The conscience

"I am grateful to God, whom I serve in the wake of my ancestors with a pure conscience, from my constant recollection of you in my supplications, night and day." 2 Timothy 1: 3

Saul studied in Tarsus and then in Jerusalem under the direction of the doctor of the Gamaliel Law. Saul, a brilliant spirit, advances more quickly in Judaism than many of his contemporaries. His Jewish conscience makes him hate all those who deviate from the rules of the Law given to Moses by the Lord. His hatred is especially directed at those of his people who have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the glory of God, he thinks, he must do his utmost to get them to deny Christ. His conscience led him to encourage those who stoned Stephen, the witness of Jesus Christ. Then he persecutes the Christians in Jerusalem and elsewhere. How could he have done all this evil in good conscience ? Paul himself gives the answer to this question : "because I acted out of ignorance, in unbelief" (1 Tim 1: 13).

Consciousness is a faculty given to man to distinguish between good and evil. It allows everyone to make an assessment of his actions, words or thoughts. But the conscience of a man is shaped by the education he receives, his perception of the rules in force in his family, his immediate environment, his country, his religion, and so on. It is therefore a measuring instrument that will give different results according to the people. In order for these results to be universally applicable, it must be calibrated with respect to an absolute reference, just like any measuring device, such as a scale.

In the case of the Apostle Paul, if his conscience was badly regulated and led him to persecute Christians, it was because of his misunderstanding of the ways of God revealed in the TA. And his unbelief in all the signs that had shown that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. He had certainly heard, through trustworthy witnesses, the miracles that had preceded the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. God knows the hearts and knows that Paul is, in good faith, enclosed in his Jewish conscience ; He strikes a great blow and terrace on the road to Damascus that persecutor whom he wants to make his servant. He trains it by the revelations which will follow its conversion so that its teaching imposes itself on all Christians.

Source (To pleasing the Lord)