Thoughts From 1John 3 - Part 5

 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.  1John 3:19-24

           What part does conscience play in a Christian's life? You would think it should play a big part because we have the Holy Spirit. I've often compared the born again by the Spirit process to be a lot like Peter Parker being bit by the radioactive spider. (If i was reformed, I'd like it even better because he had no choice) The spider DNA infused through his body and when he awoke, he noticed he was different and had spider abilities that he could never lose. Those abilities needed to grow, and he increases in his abilities throughout the movie and comic books. One of those abilities is his spidey sense which warns him of danger, and I would equate that to our conscience. When we are veering off track our consciences should warn us. Should we aid the person in the previous verses or are they a scammer? The Holy Spirit should tell us and if we got scammed, we don't kick ourselves but have peace that we did what we were told. I kind of think that's what he means by, "If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything."

         Can we trust our consciences 100% or as Jiminy Cricket would say, "Let your conscience be your guide"? I would have said yes to this in the past but Paul does shed some light on the conscience in 1Corinthians 4:3-5 where he says, 

"I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God."

       It appears that our consciences, because we still have the traitorous flesh or old me inside, can delude me. Thus, the need for continuing in the Word to renew our minds and continue to wash the old man out. I call it a mind enema where the water is the Bible.