What does the Bible teach about conscience?  Is your conscience a good guide?  That's our lesson for this morning.  Our text for today is 1 Pet 3: 18-22.

1) IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR CHRISTIANS TO UNDERSTAND THE CONSCIENCE!
    A.  Suneidesis - used 32 times.  sun - "together", oida - "to know" .  In other words to know one's self or to have a co-knowledge.
    B.  Vine - "a co-knowledge (with one's self).  The witness born to one's conduct by conscience, that faculty by which we apprehend the will of God, as that which is designed to govern our lives."
    C.  Thayer - "the soul as distinguishing what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending the one and condemning the other."
2)  THE HEART
    A.  4 types in the Bible
         1.  intellect -  that which perceives, reasons
         2.  will - determines, purposes
         3.  emotion - feelings, attitudes, dispositions
         4.  conscience - endowed by the Creator, that approves or disapproves in the light of what one believes is right or wrong.  Actually, conscience is the moral governor and serves a wonderful purpose in one's life.
3)  TWO MAJOR KINDS
         1.  Antecedent - "my conscience will not permit me to do that"
         2.  Sequent (sequential) - " my conscience hurt when I did that"
         3.  It's crucial to an understanding of conscience that one be aware that it reacts in relation to a standard one has accepted.  If the standard is wrong, the conscience may approve and still be wrong in the conduct in relation to God's revelation.
4)  FUNCTION OF..
        1.  Bears witness - Rom 9: 1-2 (he said what he felt), 2 Cor 1:12
        2.  Prompts obedience - Rom 13: 5 - do the right thing, I Pet 2: 19
        3.  Decide what the standard is - GOD"S WILL - one who violates will be condemned by his conscience.
5)  TYPES
        1.  Weak - A weak conscience is one that does not keep one from doing what is wrong - 1 Cor 8: 10,12 - believes eating is wrong, but still eats.  1 Cor 10:25, 28-29
        2.  Seared - 1 Tim 4: 12
        3.  Defiled - 1 Cor 8:7, Titus 1: 15 - pollute, stain, contaminate
        4.  Evil - Heb 10: 22 - miserable, bad. worthless, evil, malicious, wicked
        5.  Good  - a conscience that is not offended because the possessor is doing what he believes is right -
             Acts 23: 1, Acts 7- Stephen, Acts 8: 1-3, Acts 9: 1-5, Acts 24:16, Phil 3: 6
        6. Pure - kathros
What do we need to remember, though?  We can have a good conscience about what we believe and still be wrong.  There are many people in the religious world who have a good conscience about what they're doing (i.e. a friend), but are wrong in relation to God's Will.  Is your conscience your guide? The answer is no and yes; it depends on the application