In the consciences of some of the Lord's children there is little feeling toward sin. This kind of people are not of much spiritual use. However, there are many of God's children whose consciences are so weak that they have no real awareness of the work of the Lord Jesus. If we ask them if they have the sense of a particular sin, they cannot point to any. Yet they always have the feeling that they are wrong. They always feel that they are weak and worthless. Whenever they think of themselves, they lose all of their peace and joy. They have accepted the accusations of Satan. Whenever Satan gives us this kind of feeling, we are weakened and can no longer resist him.
We must not, therefore, lightly esteem the accusations of Satan. His chief work is to accuse us, and he does it day and night without ceasing. He accuses us in our conscience as well as before God until our conscience becomes so weak that it cannot be strengthened.
In the daily life and work of a Christian, the conscience is of great importance. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 8 that if one's conscience is defiled, he is destroyed. Being destroyed does not mean eternal perishing but that a person can no longer be built up. He has been so weakened that he has become worthless. First Timothy 1 says that a man who thrusts away his conscience is shipwrecked regarding the faith. A ship which is wrecked cannot sail. Therefore, whether or not a Christian can stand before God depends upon whether he has any offense in his conscience. Once he accepts the accusations of Satan, his conscience is offended, and once his conscience is offended, he cannot proceed in his service nor fight for God any more. We must realize, therefore, that Satan's main work is to accuse us, and this is the work we must overcome.
How can we overcome the accusations of Satan? The voice from heaven tells us, "They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb." The blood is the basis of victory, and it is the instrument to overcome Satan. He may accuse us, but we can answer that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from every sin (1 John 1:7). "Every sin" means any sin, whether it is great or small. The blood of God's Son cleanses us from all of them. Satan may tell us that we are wrong, but we have the blood of the Lord Jesus. The blood of the Lord Jesus can cleanse us of our many sins. This is the Word of God. The blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from every sin.
We must not only reject the accusations which are without cause, but we must also reject all the accusations which have cause. When God's children have done something wrong, we need only the blood of Jesus, His Son, not the accusations of Satan. The precious blood is needed for sin, not accusation. God's Word never speaks of the need for accusation after we have sinned. The only problem is whether or not we have confessed our sin. If we have confessed, then what more can be said? If we have sinned and do not confess, then we deserve to be accused. But where there is no sin, there is no cause for accusation. If we have sinned and have confessed, we should not be accused.
If you have sinned, you can bow and confess to God. Immediately the blood of the Lord Jesus will cleanse you. Do not think that you will be a little more holy if you consider how sinful you are, or that you will be more holy if you have more feeling toward your sin. No. You only must ask yourself one thing: How do I treat the blood of the Lord Jesus? We have sinned, but His blood cleanses us from every sin. "Every sin" means great sin or small sin, recollected sin or forgotten sin, visible sin or invisible sin, sin which we think can be forgiven and sin which we do not think can be forgiven—every kind is included in "every." The blood of Jesus, God's Son, does not wash us of one or two sins, or even many sins, but it cleanses us from every sin.