The Christian Conscience Purged by the Blood

The condition of your conscience is a good measure by which you can decide the condition of your soul. I am preaching a series of sermons on the conscience entitled, "Sin in the Church and the Blood of Jesus." This is probably one of the most important series I have ever preached. Apostle Paul made it clear that a pure conscience is the end of the commandments of God. If your conscience is impure or dark, then your entire life is impure and dark. The Apostle Paul said, "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." (1 Timothy 1:5). Notice that the powerful foundation of a great Believer’s life is "a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned."

Jesus stated a similar truth early in His ministry. He did not use the words, "your conscience," but He used the words, "your eye;" however, He was speaking of exactly the same thing. Your spiritual eye is your conscience. Here are Jesus’ words, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23).

If your conscience is evil, your whole body is full of darkness. It is impossible to be a pure Christian with a dark, evil conscience. If your conscience is not "purged" from sin and deception, then it will be hopeless for you to try to live a pure life. First, you need your conscience cleansed by the Blood of Jesus Christ. That is the ultimate goal of this article.

Our Conscience
Our conscience is manifest in our heart. It was breathed into the body at creation by the breath of God and we became a living soul. This is one of the incredible miracles of creation that places man on a level of existence very close to angels and even God Himself. We are moral creatures and when we reject the life of morality, our entire being suffers greatly. I think it can be proved that every human problem can be traced to immoral living and the consequence of that lifestyle. A bad conscience is a destroying mechanism in a human body.

But, a good conscience is wonderful. In discussing the meaning of the word for conscience a Greek dictionary stated, "Our conscience is the testimony of the Holy Ghost in us concerning the will of God in our life." A good conscience will not let you get away with anything. A good conscience is like a compass guiding you toward the right destination as well as protecting you from the wrong destination. A good conscience is a wonderful, but troubling feeling when you are about to fall into error. A good conscience will often have incomplete information about some idea or thought, but it still says, "Wait, wait, something is not right." Only a great Heavenly Father could have devised something so wonderful as a good conscience.

I see five possible states of the conscience in a believer’s life:

  • Pure when cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.
  • Offended when a mistake has been tolerated.
  • Defiled when conscious sin becomes entrenched.
  • Deadened after refusing to change or repent.
  • Reprobate when the Spirit of God departs.

Let’s discuss this carefully!
A pure conscience is possible only by the cleansing Blood of Jesus Christ. A good moral person raised in a Godly home may indeed have a good (not pure, but good) conscience. There are many good people of varied backgrounds that are careful to do right, but an absolutely pure conscience that has the witness of the Holy Ghost convincing the individual of the will of God in their life is the result of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. He gave His incorruptible Blood to purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Look at this incredible statement, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14). What a powerful verse of Holy Scripture! The Blood of Jesus does not just save your soul from hell fire. He did not die just to pay the redemptive price of your soul or forgive you of your sins. Yes, He did all of that; but He also offered precious eternal blood, blood that is infused with Divine life, that reaches into the personality of man, into His inner spirit to transform, purge, and purify the very heart, mind, and conscience.

The transformed believer is a new creature, completely changed from the inside to the outside. This person may know very little about the Scripture and the Christian life, but he is so changed that the will of God becomes his most blessed desire. The reason many churches cannot get their members to live a Godly life is because their consciences have never been purged from love of self and love of this world. Man’s spirit is the breath of God and when that spirit has a pure conscience, they desire God and His will above every other desire in the world. These persons will love holiness and pursue the Godly life because the pure conscience desires nothing else. Their mind and conscience has been renewed to think and desire the very life of God.

Offended Conscience
There are many believers in our churches that have either offended their conscience or allowed their conscience to be offended. No one else but you can allow the conscience to be offended. The conscience is never bothered by the actions of other people unless we respond in a contradictory way. Our conscience cannot be offended unless we sin by acts of commission or acts of omission. The pure conscience of the believer cannot be attacked against our willing responses. Sin alone can offend the blood-purged conscience. It must be our willing sin, not someone else’s sin. This truth cannot be overemphasized.

