There has been a Seismic Shift in Culture. Can we be good without God? Is morality possible without God. Yes. But frankly we are asking the wrong question. Morality is a universal and international problem. I offer you an answer objectively from scripture… No man is good. Jesus responded to someone calling him good with— “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” (Mark 10.18). In fact the statement: “Good-man” is an oxymoron. The Greek word for “good” is ‘agathos’ meaning: “intrinsically good, good in nature, good whether it be seen to be so or not.” That should end the debate— none are good. Or maybe we need a good overview of Romans 8, where the battle rages still, even in the believer’s heart.
I want to focus on— Romans 2.14-15— “14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;”
That brings me to the concept of something we write about often… The Conscience. Everyone has a conscience according to Romans 2.14-15. I’m sure you have heard the statement: “Let your conscience be your guide.” Not necessarily, but my conscience is my constant companion. It has something to say about every decision, invitation, thought, word, and deed. The Holy Spirit uses the conscience as an avenue of communication. The term “conscience” appears 25 times in the New Testament; each and every instance is spoken of in the positive. The conscience is that inner capacity within each of us to discern right from wrong, wise from unwise… in the details. Generally speaking, every person is born with the intuitive knowledge of right from wrong. Every child has the intuitive understanding that murder is wrong. No one had to be taught this. According to Romans 2 there is in the heart of every human (saved and unsaved) a moral barometer that is constantly accusing or defending motives and actions. A compass if you will. For some, this inner judge operates at a primitive or uniformed level. They simply just know it’s wrong. This marks the unsaved and the malnourished believer. This is evaporating at a much more rapid rate than anyone wants to acknowledge. Others suffer from what the Bible refers to a “seared conscience” in 1 Timothy 4.2— “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” A seared or callous conscience is one that has been ignored so long that it cannot be felt. When one burned their hand severely, there is a permanent numbing of the nerves. There is a loss of feeling and a delay in reactions. Do you not see this in the so-called Christian life today? A rendering of ineffectiveness through damage of sin.
The difference in a saved and unsaved conscience is clear. Once a person becomes a child of God, the conscience takes on a whole new significance. As the scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5.17— “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” After salvation your conscience becomes a divine tool. It is (spirit and conscience) quickened or made alive by the Spirit of God. It functions as a megaphone in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Later in Romans, Paul draws attention to the relationship between the HS and the conscience of the believer in Romans 9.1-2— “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.” In the passage that follows, Paul makes a radical statement! Romans 9.3-5— “3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.” That is an extreme statement! Paul felt it necessary—to remove any doubt of his sincerity—he began his discourse with the statement: “my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit.” He invoked his conscience as his token of sincerity. Saying that the Holy Spirit would have been displeased and would have shown His displeasure by disturbing Paul’s conscience.
How does the conscience function? The conscience functions somewhat like a smart phone. It is pre-programmed to respond in pre-determined ways to specific incoming information. It responds to the commands it has been pre-programmed to follow. When I touch on an app, it knows to open that app. When it receives the “move” or “copy” commands, it knows to do that. My smart phone is indeed ‘smart’— but it is simply a responder. Paul described it like this again in Romans 2.14-15— “14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”God has programmed (written) His moral code into the heart of every man, woman and child. We are born with it. When we conduct ourselves, even in thought, contrary to the pre-programmed code, the conscience responds by sending an “error” message to the brain and the heart. Conversely, when we conduct ourselves according to the code, the conscience gives a green light. Paul said in Romans 2 that our thoughts can either (1) defend or (2) point out the legitimacy of certain actions.
Reprogramming the Conscience is done when you were saved. A change began to occur in your conscience. Once saved, that moral code was overhauled. How? The Word of God took up residence in your heart also known as: “The Spirit of Truth” (John 14.17, 15.26, 16.13) This coupled with the book He wrote: The Holy Scriptures. He immediately set about to complete the programming of your conscience damaged by sin. Whereas before you had a general sense of right and wrong, the Holy Spirit began renewing your mind to more specific and absolute truths. As explained in 1 Corinthians 2.10-13— “10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”You participate in this renewal process every time you spend time in your Bible, attend worship, memorize scripture, pray, submit to teaching and instruction in the Word. The Holy Spirit uses all this as input to reprogram the system of your conscience. Your conscience then evaluates everything through the absolutes derived from truth. As this process continues, your conscience tunes in with the moral code of the Holy Spirit, which originally wrote it on your heart at conception, and confirmed from the constant teaching of truth. It is a code reflecting the moral, ethical, absolute standards of God. This process sensitizes you not only to God’s moral standards, but also to the real-time will of God as well. When the Word of God is understood to the believer, The Holy Spirit is at work, raising the sensitivity level of your conscience. As our conscience is renewed, it can begin to trouble us. It is our warning sign that we need to stop and look to God for more specific answers.
The Holy Spirit uses the Conscience to do three things:
- The Holy Spirit uses the conscience as an instant warning device like the low fuel warning light on your dash board. It is there for a reason. In the same way, the Holy Spirit tries to warn us of moral danger. Which would behoove us to stay close to Him—in His Word—focused on Him. He warns us— conviction. Ignore the warning light and you’ll regret it.
- The Holy Spirit energizes the conscience to function as an accurate evaluator and discerner. He confirms the truths of the Scripture in our lives and hearts. The key is consistent submission to what He has written. (Scripture). It is here and only here we find the absolutes of morality, because God is infinitely good and has revealed Himself in His Word. 2 Corinthians 4.2— “But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” The word “manifest” means: clear, obvious, apparent, self evident. The Bible clears it all up ‘what is up’.
- The Holy Spirit energizes the conscience to function as judge and jury. The Holy Spirit uses the conscience to convict us of sin. John 16.8-11— “8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”Compare what Jesus said to what Paul and Peter said about the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 3.15-16— “15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.”Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1.12— “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.”For this reason the conscience is to be taken seriously.
Can there be morality outside of God? Technically yes, but that is why we are where we are today — counterfeit christianity! Anyone can adopt the truths of scripture in their life and look holy, but they are merely working the works of the flesh… morally. People act good so as to be “holy”, instead of being made holy therefore goodness manifests itself supernaturally. Moral absolutes can only be determined by scripture and the One who wrote it… the Holy Spirit.