IS GOD OUR CONSCIENCE? HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN GOD IS SPEAKING?
Is God our conscience? The short answer is no. God is not your conscience, although the Holy Spirit can use your conscience.
Your conscience is like a GPS or a tuning fork. It is a God-given capacity for self-evaluation and moral awareness. The New Testament word is syneidēsis, and it describes the inner awareness by which we evaluate whether our actions agree with what we believe is right.
YOUR CONSCIENCE RESPONDS TO YOUR VALUE SYSTEM
Your conscience reacts positively or negatively to your value system. I hope that your value system is shaped by Scripture. When you believe what the Bible teaches but act against it, you experience guilt, anxiety, and inner conflict because your behavior contradicts your convictions.
For example, a person may say that adultery is wrong while committing adultery. That contradiction creates what is often called cognitive dissonance. Eventually, the person must do one of two things: change the behavior to agree with the belief, or change the belief to justify the behavior.
God can use the conscience to help us examine ourselves and bring our lives under Scripture, but not everyone has the same conscience. A conscience shaped by culture, habit, or personal preference will not necessarily give the same guidance as a conscience trained by the Word of God.
THE CONSCIENCE CAN BE TRAINED—OR DAMAGED
The conscience can be trained, but it can also be weakened, numbed, warped, or seared. A person can repeatedly push down the conscience until its warnings are barely heard. This is why the conscience by itself is not an infallible voice from God.
For a follower of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to guide and shape the conscience. Our feelings must be tested by Scripture, because sincerity alone does not guarantee truth.
HOW DO WE HEAR FROM GOD?
The primary way to hear from God is not a psychic hotline, a tarot-card reader, or an attempt to consult the dead. Scripture explicitly warns us against those practices.
The best way to recognize God’s voice is to read the Bible, learn the Bible, and allow the Bible to wash over your mind and heart. As you become familiar with God’s Word, you will increasingly understand His character, His commands, and His wisdom.
Second, become part of a Bible-teaching church that values and faithfully teaches Scripture. Third, build relationships with mature, godly believers who can counsel you through difficult questions. God is not your conscience, but He can form your conscience through His Word, His Spirit, and the wise community of His people.
Bible References: Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (ESV); Romans 2:15 (ESV); 1 Timothy 4:2 (ESV); 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
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