7. In ‘appealing to the consciences’ of others, can we safely let their consciences set the standard for our own?

⁷ Of course, we can never let the unenlightened or defiled and depraved consciences of others set the standard for our own consciences. Our conscience must be guided by God’s Word and spirit and so may at times testify exactly to the contrary of what certain officials want of us. Then we must conscientiously respond as did the apostles: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”​—Acts 5:29-32.

DIFFICULT DECISIONS OF CONSCIENCE

9. (a) Inasmuch as the Christian is not without Scriptural laws and principles, why is it that questions of conscience still arise? (b) What generally determines how great a part individual conscience must play in deciding on the rightness or wrongness of a matter?

⁹ Thus there are many, many acts and practices that are specifically approved or condemned in the Bible. Many, many others are clearly in harmony with, or in violation of, principles contained therein. Yet, particularly in the modern, complex society that has developed in many parts of the earth, there remain situations and circumstances where personal decision, based on the individual conscience of the one involved, is required. So many things in life are a matter of degree. The difference between a gentle pat and a vicious blow is a matter of degree of force. The difference between simple respect​—as, for example, respect to a ruler or a national emblem—​and reverential worship is also a matter of degree. Where extremes are involved there is no real question. It is when the matter comes within what might be called a ‘gray area,’ approaching the borderline between what is clearly right and what is clearly wrong, that questions arise. The closer to such ‘borderline situation’ the matter comes, the greater the part the individual’s conscience must play in his decision. Faced with such circumstances, what should we do?

10, 11. (a) What does God expect of us when such questions of conscience arise? (b) When faced with such a personal matter of conscience, should we expect some ruling to be handed down telling us what to do, and who should bear the responsibility for our decision? (c) What do such decisions reveal about us to God?

¹⁰ Jehovah God expects us to use our faculties of intelligence, our knowledge, understanding and judgment, and to do conscientiously what our faith points us to do. God does not place us under the conscience of some other human in such matters. We must each make our own decision in harmony with conscience​—conscience molded by God’s Word. We must also take the consequences of our own decisions, not expect someone else to make the decision and bear that responsibility for us.

¹¹ It would therefore be wrong in such matters to try to extract from someone else, from a body of elders or from the governing body of the Christian congregation, some rule or regulation that ‘draws the line’ on matters. Where God’s Word does not itself ‘draw the line,’ no human has the right to add to that Word by doing so. God in his wisdom allows us to show what we are in the “secret person of the heart,” and the decisions we make in such personal cases may reveal this. True, we may err at times without wrong motive, and God, who reads our hearts, can discern this.

12. Does the fact that we are not conscious of any wrongdoing of itself guarantee our righteousness? For what reason?

¹² But whatever our decisions, and even though these are made with a clear conscience, we must always realize that, in the final analysis, God will be the One to make manifest the rightness or wrongness of our course and that in his own due time and way. Recognizing this, the apostle Paul wrote: “For I am not conscious of anything against myself. Yet by this I am not proved righteous, but he that examines me is Jehovah. Hence do not judge anything before the due time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring the secret things of darkness to light and make the counsels of the hearts manifest, and then each one will have his praise come to him from God.”​—1 Cor. 4:3-5.