Conditioning Our Conscious for Christian Conduct - Part Two
“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” 1 Peter 4:1-2 (KJV, emphasis added)
In last week’s blog, we established that we need to exercise or condition our consciences to consistently conduct ourselves as Christians. This is essential and a non-negotiable due to what I deem as three realities: the flesh (a sinful human condition that strives for self autonomy), world (constructs and principles that power and promote an antichrist culture) and Satan (the dragon, devil and dedicated enemy of our Father God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the children of God). As children of God we are continually confronted by an anti-Christ culture. Hear what the Word of God declares about this tyrannical and twisted trinity of the flesh, the world and Satan.
“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Roman 8:6-8 (KJV)
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4 (KJV)
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:16-17 (KJV)
“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8 (KJV)
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:9 (KJV)
I submit to you that this twisted trinity with supercharged satanic subtlety will incessantly seek to condition your conscience to cement itself in carnality and cause you to cultivate conscience of compromise. Therefore, we must condition our conscience to crush and cancel the enemy’s encroachment on our minds. So how do we do this?
We condition ourselves when we arm our consciences with the truth about our Lord Jesus and identify with His suffering. Peter points us to when the Lord positioned Himself on the cross and suffered death to place us in a position of peace with God. We can also find encouragement as Jesus’ resurrection points to the power He has over death, thereby also giving us power over the enemy and death.
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18 (KJV)
Arming ourselves with these biblical truths requires a deliberate display of disciplines like meditation and memorization of the Word of God as well as submission to and application of the text on which you are meditating.
In contrast, when we condition ourselves in our emotions or feelings and not the truth it will equip us to fail and capitulate to culture. Consider some of the feelings that cause us to compromise our witness to Christ: anger, bitterness, conceit, despair, envy, fear, grief, hopelessness, indifference, and jealousy, just to name a few. Again, we must condition our consciences with the truth about Christ and follow His example.
Christ was patient. Therefore, we need to be patient.
Christ was courageous. Therefore, we need to be courageous.
Christ bore the gravity of our sins and brought us back to God.
Christ put Himself in a position to die to put us in a position to live.
A conscience that is captured by the truth of Christ is a conscience that is consistent with Christian conduct in all conditions.
For the Glory of God,
PBKSR