1 Corinthians 10:27-29 “If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience' sake. (28) But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience' sake; for "the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness." (29) "Conscience," I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience?”
We have seen that our conscience is given to us to convict us in choosing that which is good and reject evil, and that it is our choice as to whether we obey or reject the conviction of our conscience. Let me say here that good and evil is constant, i.e. they do not change, ever. In other words what was good and evil in the time of Noah and all the way back to Adam, is the same today as it was then. The conscience that God has given us always convicts us to choose good and reject evil. And so good and evil is what God says is good and evil, and it is not a concept or principle taught by mankind. Some have erroneously taught that our conscience is a product of our culture and upbringing, which is why some people can do some practices that, would offend others who have a different culture. And so what is considered good in some societies is considered evil in other societies, and vice versa. However, in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit clearly explains to us that the conscience is given to us by God to only discern between good and evil, and that it has nothing to do with the various cultures of mankind. In context, the apostle Paul is referring specifically to the conscience of an unbeliever in this passage. This is not an unbeliever who has been brought up in a Jewish synagogue, and thus knows the laws of Moses and is endeavouring to keep them. This unbeliever sacrifices and makes offerings to his gods which he has been serving all his life, and which we know are demons. Paul then makes an extraordinary statement. He says that if you eat at this unbeliever’s house and he tells you that he has offered to his idols, the food you are about to eat, then you are not to eat it. Paul does not say this because eating it would wound the believer’s conscience, but rather because it would wound the unbeliever’s conscience! And so if the unbeliever’s conscience was a product of his upbringing and culture, then it would not be possible that eating the food that he offered to his idols every day, would wound his conscience? No rather, the reason his conscience would be wounded, is because offering food to demons is evil, no matter what culture or religion one is brought up in. And even though the unbeliever has had his conscience weakened to the extent that his conscience cannot convict him of this sin anymore, it is still a sin. And Paul counsels us to not be complicit in the further wounding of his conscience by approving his practice through the eating of his food.
Titus 1:15-16 “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. (16) They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul talks about the conscience of unbelievers as being defiled. If their conscience was a product of their culture and upbringing, then the fact that they are unbelievers would not have the effect of making their conscience defiled, especially if they are diligently adhering to all of the practices that their particular culture and religion teaches. And so the reason their consciences are defiled, is because they have ignored the conviction of their consciences by continuing in their sinful practices.
Michael E.B. Maher
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