ministry. I am sure all of you have heard your conscience functioning in this way. I have heard it so many times, both when I was growing up and even to this day. When no one else is with us, we hear this thundering voice within us, this interior sense of oughtness.
Second, conscience has a judicial function. It passes judgment on our thoughts, plans, actions, conduct, and attitudes. It is the indicator that measures the degree of agreement between our conduct and God’s standard. Although it is blurred and imperfect due to man’s fall, when conscience speaks to us in this way, it is as though a person detached from us is speaking, accusing us when we do wrong and acquitting us when doing what is morally right. That is the judicial function of conscience.
Third, conscience has an executive function. We have all experienced this aspect of conscience as well. When we violate the dictates of our conscience, we experience certain punishment automatically: anxiety, fear, guilt, estrangement, internal conflict, shame, inward disquietude, lack of joy, feeling that we are being torn apart within, depression, and so on.