This lesson must begin with a clear understanding. It does NOT focus on everyone's conscience as a general statement. If focuses on the person who is a Christian and his/her reaction to his/her conscience.
The Christian, as everyone who is responsive to his/her conscience, recognizes the conscience as the voice of right and wrong or good and bad. The Christian continually should be in the process to changing his/her standards and values to match God's standards and values. The Christian's conscience should function as his/her response to his/her Christian concepts of right and wrong. Since the Christian knowingly and deliberately puts the definitions of right and wrong in God's hands, the Christian recognizes his/her conscience as God's voice in his/her life. For a Christian to affirm his/her conscience by behaving in a manner consistent with his/her conscience is to affirm responsible relationship with God. For the Christian to rebel against his/her conscience by behaving in a manner inconsistent with his/her conscience is to rebel against God. Thus a Christian can offend his/her conscience and sin if his/her behavior violates his/her understanding of God's will.
That fact places every Christian in a difficult situation. The difficult situation can be resolved in a godly manner only through (a) profound respect for other Christians and (b) a deep awareness/appreciation of God's devotion to the salvation of every person.
As an example, consider 1 Corinthians 8. The problem: idolatrous behavior among Christians at Corinth. The question: "What is idolatrous behavior?" How was "idolatrous behavior" to be defined? Paul began his answer to their question about "idolatrous behavior" by affirming that knowledge is the avenue to arrogance.
Sacrificial worship both in Israel and in idolatry commonly involved a meal. As an act of worship, the person who gave the sacrifice ate part of that sacrifice (see 1 Samuel 1:4,5; 2:12-17). The question: if a Christian ate part of something sacrificed to an idol, had the Christian worshipped the idol?
While this may seem to be an insignificant worship issue today, it was a powerful worship issue among Christians in the first century church. The matter had special significance to the gentile Christian who lived in idolatry prior to conversion to Christ and to Jewish converts who commonly look upon any idolatrous practice with enormous distaste.
Paul said the knowledgeable Christian understands there is but one living God. Idols do not represent any god. While the world acknowledges many "so-called" gods, the Christian understands there is but one God. This one God is the Creator God, the Father. All things, including people, exist for this Creator God to honor and praise Him. Jesus Christ is the only Lord. He alone was the creative agent through whom God worked. "We" Christians exist through Jesus Christ.
That is correct knowledge. Idols do not represent a god. There is only one God. When people engage in any idolatrous act of worship, they are not honoring an existing god.
While this understanding was [is] accurate, it was not understood by everyone. Idol worshippers and some Christians believed idols represented an existing god. In this conviction, their conscience was weak. If they ate or witnessed another Christian eating something sacrificed to an idol, they believed such eating honored another god and defied the Lordship of Jesus Christ. As a consequence, this person's weak conscience was offended to the point of falling away from the living, Creator God.
Paul said eating or not eating food produces no spiritual benefit. Neither eating or not eating brings a person closer to God. That is knowledge. That is correct knowledge. That is the knowledge that frees or liberates the Christian who understands.
Stress that correct knowledge emphasized the truth that there was not spiritual benefit in eating or not eating.
However, this correct knowledge which can liberate was not to be used in a manner that caused a person with a weak conscience to fall away from the living God and the Lord Jesus Christ. If the weak Christian sees the knowledgeable Christian eating something sacrificed to an idol, the weak Christian will be encouraged to violate his conscience. For the knowledgeable Christian, eating the sacrifice was not an act of worshipping the idol. For the weak Christian, his conscience declared eating from an idolatrous sacrifice was an act of worshipping the idol.
The weak Christian violated his conscience by honoring a god other than the Creator God and by honoring the lordship of another deity rather than honoring the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Thus when the knowledgeable Christian [though correct in his understanding] wounds the conscience of the weak Christian, he sins against the weaker Christian and thereby sins against Christ. He sins against Christ by doing something that is not wrong!
Thus the Christian's conscience must be concerned about two realities, not just one. He/she must be concerned about not defying God in his/her understanding of godly standards and values. He/she must be concerned about not encouraging others to defy God in their understandings and actions. Christians assume both responsibilities because of their growing appreciation of God's enormous investment in the salvation of people.
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 5