348 The Spiritual Man
restraint would mean lowering our standard of holiness. In a word,
there is no problem for that one who is willing to walk by the spirit.
A Weak ConscienceA few moments ago we remarked that the standard of our holy
living is Christ, not conscience, though the latter nonetheless is of
great significance. It testifies whether or not in our everyday life we
have pleased God; it consequently serves as a criterion for the
current degree of holiness. If we live by what conscience teaches we
have arrived at the place we should be for the present moment. It is
therefore a prime factor in our daily walk after the spirit. In whatever
matter we disobey the dictate of our conscience we shall be
reprimanded by it. As a result we shall lose peace and shall be cut off
temporarily from having fellowship with God. There is no question
that we must follow what conscience demands; but how perfect its
demand is remains a question.
As we have seen, conscience is limited by knowledge. It can guide
only by the knowledge it possesses. It condemns every disobedience
to what it knows, but it cannot condemn what it itself does not know.
Hence a vast distance obtains between the measure of conscience and
the measure of God’s holiness. just here we find at least two defects.
First, a conscience with limited knowledge condemns only what it
knows as wrong and leaves untouched in our life numerous matters
which are not according to God’s will. God and those more matured
saints know how imperfect we are, and yet we continue to walk in
our old fashion for lack of new light. Is not this an enormous defect?
This imperfection is nonetheless bearable because God does not
judge what we do. not know. Despite this flaw we can fellowship
with Him and be accepted if we simply obey whatever our
conscience dictates.
But the second defect, unlike the first, does interfere with our
fellowship with God. just as a limited knowledge fails to judge what