What does it mean to have a seared conscience?

The conscience is a fascinating part of our soul/spirit complex. Simply stated, it is the faculty of our inner man by which we judge what is right and wrong, or make value judgments. It operates on information that we accept as authoritative, coming from an authority that we acknowledge has the right to tell us what is right and what is wrong. The development and operation of our conscience begins early. As a child we learn from parental authority what is right and wrong. A system of norms and standards takes shape in our mentality and we evaluate what is right and wrong on the basis of it. During adolescence as the maturing process of our conscience advances on and preparations are begun for independent living, we begin to desire to exercise our conscience in an independent and responsible manner. With adulthood comes the fully mature, independent, and responsible operation of the conscience. As an adult, therefore, we occupy the position of accepting full responsibility for our actions and for the testimony of our conscience.

Now this is not the beginning of a treatise on the intricacies of the function of the conscience. Far from it. However, for us in this dispensation of grace, it is essential to understand and appreciate the basics of what our conscience is and the fundamental way it functions. This is because the function of our conscience is a very big issue in this dispensation, as we will note. But in particular, for the purpose of this article, we need to appreciate the function of the conscience if we are to understand the spiritual disaster and danger Paul describes when he refers to ones who have their "conscience seared with a hot iron."

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils:

Speaking lies in hypocrisy: having their conscience seared with a hot iron:

Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (I Timothy 4:1-3)

As Paul declares here, as well as throughout the Pastoral epistles, this dispensation of grace is going to be dominated by the effective operations of the Satanic policy of evil. Instead of sound Bible doctrine prevailing and the knowledge of the truth of what God is doing in this dispensation holding sway among Christians, the opposite will be the case. Unsound doctrine is actually going to dominate. Bible mishandling and misapplication is going to be the norm. The confusing of God’s program for Israel with His program for us in this dispensation of grace is going to prevail, as people not only fail to "rightly divide the word of truth," but actually outright refuse to do so. And this they will do because of the effective operations of the Satanic policy of evil, as it victimizes Christians and successfully convinces them to believe "doctrines of devils" rather than the truth for and about this dispensation.

When flesh is "seared with a hot iron" it is cauterized. Its surface is burned, charred, and hardened. A deadened crust of tissue is formed in which there is no longer the sense of feeling. Searing renders it incapable of feeling. It renders it unresponsive, numb to the stimuli it should respond to.

The "hot iron" in I Timothy 4 that so effectively sears the conscience is the competing authority of subjective experience. What a physical "hot iron" does to flesh, the "hot iron" of subjective experience does to the conscience. Yet, accepting any other authority as equal to, or greater than, the authority of the written word of God, effectively sears the conscience and numbs it to the final authority that the word of God should hold in it.

gatita

Apostolic Believer In One God, Jesus

people who once were so called saved now have fallen away from the faith.

Lying to self and others and don't care. Their own conscience and heart hardened with sin.

Having their conscience seared with a hot iron - They bear the marks of their hypocrisy as evidently and as indelibly in their conscience in the sight of God, as those who have been cauterized for their crimes do in their bodies in the sight of men. It was customary in ancient times to mark those with a hot iron who had been guilty of great crimes, such as sacrilege, etc. And the heathens supposed that even in the other world they bear such marks; and by these the infernal judges knew the quantum of their vices, and appointed the degrees of their punishment.

this sverse should scare xell out of Baptist who beleive once saved always saved. This is one of prob 80 Bible verses that refute that lie.

Read the entire context 1-5. A a seared conscience is basically you ignore morality despite understanding. So in this context he is saying false doctrine restricting diet (like SDA vegetarianism) and forbidding certain people from marriage (like catholic priests) and this will come from people who ignore morality.

sear1    

[seer] Show IPA

–verb (used with object)

1.

to burn or char the surface of: She seared the steak to seal in the juices.

2.

to mark with a branding iron.

3.

to burn or scorch injuriously or painfully: He seared his hand on a hot steam pipe.

4.

to make callous or unfeeling; harden: The hardship of her youth has seared her emotionally.

5.

to dry up or wither; parch.

A seared conscience is where you do something you know is wrong and you no longer care.

Basically one that lacks a conscience. They think that doing wrong is normal.

ninja is right.... it is like if you do something wrong and don't care anymore, after a while if you sticking your finger on an iron it eventually scars over and is so tough that you don't feel it anymore.

if we choose to do a wrong thing once it might make us feel bad, but over and over will cause us to be numb to it.

It means that a christian feels in some way that they had a part in another persons sin that was comitted.Hears a blessing,and a our father prayed just for you.Practice the holy rosary,practice makes perfect.We love you all,the holy family.

Means you bought it on sale.

guilt..