If you violate your conscience, you're going to train yourself to do a very bad thing.

Because as your mind grows to understand better what is right, when your conscience then tells you,

if you've trained yourself to violate your conscience, your conscience isn't going to do you any good.

Welcome to Grace to You, featuring the verse-by-verse Bible teaching of John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. While the Bible addresses everything you need for life and godliness,

it doesn't cover every scenario you might find yourself in. So how do you make decisions that will please the Lord in every circumstance? Consider that as John continues his

study, if God's will is so important, why can't I find it? Yesterday, John encouraged you to ask

a series of questions before making a decision about the

gray areas of life. Will it be spiritually profitable? Will it build me up? Will it slow me down?

Will it bring me into bondage? To continue that list right now, here is John MacArthur.

These are the things that I ask myself periodically whenever I'm faced with making a decision

that isn't black or white in Scripture.

Number one, I ask this question, will it be spiritually profitable?

Principle number two, and it's a very close parallel, will it build me up? And let's ask a third question.

You ready for this? Will it, and this is the negative side of the two we just mentioned,

will it slow me down in the race? Number four, number four, will it bring me into bondage? Number five. This is a very practical one.

Will it, number five, will it hypocritically cover my sin? Will it hypocritically cover my sin? You say,

what do you mean by that, John? Well, I mean this. Am I doing it in the

name of freedom when the truth of the matter is I really pandering my own evil? Look at 1st Peter 2.16.

You know, that we want to say, boy, I'm free in Christ. I'm free to enjoy this and I'm free to

enjoy that and I can do this and I can do that. The truth of the matter is, you are free,

but you are simply covering over your lust or your evil desire. The man who says,

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