When Can We Trust Our Conscience andConvictions?

[tdc]

I have always wondered about relying on our conscience and convictions to determine right and wrong. A while ago I watched an online sermon presented by one of our fellow AFF posters concerning this very topic. The sermon made me acutely aware that I had never really had my question answered, I had just pushed it back into a corner in my mind. How do we realize when our conscience/conviction is ordered by God and not by our environment/upbringing?

This question first struck me when I was pondering the plights of different denominations. I wondered (at a time when I was beginning to consider other denominations as brothers and sisters in Christ, according to belief in Jesus name, baptism, the Holy Ghost and salvation through faith in the Blood of Jesus), why are my convictions and pangs of conscience any better than the convictions and pangs of conscience of a Trinitarian who truly thought they were serving God and truly wanted to know Him.

Many people have skewed consciences and convictions due to the way they were raised and their environment. So again, how can anyone really trust either when many of us can truly say "we do not understand God 100%"?

[ILG]

I think we can only do the best we can and honestly and sincerely seek God.

[TJJJ]

Have you ever heard the teaching of Body, soul and spirit? I think it addresses this question in some depth.

[tdc]

Originally Posted by TJJJ

Have you ever heard the teaching of Body, soul and spirit? I think it addresses this question in some depth.

I have read Watchman Nee's book "The Spiritual Man" which addressed the matter in some detail.

I still think that many people hold convictions and pangs of conscience that are misleading rather than providing a spiritual unction. The problem still persists, when and how can a person know which convictions they hold to are in fact aligned with God, and how can one know when their conscience is truly aligned with God's truth and not a product of environment and mislead conviction?

This thought encompasses many things that seem to be "hot topics" today, such as "holiness standards". When I see a woman in pants, is the feeling I get a true unction of the spirit, or is it the result of a misguided conscience giving me false convictions?

[Sister Alvear]

I do not think we can always trust our conscience...may times our conscience is trained by culture...

[Trouvere]

I believe we can sear our conscience.

[RevDWW]

When Can We Trust Our Conscience and Convictions?

When they do not contradict The Word!

[mfblume]

Paul said he served God in all good conscience his entire life. That included times when he persecuted the church! lol The bible speaks of an evil conscience and purging a conscience from dead works. Consciences must be dealt with by God and they are not dependable in and of themselves.