Conscience 349
ought to be judged, so it may also judge what should not be judged.
Does it mean that conscience is faulty in its guidance? No, the
leading of conscience is correct and must be heeded by believers. But
there are different degrees of knowledge among the saints. Many
things which can be done with knowledge are condemned as sins by
the conscience of those who lack knowledge. This manifests the
disease of believers’ immaturity. The fathers can do many things
with perfect liberty for they have advanced knowledge, experience
and position, but for the little children to do them would be entirely
wrong because they simply do not possess such knowledge,
experience and position. This does not imply that there are two
different standards for the Christian’s conduct. It just shows,
however, that the standard of good and evil is bound up with
individual position. This law applies to the secular, as well as to the
spiritual, realm. Many matters agree perfectly with God’s will when
done by matured believers, but these very items become sins if
copied by immature ones.
The reason for this variance is the different degrees of knowledge
in our consciences. When one believer does what his conscience
deems good he is obeying the will of God; but the conscience of
another person may judge the same thing as evil, and he will be
sinning against God if he does it. The absolute will of God is always
the same; but He reveals His mind to each person according to the
limitation of their spiritual position. Those with knowledge have a
stronger conscience and consequently enjoy more liberty; while
those without knowledge harbor a weaker conscience and hence
experience more bondage.
This is distinctly illustrated in the first letter to the Corinthians.
There was much misunderstanding among the Christians at Corinth
concerning the eating of food offered to idols. Some of them
regarded idols as possessing no real existence since there is no God
but One (1 Cor. 8.4). So for them there could be no difference
between the food offered to idols and food not so offered: both with