When a person has offended his/her conscience, it is very easy to look to someone else as the scapegoat. An offended conscience likes to place the blame elsewhere. The very nature of our conscience is the fact that it is our conscience given to us by the Creator Himself. It is a heart matter; an inner compass to guide your life and to reach that compass requires your willingness. Only by your choice or careless reaction to others can your conscience be offended.

An "offended conscience" can quickly become a "defiled conscience." A person with either an offended or a defiled conscience is going to be miserable. They have lost the joy of their salvation and they know something is wrong in their life. Church becomes more drudgery than delight and prayer or Scripture reading becomes a chore.

When Apostle Paul addressed this context of the conscience, he stated, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." (Hebrews 10:26).

There is no covering for the defiled conscience that willing continues in knowledgeable sin. When the apostle said, "no more sacrifice," he was clearly contradicting the idea of sins being forgiven in advance. There is no forgiveness for any sin, except those for which we have repented and forsaken. The defiled conscience is in the process of losing its sense of direction.

The next step is a darkened conscience. When the truth is presented to a darkened conscience, the reaction is usually anger. The person has lost the sense of right and wrong. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 16:25). Again, the Bible warned, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." (Matthew 15:8). Our church world is full of professing believers that have long ago defiled their conscience to be offended, defiled, and/or finally darkened.

The last step is a hopeless one. When the conscience reaches the place of "reprobate," the Holy Spirit withdraws all conviction. This is what the Bible calls the "unpardonable sin." There is no hope for a reprobate conscience. Apostle Paul said, "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." (Romans 1:21,25,28).

There is a very dangerous zone between a darkened conscience and a reprobate one. No one but the Great Judge Himself can know the soul in the twilight zone of eternal damnation. The apostle warned the wavering souls that have allowed themselves to be defiled, "This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." (Titus 1:13-15).

Shipwreck and a Defiled Conscience
Paul warned Timothy of the possibility of "a shipwrecked faith" if a good conscience is not closely protected. His words were powerful as he said, "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck." (1 Timothy 1:19).

It is faith or the truth of God in our blood-purged conscience that keeps us on the straight and narrow. The heart of man is wicked when left unprotected. No saint ever becomes so saintly that they are safe in their own righteousness. Our righteousness at its very best is still a filthy rag. His Holy Spirit, working by blood and faith, keeps our conscience directed toward God and His holiness. Never, never trust yourself.

A Pure Conscience, Your Most Important Business
Every believer must make it their unfailing responsibility to keep a pure conscience before God. When you study the great men and women in Scripture, their conscience was their trademark. Those that defiled their conscience are shown in the suffering of that failure. Thank God for forgiveness and reconciliation for those who failed and repented. Even greater is the victory of those that maintained their pure conscience until the finish. Apostle Paul was one of the victorious ones. He said, "And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." (Acts 23:1).

It is important to understand why he had such a pure record. He told his accusers at Caesarea, "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men." (Acts 24:16). What a witness it was to stand in the court of his accusers after a glorious ministry and state such a clear testimony of a pure conscience. Before God and man, he had restrained himself from leaving offense that would mar his ministry. No wonder we speak of this apostle in unquestionable confidence.

We, too, can walk in a pure conscience. Our faith is a mystery revealed to anyone that will cast all hope on the blood redemption of Jesus Christ. This pure walk is not possible for the legalist that seeks to earn righteousness by good works, but to the soul that hopes in nothing less than Jesus Christ and His righteousness. To Timothy it was described as "holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience." (I Timothy 3:9). That "pure conscience" is not some imputed action affecting only the head, but redemptive powers transforming the conscience, mind, and heart.

The Sprinkling of Blood: Applying Cleansing to the Conscience
In the letter to the Hebrews addressed clearly to the brethren ("Having therefore brethren…" 10:19) the supernatural powers of the sprinkling of blood is declared. The Spirit said, "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." (Hebrews 10:22).

A true believer that delights in the victory of the blood of Jesus can experience a daily purification of the conscience by the application of His incorruptible blood. There is no other way to maintain a pure conscience. If we allow the blood to purify our conscience continuously, then that purified conscience will testify within us of the will of God every moment of every day. Purity becomes His constant activity in us, not our own righteousness but His righteousness. What then is our part?

