My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE VALUE OF CONSCIENCE IN ONE’S
SPIRITUAL LIFELONG STRUGGLE.
"But we have renounced the hidden things of shame,
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" (2 Corinthians 4:2).
"holding the mystery of the faith with A PURE
CONSCIENCE" (1 Timothy 3:9).
"let us draw near with a true heart in full assistance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled FROM AN EVIL
CONSCIENCE AND OUR BODIES WASHED WITH
PURE WATER" (Hebrews 10:22).
"how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
spot to God, CLEANSE YOUR CONSCIENCE from
death works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:14).
"Therefore you must be subject, not only because
of wrath but also for conscience’ sake" (Romans 13:5).
"but when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature
do the things in the law, these, although not having law,
are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law
written in their hearts, THEIR CONSCIENCE ALSO
BEARING WITNESS, AND BETWEEN THEMSELVES
THEIR THOUGHTS ACCUSING OR ELSE EXCUSING
THEM) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men
by Jesus Christ according to my gospel" (Romans 2:14-15).
Our Holy Father Among the Saints, Saint Dorotheos of Gaza wrote: "When God created man, he breathed into him something divine, as it were a hot and bright spark added to reason, which lit up the mind and showed him the difference between right and wrong. THIS IS CALLED CONSCIENCE, WHICH IS THE LAW OF HIS NATURE. This is compared to the well which Jacob dug as the Fathers say, and which the Philistines filled up. [Genesis 26:15]. That is, to this law of conscience adhered to the patriarchs and all the holy men of old before the written law, and they were pleasing to God. But when this law was buried and truden underoof by men through the onset of sin, we needed a written law, we needed the holy Prophets, we needed the instruction of our Master, Jesus Christ, to reveal it and raise it up and bringing it life through the observance of the Commandments that buried spark. It is our power either to bury it again, or, if we obey it, to allow it to shine and illuminate us. When our conscience says to us, ‘do this!’ and we despise it and it speaks again and we do not do it but continue to despise it, at last we bury it and it is no longer able to speak clearly to us from the depths where we have laid it. But like a lamp shining on a damaged mirror, it reflects things dimly and darkly, just as you cannot see the reflection of your face in muddy water. We are found unable to perceive what our conscience says to us so that we think we have hardly any conscience. No one is without a conscience, since it is something divinely implanted in us, as we have already said, and it can never be destroyed. It always patiently reminds us of our duties, but sometimes we do not perceive that we are despising it and treading underfoot. This is why the Prophet bewails Ephraim and says, ‘Ephraim prevails against his adversary and treads down judgment.’ [Hosea 10:11] The adversary here is ‘CONSCIENCE.’ Here the Gospel says, ‘Come to an agreement with your adversary while you are on the way with him, lest he deliver you to the judge and the judge to the warders and they2:15) put you in chains. Amen, I say to you, you shall not leave the place until you have paid the last farthing’ [Matthew 5:25-26]. Why does he call conscience the adversary? It is called the adversary because it always opposes our evil desires and tells what we ought to do and we do not, or what we ought not to do and we do; and it accuses us, and so CONSCIENCE IS CALLED OUR ADVERSARY, AND OUR LORD ADMONISHES, ‘Come to an agreement with your adversary while you are on the way;’ for the ‘way’ as Saint Basil says, is this world.
Let us be zealous, brothers, to guard our conscience for as long as we are in this world and not to neglect its promptings in anything." [Sermon on the Conscience]
How is your conscience? "By nature" (Romans 2:14) people are inspired by and cooperate with God’s grace. Therefore, good deeds are natural to us, whereas evil deeds are contrary to nature. Because we all fail, we need God’s mercy (Gk, eleos) [Romans 3:9-19). The presence of God’s law in in our conscience (Romans 2:15) condemns anything we do which is contrary to true human nature. Our Savior Jesus Christ will judge on the basis of the light He Himself has given to each of us (John 1:9) and our response to His Light (John 3:16-21). "The secrets of men" are "the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrew 4:12).
Saint Dorotheos continues: "Doing what is right and what is wrong: both begin from small things and advance to what is great, either good or evil. Therefore Our Lord warns ut TO TAKE ACCOUNT OF OUR CONSCIENCE AS ONE GIVING EVIDENCE OF HIS OWN EXPERIENCE AND SAYING, ‘BE CAREFUL, SIMPLETON, SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING, COME TO AN AGREEMENT WITH YOUR ADVERSARY WHILE YET ON THE ROAD’ AND HE SHOWS THE DANGER TO BE FEARED: ‘LEST HE DELIVER YOU TO THE JUDGE, AND THE JUDGE TO THE EXECUTIONER AND HE THROW YOU IN PRISON.’ Conscience then WARNS US, AS I SAID, about what is good or what is bad and shows us what to do and what not to do…"
How healthy is your conscience? Is the voice of your conscience vibrant and strong? Do you pay attention to that special voice or do you ignore it? You see, it is up to every individual believer to treat his/her conscience tenderly and respectfully. Especially when everyone is constantly bombarded with temptations coming from all directions in various ways and forms. Our conscience is our spiritual guardian, our alarm when one is under attack and we are in great danger. It is our personal warning system just like the cities which warn the people of an oncoming weather threat (i.e. tornado, flood, a severe storm, tidal wave etc.) and sirens sound off for everyone to take cover. Those who listen to the warnings are safe and those that don’t, lose their lives. Those who listen to their conscience and follow the guidance of that little voice faithfully will be safe from harm.
To attempt to silence the voice of one’s conscience leads to disobedience and darkness. "Doing good" means seeking God’s glory, not one’s own glory; God’s honor, not one’s own honor; the eternal reward of immortality, not reward here and now. "Doing good" is seeking first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). Those with true faith, "the doers" of the truth, practice virtue from pure and repentant hearts (James 1:21-27). All Christian believers must listen to the voice of their conscience and thank our Creator for giving us this precious gift which is necessary to discern between good and evil, between sin and righteousness, between heaven and hell, between what is Godly and what is Satanic. Without the ability to discern between good and evil, man is totally lost and unable to find his way to the heavenly Father and Savior.
The practicing and believing Orthodox Christian understands that to build an Orthodox Christian conscience it can only be acquired by the grace of God acting within us, and not by his/her effort and want. Once acquired, his/her conscience becomes a powerful warning instrument in one’s heart and mind whenever he or she nears something improper and unholy and warns the believer of its imminent danger and discourages him or her from
continuing on the path of breaking God’s commandments and committing a grave sin such as fornication, infidelity, lust, prostitution, adultery, murder, judging others, covetousness, wanting something that belongs to someone else etc. The believer who is alert will hopefully make the right decision when confronted with a choice between what is Godly and what is wrong.
The Holy Apostle Paul writes, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth fornication, uncleanness, passion, evi desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry…But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have upt off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him Who created him" {Colossians 3:1-10).
__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 