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Conscience: Our Ally in Conversion   By Massimo Lorenzini   We have an ally in our battle for the souls of men—the conscience. It’s the only faculty of man that is ally of God.   Without exposing the human condition in a convincing way that afflicts the conscience, people have little idea what they are to be saved from.  Modern presentations of the Gospel tend to emphasize the benefits of salvation rather than the character of God and the sinner’s condition.   Sinners will attempt to do business with God on their own terms, not God’s terms.  It is by preaching the law of God and afflicting the conscience that sinners are brought to true repentance. The Gospel is not a different “happiness formula” that we hope to promote over the world’s formula (“Jesus can enhance your self-directed life”). The Gospel is about knowing the living God in His glorious righteousness and being transformed into His likeness. A Gospel without sin, hell, justice, conviction, and repentance bears no resemblance to the Gospel our Lord preached.   The way to bring about conviction of sin in the unbeliever is by appealing to the conscience. But what exactly is the conscience? Conscience is the soul’s warning system. John MacArthur relayed the tragedy of an Avianca Airlines plane crash in Spain. The black box flight recorder told the story: the robotic voice of the plane’s radar warning system was heard saying “Warning, warning. Pull up, pull up.” The voice of the pilot was heard saying, “Shut up, gringo!” and he shut off the warning system. Minutes later the plane slammed into the side of a mountain, killing everyone on board. The conscience warns of moral danger. We ignore it at our peril.   The word “conscience” comes from two root words meaning “with” and “knowledge.” So to violates one’s conscience is to do something one fully knows is wrong. The conscience is not to be confused with the voice of God or the moral law of God. The moral law informs the conscience, but is not its equivalent. Conscience is the soul reflecting on itself, knowing itself. John MacArthur offers this insightful definition: “The conscience is a human faculty which adjudicates upon human action by the light of the highest standard a person perceives.”   The apostle Paul’s description of the conscience demonstrates MacArthur’s definition:   For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:14-16, ESV).   We are to inform the conscience with the highest moral standard—the righteous commandments of God. Only when a person evaluates their life with a conscience rightly informed by God’s law, will they pass a verdict of “guilty” over themselves and seek pardon.   However, seeing that all of human nature has been affected by sin, both a person’s perception of the standard of action required and the function of the conscience itself are also affected by sin. For this reason conscience can never be accorded the position of ultimate judge of one’s behavior. It is possible that conscience may excuse one for that which God will not excuse and conversely it is equally possible that conscience may condemn a person for that which God allows.   Appealing to the Conscience   “It is imperative that preachers of today learn how to declare the spiritual law of God; for, until we learn how to wound consciences, we shall have no wounds to bind with gospel bandages” (Walter Chantry).   In order to “wound a conscience” for the purpose of causing a sinner to seek forgiveness, we must get the unbeliever to make a moral judgment. A biblical example is Nathan’s confrontation of David in 2 Samuel 12.   1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. 5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7 Nathan said to David, You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. 13 David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.   Jesus also appealed to conscience in two parables from Matthew 21:   28 What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, Son, go and work in the vineyard today. 29 And he answered, I will not, but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, I go, sir, but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.   33 Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son. 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? 41 They said to him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons. 42 Jesus said to them, Have you never read in the Scriptures:The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.   A seminary friend of mine once told me about a worship leader he had in his youth group who was distant and wouldn’t participate in a discipleship group with him even though he had asked him to numerous times. I suggested that he appeal to his conscience by getting him to pass a moral judgment on a similar issue just like Jesus did. I gave an example of a basketball coach who had a good player who wanted to be a starter but wouldn’t listen to the coach or show up for practice. I asked, “What should that coach do with the player, should he allow him to be a starter for the team?” Well, my friend used that exact analogy and the worship leader got the point and changed his ways.   After using a similar approach and having the person pass judgment on some hypothetical situation, press him with his own guilt before God. Don’t be afraid to appeal directly to the conscience. Say things like, “God gave you a conscience you know right from wrong. Listen to the voice of your conscience. It will remind you of sins that you have committed and lead you to seek grace of God in Jesus Christ.”   Well, how can you know if the person is experience conviction that leads to repentance? Be aware of the signs of true conviction.   Signs of True Conviction (From J.I. Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God) An awareness of a wrong relationship with God. It’s not enough for one to have a sense of need, but of a particular need—the need for restoration of fellowship with God; a need to get right with God. It is the realization that, as one stands at present, one is in a relationship with God that spells only rejection, retribution, wrath, and pain for the present and for the future. It is an intolerable relationship to remain in, and so a consequent desire springs up that, whatever the cost and on whatever terms, it might be changed. Conviction of sins: a sense of guilt for particular wrongs done against God. True conviction includes owning up to specific sins, not mistakes or failures or problem areas or weaknesses; but sins that were willfully done in direct violation of the law of God written in the heart (Rom 2:14-15) and in God’s Word. Conviction of sinfulness: a sense of one’s complete corruption in God’s sight and one’s consequent need of a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) or the new birth (John 3:3). True conviction evidences itself by the desire to be rid of one’s own depraved nature. There is a holy loathing of one’s own sinfulness, defilement, and guilt.   Perhaps the shortest way to tell whether a person is convicted of sin is to take him through Psalm 51 and see if his heart resonates with David’s words of repentance. Preaching for Conversion When such a person shows conviction of sin and feels the heavy burden of his own sinfulness, he is then ready to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Proceed to show him the only solution to his dire problem. Awaken a soul to its need by law-preaching. Conversion follows the soul that looks beyond itself and its own abilities to obey God and looks to the help of Another who alone can rescue him and give him a new heart. The goal is regeneration, the means is the complete abandonment of self-help or self-improvement and the casting of ones self upon the free grace of God in Christ.   How to awaken a soul: Show them their sinfulness That they hate God and love sin (self). This is done by Preaching the moral law. Preaching the holiness of God. Preaching their need for repentance. Preaching original sin (sin nature, spiritual death). Preaching the need for a new nature (regeneration, new birth). Preaching on the dangers of dying in sin (judgment, eternal hell). Preaching that the more truth they reject, the greater their condemnation. Many religious people and church-going people can be relying on self-righteousness. They view grace as that which helps them toward self-improvement. They must see their own supposed “goodness” as self-deception and a heinous rejection of the testimony of the Lord concerning ones ill desert. Only when a natural man’s self-confidence is broken does he become aware of his need for unmerited saving grace. Only in this way does the natural man fear his own sinfulness and his hostility toward God and His truth. The natural man must come to see that his sinfulness extends beyond his outward actions and has its roots deep in the soil of his heart and motives. In this way, he sees that even his “good deeds,” yes, even his participation in church life, Bible reading, prayer, etc. contribute to his condemnation because they spring from a sinful motive of self-righteousness. Good works can be done for nothing more than to appease one’s conscience and commend ones self to God. It is the failure of many pastors and Christians to shine the light of God’s law into the consciences of these church-goers that solidifies them in their condemnation. It is the duty of Christian witnesses to “kick-out” all self-righteous props that the natural man leans on and trusts in, showing him that Christ alone is our Rock upon which we stand. The Christian witness must not offer any consolation to the awakened sinner until he reaches full conversion (i.e. regeneration). The awakened sinner must beware the danger of delay in reaching conversion. Words of consolation may lead the sinner to rest prematurely and remain unconverted. The awakened sinner must be challenged to count the cost of a decision to submit to Christ. He must understand the revolution of life conversion will entail. Beware that the period of spiritual awakening is the season of good resolutions. There are many snares at this point wherein the sinner resolves to make changes in behavior or beliefs that fall short of forsaking all hope in self-effort and placing the whole self upon Christ alone for acceptance with God. The sinner must forsake all confidence in self for producing acceptable merit whether it be sorrow for sin, repentance from sin, true love for God, or anything else done by the sinner. The only decision the awakened sinner can make that puts him on the path to conversion is to acknowledge that he doesn’t posses the ability to please God as he is by nature a God-hater and sin-lover. The sinner must admit to his inescapable bondage to sin and his ultimate need for a new heart, a new nature.   Questions to Consider   1.      Do you think the current fall-away rate of 80-90 percent has more to do with a lack of follow-up, or with the content of the message that led to the “decision”?   2.      Why would an individual’s understanding of his specific, personal violations of God’s Law help the good news of the gospel make more sense?   3.      When witnessing to an unbeliever, what is the place of common ground that you should appeal to?   4.      Why should we appeal to the conscience instead of the mind?   5.      Read Rom 3:19. What is one function of God’s Law? Why is this so important?   6.      Read Rom 3:20 and Rom 7:7. What do these verses say about God’s Law?   7.      What is the biblical definition of sin according to 1 John 3:4?   8.      If we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9), then what is the purpose of God’s Law to the sinner? See Gal 3:24.

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