"Let us draw near…" We must draw up to Him by daily quiet time, hunger for truth, and a vigorous prayer life. We should pursue God like a ballplayer pursues his sport or as a racer runs his course. We should press relentlessly after the God of our salvation, trusting Him as our everything.

"With a true heart…" The Father knows the presence or absence of a true heart. Our Father will not be added to our list of interests. He will not play second fiddle to our many desires. He wants all of us or none of us.

"In full assurance of faith…" Can you actually and totally trust Him to do what He promises? The faith here described is an undoubting faith that knows He is doing what He promised. When faith acts without double mindedness, God is set free to manifest His glory.

"Having our hearts sprinkled…" This word sprinkled is a dynamic New Testament Word. It portrays a supernatural application of the blood of Jesus Christ. It also portrays a continuous activity, not a one-time cleansing.

"From an evil conscience…" The people who daily draw near to Jesus Christ and trust fully in Him are continuously and supernaturally receiving a purged conscience. The world is constantly projecting evil and attacking the purity of our heart and mind, but the blood for these saints is constantly destroying and defeating the world’s defilement.

"And our bodies washed with pure water (Word)…" This cleansing is not just in our conscience, but also affecting our very flesh and bodies. Appetites, desires, ambitions, interests are continuously experiencing the sanctification of this "blood of sprinkling." Whatever interests the world suggests is regularly manifest for what it really is, while the Word by the blood washes and purifies all our experiences and temptations.

This is What New Testament Living is All About
It is a grand walk, this Christian life, when His Spirit is constantly effecting a pure conscience. There is incredible peace and joy in the inner spirit of man when the conscience in undefiled. Satan’s darkest lies are easily repulsed. The criticisms of the world cannot latch themselves to a pure conscience.

Here’s what the Corinthian church received in their second epistle. "For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward." (2 Corinthians 1:12).

A deep unmarred "rejoicing" will arise and proceed to flow from a pure conscience. You cannot stop the joy; neither tribulation, death, sorrow nor pain can quench the blessedness of a pure life that proceeds from a blood-purged conscience.

The Lord waits today by the redemptive value of His shed blood to reach inside your mind and spirit and purge away all impurities. It is life beyond description to live with a pure conscience.

The Christian Conscience Purged by the Blood

The condition of your conscience is a good measure by which you can decide the condition of your soul. I am preaching a series of sermons on the conscience entitled, "Sin in the Church and the Blood of Jesus." This is probably one of the most important series I have ever preached. Apostle Paul made it clear that a pure conscience is the end of the commandments of God. If your conscience is impure or dark, then your entire life is impure and dark. The Apostle Paul said, "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." (1 Timothy 1:5). Notice that the powerful foundation of a great Believer’s life is "a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned."

Jesus stated a similar truth early in His ministry. He did not use the words, "your conscience," but He used the words, "your eye;" however, He was speaking of exactly the same thing. Your spiritual eye is your conscience. Here are Jesus’ words, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23).

If your conscience is evil, your whole body is full of darkness. It is impossible to be a pure Christian with a dark, evil conscience. If your conscience is not "purged" from sin and deception, then it will be hopeless for you to try to live a pure life. First, you need your conscience cleansed by the Blood of Jesus Christ. That is the ultimate goal of this article.

Our Conscience
Our conscience is manifest in our heart. It was breathed into the body at creation by the breath of God and we became a living soul. This is one of the incredible miracles of creation that places man on a level of existence very close to angels and even God Himself. We are moral creatures and when we reject the life of morality, our entire being suffers greatly. I think it can be proved that every human problem can be traced to immoral living and the consequence of that lifestyle. A bad conscience is a destroying mechanism in a human body.

But, a good conscience is wonderful. In discussing the meaning of the word for conscience a Greek dictionary stated, "Our conscience is the testimony of the Holy Ghost in us concerning the will of God in our life." A good conscience will not let you get away with anything. A good conscience is like a compass guiding you toward the right destination as well as protecting you from the wrong destination. A good conscience is a wonderful, but troubling feeling when you are about to fall into error. A good conscience will often have incomplete information about some idea or thought, but it still says, "Wait, wait, something is not right." Only a great Heavenly Father could have devised something so wonderful as a good conscience.

