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our conscience can be corrupted and defiled in quickly to experience again a good, clear, clean
opposite directions (evil and weak). Therefore, conscience. In these ways a new-covenant cons-
humans need to avail themselves of the pro- cience helps keep God’s people on “the Way” of
pitiation of Christ’s death (Ro 3:25; 1Jn 2:2), in life with Jesus Christ, because of the regenera-
order for their consciences to be cleansed (Heb ted capacity to tolerate greater truth, convic-
9:14; 10:22). In addition, the greatest gift of the tion, and contrition, knowing their forgiveness
new covenant was the Holy Spirit (Ez 36:25-28), and union with Christ, so that their conscience
who can awaken consciences and “convict the in turn becomes stronger, more accurate, and
world concerning sin and righteousness and healthier. As a result, new covenant communi-
judgment” (Jn 16:8) and “guide [believers] into ties will increasingly cultivate their own form of
all the truth” (16:13). This involves, in part, a socialization, imperfect to be sure (consider the
renewal of their consciences. Phariseeism and scrupulosity that has attended
So we need to consider how the new covenant the church throughout its history), but general-
economy relates to what the Apostle Paul taught ly more in line with God’s design plan, because
us about the law of God already written on the of greater conformity to God’s word in Scriptu-
hearts of all humans. To begin with, apparently, re. Because the conscience plays an important
to have a “natural law” written on our hearts by role in the formation of healthy personal agents,
creation provides some ethicospiritual light, but its healing plays a significant role in becoming
not enough to guide sinful creatures like us to a a mature human being, understood Christianly.
holy, omniscient God who knows the truth of Developing such a new-covenant conscience is
our hearts better than we do. Our created, but a lifelong, ongoing process.
fallen consciences are a witness of God’s law, Let us apply these teachings to help us under-
but not a completely reliable witness, because stand some of the changes that have occurred
they can be damaged by genetics, physiology, in contemporary culture regarding sexual and
family socialization, and enculturaization in a gender ethics and the Christian community’s
fallen world, and they cannot deliver the right ideal response. Without the transformation of
kind of motivation to lead us into a life that ade- the new birth, the cleansing of the blood of the
quately pleases God. A good or healthy cons- new covenant, and the light of the Holy Spirit,
cience, by itself, is not the eternal life we read it is not surprising that contemporary Western
about elsewhere in Scripture. Therefore, when non-Christians are not sensitive or responsive
God writes his law on the human heart a second to all of God’s design plan for sexual and gender
time—by means of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the ethics as revealed in Scripture. From a Christian
gospel, and the new covenant—we should think standpoint, premarital and extramarital sexual
of it as an awakening and enlivening of the ori- activity, same-sex attraction, homosexual acti-
ginal ethicospiritual template, bringing it more vity, and gender dysphoria are objectively disor-
in line with God’s law and design plan. This dered states of being—no different in principle
aspect of Christian salvation should tend to give than severe hypochondriasis (believing one has
Christians greater ability to reflect God’s ethi- a cancerous tumor, when objectively one does
cospiritual design plan for human life; a proper, not), anorexia nervosa (believing one is proble-
healthier sensitivity to violations of God’s law matically overweight, when objectively one is
when they violate it, compared to those who underweight), paranoia (believing one is being
have not been so enlightened. A new-covenant pursued by the CIA, when objectively one is
conscience is becoming more well-regulated by not), or fetishism (being sexually aroused by an
God’s word and Spirit; more sensitive to one’s article of clothing) or pedaphilia (being sexual-
own wrong-doing and the wrong-doing of ly aroused by prepubescent children). Yet cultu-
others; increasingly trained to be activated by re-wide changes in worldview assumptions and
true guilt, rather than false guilt; more inclined values and subsequent socialization have led to
to confess and repent to God and appropriate the development of new cultural-ethical norms
others and find its restoration in Christ’s death in sexual and gender ethics, and the majority in
and resurrection, so that one is able relatively Western culture have lost a sense of God’s de-

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