"[Since] they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them" (Romans 2:25, NIV).
By definition, conscience is an innate sense of right/wrong and the ability to apply it to conduct in situations.
W. C. Fields was said to peruse the Scriptures on his death bed and when asked why he quipped: "Well, it occurred to me that I might be wrong, so I'm looking for a loophole?" Everyone is in the same boat, susceptible to error (to err is human!). Only God is infallible or incapable of error and His divine impeccability is one of His traits. We can be inerrant, but not infallible: For example, if you scored 100 percent on a spelling test, you were inerrant; but you're not infallible!
By definition, conscience is an innate sense of right/wrong and the ability to apply it to conduct in situations.
W. C. Fields was said to peruse the Scriptures on his death bed and when asked why he quipped: "Well, it occurred to me that I might be wrong, so I'm looking for a loophole?" Everyone is in the same boat, susceptible to error (to err is human!). Only God is infallible or incapable of error and His divine impeccability is one of His traits. We can be inerrant, but not infallible: For example, if you scored 100 percent on a spelling test, you were inerrant; but you're not infallible!
Some Christians similar to claiming infallibility (which is pontificating from the chair of St. Peter called speaking ex-cathedra in Latin). We are to trust no human as infallible, but hold only the Holy Scriptures to that standard, as Augustine wrote Jerome on his convictions.
We all have a conscience or the ability to relate standards to conduct and situations and make judgments of right and wrong. We are held to be responsible to our conscience, and it either accuses or excuses us (cf. Rom. 2:25). But we can indeed have a clear conscience and be in sin or be dead wrong at the same time because you can be sincerely wrong, but this is no excuse to go against conscience as our guide as Martin Luther said, "To go against conscience is neither right nor safe." Jiminy Cricket said to always let our conscience be our guide--but it should be enlightened by the Word of God.
It is obvious that God is a God who cares a lot about right and wrong and He has gifted us with a moral compass as a guide to behavior in all situations (you instinctively know not to bud in line, for instance, unless you've hardened your conscience--if you ignore it, it'll go away!). Where do we get a sense of fair play, good faith, altruism, courage, good faith, frankness, objectivity, integrity, and sportsmanship? It's obvious that this is a reflection of God's character. This is why we learn a lot about life playing sports and through the wisdom of the school of hard knocks in life's spiritual journey.
There is a natural or higher law that all people know, which is supreme over the law of the government. Being legal doesn't mean it's right, ethical, or moral! We are responsible for this moral code, whether we admit it or not. We have a built-in sensitivity to evil and all of us have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, by virtue of being Adam's progeny. None of us can claim innocence! We are moral creatures responsible for our actions and that's where sin comes in; animals are not moral creatures. We alone are designed to communicate with God with a heart to love Him, a mind to know Him, and a will to obey Him.
Mark Twain was said to say that it wasn't the Scriptures he didn't understand that bothered him, but the ones he did! We all have some manner of inner moral compass and fabric to convict us. "If there is no God," Fyodor Dostoevsky's dictum goes, "everything is permissible," and up for grabs, and we are without a moral compass as animals and can act like them, not being accountable and not awaiting judgment. We all have a sense of "ought" however, and this is evidence for God's existence.
God alone is the moral center of the universe and everything's is relative to Him. In sum, there is no loophole, all of mankind will be judged by Christ if they are not found in Him, and they will be condemned by their own words and conscience! In the meantime, judge nothing before the time (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5). We don't want to be like Israel in Judges: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (cf. Judges 17:6; 21:25). The cross is the only way out by faith in it as the propitiation of our sins, being God's satisfaction or propitiation of justice on our behalf. Soli Deo Gloria!
We all have a conscience or the ability to relate standards to conduct and situations and make judgments of right and wrong. We are held to be responsible to our conscience, and it either accuses or excuses us (cf. Rom. 2:25). But we can indeed have a clear conscience and be in sin or be dead wrong at the same time because you can be sincerely wrong, but this is no excuse to go against conscience as our guide as Martin Luther said, "To go against conscience is neither right nor safe." Jiminy Cricket said to always let our conscience be our guide--but it should be enlightened by the Word of God.
It is obvious that God is a God who cares a lot about right and wrong and He has gifted us with a moral compass as a guide to behavior in all situations (you instinctively know not to bud in line, for instance, unless you've hardened your conscience--if you ignore it, it'll go away!). Where do we get a sense of fair play, good faith, altruism, courage, good faith, frankness, objectivity, integrity, and sportsmanship? It's obvious that this is a reflection of God's character. This is why we learn a lot about life playing sports and through the wisdom of the school of hard knocks in life's spiritual journey.
There is a natural or higher law that all people know, which is supreme over the law of the government. Being legal doesn't mean it's right, ethical, or moral! We are responsible for this moral code, whether we admit it or not. We have a built-in sensitivity to evil and all of us have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, by virtue of being Adam's progeny. None of us can claim innocence! We are moral creatures responsible for our actions and that's where sin comes in; animals are not moral creatures. We alone are designed to communicate with God with a heart to love Him, a mind to know Him, and a will to obey Him.
Mark Twain was said to say that it wasn't the Scriptures he didn't understand that bothered him, but the ones he did! We all have some manner of inner moral compass and fabric to convict us. "If there is no God," Fyodor Dostoevsky's dictum goes, "everything is permissible," and up for grabs, and we are without a moral compass as animals and can act like them, not being accountable and not awaiting judgment. We all have a sense of "ought" however, and this is evidence for God's existence.
God alone is the moral center of the universe and everything's is relative to Him. In sum, there is no loophole, all of mankind will be judged by Christ if they are not found in Him, and they will be condemned by their own words and conscience! In the meantime, judge nothing before the time (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5). We don't want to be like Israel in Judges: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (cf. Judges 17:6; 21:25). The cross is the only way out by faith in it as the propitiation of our sins, being God's satisfaction or propitiation of justice on our behalf. Soli Deo Gloria!