I see five possible states of the conscience in a believer’s life:

  • Pure when cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.
  • Offended when a mistake has been tolerated.
  • Defiled when conscious sin becomes entrenched.
  • Deadened after refusing to change or repent.
  • Reprobate when the Spirit of God departs.

Let’s discuss this carefully!
A pure conscience is possible only by the cleansing Blood of Jesus Christ. A good moral person raised in a Godly home may indeed have a good (not pure, but good) conscience. There are many good people of varied backgrounds that are careful to do right, but an absolutely pure conscience that has the witness of the Holy Ghost convincing the individual of the will of God in their life is the result of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. He gave His incorruptible Blood to purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Look at this incredible statement, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14). What a powerful verse of Holy Scripture! The Blood of Jesus does not just save your soul from hell fire. He did not die just to pay the redemptive price of your soul or forgive you of your sins. Yes, He did all of that; but He also offered precious eternal blood, blood that is infused with Divine life, that reaches into the personality of man, into His inner spirit to transform, purge, and purify the very heart, mind, and conscience.

The transformed believer is a new creature, completely changed from the inside to the outside. This person may know very little about the Scripture and the Christian life, but he is so changed that the will of God becomes his most blessed desire. The reason many churches cannot get their members to live a Godly life is because their consciences have never been purged from love of self and love of this world. Man’s spirit is the breath of God and when that spirit has a pure conscience, they desire God and His will above every other desire in the world. These persons will love holiness and pursue the Godly life because the pure conscience desires nothing else. Their mind and conscience has been renewed to think and desire the very life of God.

Offended Conscience
There are many believers in our churches that have either offended their conscience or allowed their conscience to be offended. No one else but you can allow the conscience to be offended. The conscience is never bothered by the actions of other people unless we respond in a contradictory way. Our conscience cannot be offended unless we sin by acts of commission or acts of omission. The pure conscience of the believer cannot be attacked against our willing responses. Sin alone can offend the blood-purged conscience. It must be our willing sin, not someone else’s sin. This truth cannot be overemphasized.

When a person has offended his/her conscience, it is very easy to look to someone else as the scapegoat. An offended conscience likes to place the blame elsewhere. The very nature of our conscience is the fact that it is our conscience given to us by the Creator Himself. It is a heart matter; an inner compass to guide your life and to reach that compass requires your willingness. Only by your choice or careless reaction to others can your conscience be offended.

An "offended conscience" can quickly become a "defiled conscience." A person with either an offended or a defiled conscience is going to be miserable. They have lost the joy of their salvation and they know something is wrong in their life. Church becomes more drudgery than delight and prayer or Scripture reading becomes a chore.

When Apostle Paul addressed this context of the conscience, he stated, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." (Hebrews 10:26).

There is no covering for the defiled conscience that willing continues in knowledgeable sin. When the apostle said, "no more sacrifice," he was clearly contradicting the idea of sins being forgiven in advance. There is no forgiveness for any sin, except those for which we have repented and forsaken. The defiled conscience is in the process of losing its sense of direction.

The next step is a darkened conscience. When the truth is presented to a darkened conscience, the reaction is usually anger. The person has lost the sense of right and wrong. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 16:25). Again, the Bible warned, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." (Matthew 15:8). Our church world is full of professing believers that have long ago defiled their conscience to be offended, defiled, and/or finally darkened.

The last step is a hopeless one. When the conscience reaches the place of "reprobate," the Holy Spirit withdraws all conviction. This is what the Bible calls the "unpardonable sin." There is no hope for a reprobate conscience. Apostle Paul said, "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." (Romans 1:21,25,28).

There is a very dangerous zone between a darkened conscience and a reprobate one. No one but the Great Judge Himself can know the soul in the twilight zone of eternal damnation. The apostle warned the wavering souls that have allowed themselves to be defiled, "This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." (Titus 1:13-15).

Shipwreck and a Defiled Conscience
Paul warned Timothy of the possibility of "a shipwrecked faith" if a good conscience is not closely protected. His words were powerful as he said, "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck." (1 Timothy 1:19).

It is faith or the truth of God in our blood-purged conscience that keeps us on the straight and narrow. The heart of man is wicked when left unprotected. No saint ever becomes so saintly that they are safe in their own righteousness. Our righteousness at its very best is still a filthy rag. His Holy Spirit, working by blood and faith, keeps our conscience directed toward God and His holiness. Never, never trust yourself.

