Jesus' Cross and My Conscience
October 16, 2016 • Dave Marriott
1. Before the Cross: My Conscience Condemns Me for My Sin (Romans 2:14-16).
2. At the Cross: My conscience is cleansed by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9-10).
3. After the Cross: My conscience should be obeyed, kept clear, and increasingly informed by Scripture.
A. Seek to always obey your conscience (Romans 14: 22b-23)
B. Seek to always keep your conscience clear before God (Acts 23:1b; 24:16; 1 John 1:8-10)
Scripture presents multiple ways that a conscience can err or be misinformed.
1. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul speaks of a WEAK CONSCIENCE.
2. In Titus 1:15-16, Paul speaks of a DEFILED CONSCIENCE.
3. Paul also speaks of a SEARED CONSCIENCE in 1 Timothy 4:1-5.
Sermon review guide — “Jesus’ Cross & My Conscience”
Personal reflection: Recount a time that your conscience really stirred you either keeping you from doing something or bothering you after you had done something.
Your conscience is your internal moral witness; it’s your self-judging system.” How does the conscience look back on actions? How does the conscience look forward to potential actions?
Read Romans 2:1-16. How does this passage demonstrate that the conscience is “standard equipment for a human” — that it is a gift of creation not salvation? What two facts in verse 15 make it possible for people to find themselves in a position where they are more or less acknowledging the rightness of the 10 commandments, even though they had never actually been given them?
What are some attempts of the world to silence our conscience, demonstrating that the conscience is not a popular gift?
How does the conscience work to bring us to Jesus prior to salvation?
What are some of the benefits applied to the believer by the blood of Jesus (Rom. 3:25; Rom. 5:9; Eph. 1:7)? How is our conscience specifically affected by the shed blood of Jesus (Heb. 9:11-15)? How does the ministry of the OT priestly system contrast with the work of Christ on the Cross? (Heb. 10:4; 10:11-14; Heb. 10:22a; cf. Psalm 103:12).
Is it ever right to violate your own conscience? Why or why not? (Rom. 14:5; Rom. 14:22b-23; 1 Tim. 4:2; Titus 1:15)?
After salvation, how should you care for our conscience (Acts 23:1b; Acts 24:16)? What should we do once we have violated our conscience (Luke 11:4; 1 John 1:8-10)? How does God inform and correct consciences?
What are some ways our conscience err or be misinformed (1 Cor. 8:7; Titus 1:15-16; 1 Tim. 4:1-5)? What does a seared conscience lead to (see 1 Tim. 4:3 again)?
What are some specific and practical ways we can apply the truths of Scripture regarding our conscience… if we are condemned by our conscience? if we are annoyed that our conscience isn’t more sensitive to sin? If we wish our conscience was less sensitive to what is not sin?
