How Should a Christian Act?

At least, that what I believe.

No.

A conscience is your own sense of right and wrong.

The Spirit is the spirit of God in you.

Didn't mean to sound terse. I don't feel terse. And, I should say I'm not church lady--and just because I say these things doesn't make me right.

This is just how I understand what I've studied and experienced.

How do you recognize it, then?

I would say the existance of the latter is often used as evidenciary justification for the existance of the former.

...and thus the circle of logic is complete.

And do you not agree that our conscience is innate? How does it differ from the Spirit? How could the two ever conflict?

I would say the conscience is innate..just another mechanism that makes us survivable life forms in our niche of nature.
I would also say that innate 'conscience is often given supernatural properties without good reason.

I'll try to put it into words.

It "witnesses" to your heart. It is approved by God, and many times an event will occur that signifies approval of the message you recieved.

There IS room for error. Its like buying a Christmas/Hanukah present for a friend. If you know your friend, you know they'll like what you've chosen for them. If you haven't been around your friend in a long time--you've lost that closeness--it's hard to think of gifts they may like--you're uncertain, and after you buy it, you're worried that they may not like it.

If you're out of step with Christ, you can fool yourself into thinking you know what He's saying--when you don't have a clue. You can easily project your own desires onto the Spirit.

This is how we end up with so much crap, IMO, from that quarter.

There's a lot of patience involved, listening, seeking through prayer, self-examination and time spent in the Bible, studying who you are talking to--and what He stood for.

Hope that's at least marginally understandable.

How does your conscience conflict with the Holy Spirit? I would say anytime that you do something that is against God but is okay in man's eyes, that's a conflict.

Personally, I can do without the preaching, too.

Sometimes, your conscience is tougher on you than God is.

Sometimes, your conscience isn't even in the same realm with the track the Spirit has you on.

Your conscience is limited to your imagination, your sense of right and wrong--and other human limitations--the Spirit has no such limits--and can push you to achieve things you either could not have or would not have.

Hope you appreciate the difference in preaching and answering questions.

Good stuff.

This is still 100% reliant on interpretation by a flawed mind.
How do you know what is approved by god?
How do you know you have interpreted the 'event' correctly?

So you are not certain of your faith?

And if the bible is open to interpretation, how do you know you are not fooling yourself now?


You seem to be implying an 'us and them' situation but you have failed to distinguish the 'us' from the 'them'

Would you say everyone that follows this advice arrives at the same conclusions? If not, doesn't that disturb you at all?

I think I follow you, but I am left with more questions than I started with :/

Lash--
Momma--

I contend that "conscience" is basically what is meant by "Holy Spirit". (Not to be repetitive, or anything.) I have held this belief for several years. In fact, it is what finally allowed me to overcome my childhood fear of damnation by the God that I grew up with.
Do you know of anything in the Bible that would counter my belief?

Lash, you take this one for now, will you? I need to get supper. I will address this in a bit, echi.

Thanks, Momma Angel.

Boil up them crawfish real good, now! Ya' hear?!

Try this for now, echi. I can look up some more for you later.

There are many misconceptions on the identity of the Holy Spirit. Some view the Holy Spirit as a mystical force. Others understand the Holy Spirit as the impersonal power God makes available to followers of Christ. What does the Bible say about the identity of the Holy Spirit? Simply put - the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is God. The Bible also tells us that the Holy Spirit is a Person, a Being with a mind, emotions, and a will.

The fact that the Holy Spirit is God is clearly seen in many Scriptures including Acts 5:3-4. In this verse Peter confronts Ananias as to why he had lied to the Holy Spirit and tells him that he had "not lied to men but to God." It is a clear declaration that lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God. We can also know that the Holy Spirit is God because He possesses the attributes or characteristics of God. For example the fact that the Holy Spirit is omnipresent is seen in Psalm 139:7-8 "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." Then in 1 Corinthians 2:10 we see the characteristic of omniscience in the Holy Spirit. "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God."

We can know that the Holy Spirit is indeed a Person because He possesses a mind, emotions, and a will. The Holy Spirit thinks and knows (1 Corinthians 2:10). The Holy Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). The Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26-27). The Holy Spirit makes decisions according to His will (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). The Holy Spirit is God, the third "Person" of the Trinity. As God, the Holy Spirit can truly function as the Comforter and Counselor that Jesus promised He would be (John 14:16,26; 15:26).

http://www.gotquestions.org/who-Holy-Spirit.html