A Pure Conscience, Your Most Important Business
Every believer must make it their unfailing responsibility to keep a pure conscience before God. When you study the great men and women in Scripture, their conscience was their trademark. Those that defiled their conscience are shown in the suffering of that failure. Thank God for forgiveness and reconciliation for those who failed and repented. Even greater is the victory of those that maintained their pure conscience until the finish. Apostle Paul was one of the victorious ones. He said, "And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." (Acts 23:1).

It is important to understand why he had such a pure record. He told his accusers at Caesarea, "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men." (Acts 24:16). What a witness it was to stand in the court of his accusers after a glorious ministry and state such a clear testimony of a pure conscience. Before God and man, he had restrained himself from leaving offense that would mar his ministry. No wonder we speak of this apostle in unquestionable confidence.

We, too, can walk in a pure conscience. Our faith is a mystery revealed to anyone that will cast all hope on the blood redemption of Jesus Christ. This pure walk is not possible for the legalist that seeks to earn righteousness by good works, but to the soul that hopes in nothing less than Jesus Christ and His righteousness. To Timothy it was described as "holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience." (I Timothy 3:9). That "pure conscience" is not some imputed action affecting only the head, but redemptive powers transforming the conscience, mind, and heart.

The Sprinkling of Blood: Applying Cleansing to the Conscience
In the letter to the Hebrews addressed clearly to the brethren ("Having therefore brethren…" 10:19) the supernatural powers of the sprinkling of blood is declared. The Spirit said, "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." (Hebrews 10:22).

A true believer that delights in the victory of the blood of Jesus can experience a daily purification of the conscience by the application of His incorruptible blood. There is no other way to maintain a pure conscience. If we allow the blood to purify our conscience continuously, then that purified conscience will testify within us of the will of God every moment of every day. Purity becomes His constant activity in us, not our own righteousness but His righteousness. What then is our part?

"Let us draw near…" We must draw up to Him by daily quiet time, hunger for truth, and a vigorous prayer life. We should pursue God like a ballplayer pursues his sport or as a racer runs his course. We should press relentlessly after the God of our salvation, trusting Him as our everything.

"With a true heart…" The Father knows the presence or absence of a true heart. Our Father will not be added to our list of interests. He will not play second fiddle to our many desires. He wants all of us or none of us.

"In full assurance of faith…" Can you actually and totally trust Him to do what He promises? The faith here described is an undoubting faith that knows He is doing what He promised. When faith acts without double mindedness, God is set free to manifest His glory.

"Having our hearts sprinkled…" This word sprinkled is a dynamic New Testament Word. It portrays a supernatural application of the blood of Jesus Christ. It also portrays a continuous activity, not a one-time cleansing.

"From an evil conscience…" The people who daily draw near to Jesus Christ and trust fully in Him are continuously and supernaturally receiving a purged conscience. The world is constantly projecting evil and attacking the purity of our heart and mind, but the blood for these saints is constantly destroying and defeating the world’s defilement.

"And our bodies washed with pure water (Word)…" This cleansing is not just in our conscience, but also affecting our very flesh and bodies. Appetites, desires, ambitions, interests are continuously experiencing the sanctification of this "blood of sprinkling." Whatever interests the world suggests is regularly manifest for what it really is, while the Word by the blood washes and purifies all our experiences and temptations.

This is What New Testament Living is All About
It is a grand walk, this Christian life, when His Spirit is constantly effecting a pure conscience. There is incredible peace and joy in the inner spirit of man when the conscience in undefiled. Satan’s darkest lies are easily repulsed. The criticisms of the world cannot latch themselves to a pure conscience.

Here’s what the Corinthian church received in their second epistle. "For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward." (2 Corinthians 1:12).

A deep unmarred "rejoicing" will arise and proceed to flow from a pure conscience. You cannot stop the joy; neither tribulation, death, sorrow nor pain can quench the blessedness of a pure life that proceeds from a blood-purged conscience.

The Lord waits today by the redemptive value of His shed blood to reach inside your mind and spirit and purge away all impurities. It is life beyond description to live with a pure conscience.