MORALISTIC CONSCIENCE

When we are young our parents, teachers, church, coaches and the general tenor of social norms, train our conscience. This is when we learn “right and wrong” from the perception of those who are older and have responsibility for us. This training is moralistic in our conscience. Most moralistic training has a consequence and punishment if not followed according to the trainer. This training is very important to our early development. As time goes by, changes come to our conscience.

As we grow older we remain moralistic, and may even become religious and legal, if we do not undergo some kind of transformation in our inner person other than only knowing and thinking ‘good and bad.’ Learned behavior of relativism, values and dualism are simply our formed ways of responding to life’s conditions as we perceive them; and morals are based on ours, or someone else’s, personal standards of right and wrong. But if we will allow the Holy Spirit to implant new standards of God, our morals are conformed to the standards of the Kingdom Way. This is the conscience formed by the Spirit. It is the way the Lord speaks, thinks, acts and responds. The conscience is then controlled by the standards of God. The difference is simply having a moral conscience at one level and having that moralism formed into a spiritual conscience. It must begin by early training and then is received by revelation. One belongs to the lower order and the other is a higher order.

“For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” Jesus