Besides the intuition and fellowship, our spirit has another important function which is to correct our wrong doings and reprove us so that we will not have peace when we come short of the glory of God. We are talking about the conscience. Just as God's holiness condemns evil and delights in goodness, the conscience of the believers also rebukes uncleanness and pursues goodness. The conscience of the believers is where God's holiness is expressed. If we wish to walk according to the spirit, we cannot ignore what the conscience speaks to us because it is impossible not to make mistakes or incline toward making mistakes, no matter at what stage we are. The conscience does not just reprove us when we have done something wrong to bring us to repentance; if this were the case, the function of the conscience would not be complete. Additionally, while we are considering our path, and before we do anything, the conscience will rise up to protest along with our intuition if we think about something that does not please the Holy Spirit. This will cause us to lose the sense of peace. If believers are willing to listen to the voice of the conscience speaking through the intuition, they will not fail like they do at the present time.
When we were unbelievers, our spirit was completely dead. The conscience was also dead and unable to function in a normal way. This does not mean that the conscience was completely devoid of any function. The conscience of a sinner still works, but it is in a deep sleep. Even when it is awakened, it only condemns the sinner; it is powerless to lead men to God. Although the conscience of man is dead towards God, He is pleased that the conscience still remains in man's heart for the purpose of doing a very small work. It seems that in the deadened spirit of man, the conscience can still do more than the other parts. The deadness of the intuition and fellowship is more severe than that of the conscience. There is a reason for this. When Adam ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, his intuition and fellowship towards God died completely; nevertheless, his power to differentiate between good and evil (the conscience) increased. To this day a sinner's intuition towards God and his fellowship with God is completely dead without a trace, but the conscience still has a little activity. This is not to say that man's conscience is living because, according to the meaning of the Bible, living is related to having the life of God. Being without the life of God is to be dead. According to the Bible, the conscience of a sinner is dead because it does not contain the life of God, but according to the sensation of man, it still can act. This activity of the conscience only causes a sinner with a deadened intuition to feel more painful.
Because the conscience can still act in this manner, the Holy Spirit starts to do the work of salvation by first awakening the dormant conscience. He uses the thunder and lightning of Mount Sinai to shake and enlighten this darkened conscience to realize that it has already transgressed God's law and cannot meet His righteous requirements. In this way, it has been condemned and should perish. If the conscience is willing to confess its transgressions and the sin of unbelief, it will reproach itself and seek mercy from God. The parable of the publican who went to the temple to pray illustrates the working of the Holy Spirit in the conscience. According to the words spoken by the Lord Jesus, the first step in the work of the Holy Spirit causes men to reprove themselves because of sin, righteousness, and judgment. If the conscience rejects this work, a sinner would not have the possibility of receiving salvation.
The Holy Spirit shines the light of God's law into the conscience of a sinner so that he may know his sins. The Holy Spirit also grants man's conscience the light of the gospel so that he may be saved. After the sinner knows about sins and has heard about the gospel of grace, God will also give him the faith to receive salvation, if he is willing to accept it. Then he will see how the precious blood of the Lord Jesus satisfies all the accusations of his conscience. Even though he has sinned, the blood of the Lord Jesus has already been shed. The punishment for sin has already been received. Is there anything left to be accused of? The blood of the Lord Jesus has washed the believer of all the sins in his life; therefore, the conscience does not need to accuse him anymore. Since the conscience of the worshipper has been purified, it does not sense any more sin (Heb. 10:2). The precious blood of the Lord Jesus has been sprinkled on our conscience (9:14) so that we may stand boldly before God. The certainty of salvation is a fact because the voice of the conscience has been silenced by the precious blood. If the heart does not believe in the precious blood, the conscience still accuses us of how evil we were before our regeneration.
Both the terrifying light of the law and the loving light of the gospel shine into the conscience. Therefore, should we not pay attention to men's conscience when we preach? If our purpose is only to cause men to understand with their minds, to be stirred up in their emotions, or to resolve in their will, and if our message does not reach their conscience, then even if they understand, are stirred up, and decide in their will, the Holy Spirit will have no way to do a deeper work. This is because the deeper work of regeneration is based on the conscience thoroughly knowing sins and the precious blood. In our teachings, we must give equal attention to the precious blood and the conscience. Many people emphasize the conscience and seldom speak of the precious blood; hence, men strive to repent and do good, hoping that through these things they might turn away God's anger. Others emphasize the precious blood without talking about the conscience. As a result men may understand in their minds, be stirred in their emotions, and resolve in their will, but their "faith" has no root because their conscience still has not been moved by the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore, these two things must be equally preached. Whoever sees the offenses of his conscience accepts the significance of the precious blood.