GUILT IN YOUR CONSCIENCE

     Man's second crucial problem is with himself. Within him, in his conscience, there is a heavy load of guilt. How many young people today are burdened by guilt! Guilt is a big problem to man.
     Sins offend God on the one hand and defile us on the other. What is guilt? Guilt is the stain of sins on your conscience. When you are young, your conscience is only stained a little. But as you grow older, these stains accumulate. Like a window which is never washed, the conscience grows darker and darker until eventually little light can penetrate.
     No detergent, no chemical, no acid can wash the stain of guilt from your conscience. Not even a nuclear bomb can dislodge this stain; no, your conscience demands something more powerful than that.. Your conscience needs the precious blood of Christ.
     Hebrews 9:14 says, "How much more is done by the blood of Christ? He offered himself through the eternal Spirit as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will make our consciences pure from useless acts so we may serve the living God." The blood of Christ is powerful enough to purge, or cleanse, your conscience from every guilty stain.
     How does the blood of Christ purge guilt from your conscience? Suppose you receive a traffic ticket for parking on the sidewalk. You have three problems: first, you broke the law; second, you owe the government a fine; and third, you have a copy of the traffic ticket to remind you of the fine. Now suppose you are penniless and find it impossible to pay the fine. You cannot just throw away the ticket, because the police hold a copy, and they will prosecute you if you do not pay. You have a real problem.
     This is a picture of what happens whenever you sin. First, you have broken God's law; that is, you have done something that offends God. Second, you owe God's law something. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. This is a rather stiff fine, impossible for you to pay. And third, you have guilt in your conscience, like the traffic ticket in your pocket, as a nagging reminder of your offense.
     Now there is good news. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, his death fully met all the requirements of God's law for you. In other words, your debt of sin has been paid. Praise the Lord! Jesus Christ, through his death on the cross, paid it all!
     So now, the first two problems have been solved: God is no longer offended, and the debt of sin has been fully paid. But what about your conscience? The stain of guilt, like the traffic ticket, remains as a record of your sin.
     This is where the blood of Christ cleanses your conscience. Because Christ's death has paid the debt of sin, his blood may now wipe out the record of that debt. Just as when the fine is paid, the traffic ticket may be torn up and thrown away, so also any guilt on your conscience may be wiped out.
     This is so easy to experience. Whenever you sin and sense guilt within, you may simply open to God and pray something like this: "O God, forgive me for what I did today. Thank you, Lord, on the cross you died for me and paid for this sin that I have committed. Lord, I believe that this sin has been forgiven by you. Right now I claim your precious blood to cleanse my conscience from any stain of guilt." Remember 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And as Psalm 103:12 says, "As far as the east is from the west, / So far has he removed our transgressions from us." Who can say how far east is from west? In the same way, when you confess your sins, God removes them infinitely far away from you. They are not associated with you anymore. Because of this, you may have rest in your conscience.
     When God forgives, He forgets. Do not think that after God has forgiven your sins, He may one day come back and remind you of them again. No, when it comes to your forgiven sins, God has a very short memory. Sometimes you may have a better memory than God. Can God really forget? This is what Jeremiah 31:34 says, "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." If God forgets your sins, you may forget them also. Don't remind God of something He has already forgotten.
     Christ died nearly two thousand years ago. His blood has already been shed and is available twenty-four hours a day to cleanse your conscience. Whenever you sin, there is no need to wait. Waiting does not improve the power of the blood. The blood is all-powerful. Wherever you are, any time of day, if you sense guilt in your conscience, just claim the precious blood. "Blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven;... / Blessed is the man whom / Jehovah does not impute iniquity" (Psalm 32:1-2). Through the precious blood of Christ, the problem of guilt is solved.