We humans are tri-partite (3 part) beings (1 Thess.5:23-24). We are a spirit, that has a soul, and lives in a body. The body is the house and contains the five senses. The soul is basically the mind, will, and emotions. And the spirit is where the Spirit of God resides in the born-again person’s life, it also serves as the place where the conscience resides, which is the voice of the human spirit.
The person who is not a child of God has a dead spirit (Eph. 2:1,12) and is in darkness without the life of God, having no hope in this world. But when they make Jesus their personal Lord, they are born again in their spirit (John 3:3,6). The Spirit of God comes to live in their human spirit and assures them that they are a child of God (Romans 8:9, Romans 8:16).
Every person has a conscience, whether or not they are a child of God. But it can only operate correctly when the mind is renewed to the Word and Spirit of God (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23).
The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman, who had committed adultery, to Jesus to see what He would do. He wrote on the ground and John 8:9 says, “…being convicted by their conscience went out one by one.”
The Apostle Paul when giving testimony to Felix said that he always “…strived to have a conscience without offense toward God and man” (Acts 24:16). Paul also said that the Gentiles who do not have the law are a law unto themselves, “their conscience also bearing witness and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them…” (Romans 2:15) Paul further said in Romans 9:1 “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit.” In Paul’s teaching to the Romans, he admonished them to be subject to earthly authorities, …” not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake”(Romans 13:5).
Scripture also reveals that one can have a:
Good Conscience (1 Tim.1:5, 1:19).
A pure conscience (1 Timothy 3:9).
Seared Conscience (1 Timothy 4:2).
Conscience cleansed by the blood (Hebrews 9:14).
And Hebrews 9:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” I submit that when one is born again the blood of Jesus cleanses his conscience from all the impurities of the past that may have been part of it. That is one reason why the new convert needs to immerse himself in the Word of God to allow his mind to be renewed along with what has happened in his spirit.
The Bible further says in Ephesians 1:7, “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.”
Colossians 2:13-14 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the Cross.”
Hebrews 9:26 says, “He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world, but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
1 John 3:5, “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him, there is no sin.”
WHY IS THERE STILL SIN CONSCIENCENESS?
Hebrews 10:1-4 says, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”
The animals sacrificed under the Law could never cleanse from sin, it merely covered them for a year. But in Jesus’ sacrifice, they are not only covered, but we are cleansed, and the sins are forgiven, as the conscience is cleansed!
I suggest that the reason many Christians still have a conscienceness of sins is that they have not renewed their mind with the Scriptures given above and others like them in the New Testament.
When our sins are forgiven, they cease to exist. God does not remember them anymore (Isaiah 43:25). They are cast into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:9). and He put them behind His back (Isaiah 38:17).
The only time we should be aware of our sins is when our conscious speaks to us about having done something wrong. Then, we should immediately thank God for His forgiveness and cleansing and begin declaring the promises of the Word of God. Since we are now the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21) begin to speak this as it renews your mind.
The Scripture says in John 16:7, “And when He has come, He will convict the WORLD of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment.” I submit for your consideration, that the Holy Spirit convicts the sinners of their sin, but for the disciple of Jesus, it is his conscience that makes him aware of wrongdoing, as long as it is not seared by disobedience to the Word of God.