Romans 7:1–25 teaches us that we must learn to subject our conscience to the Word and to the promises of God. Our guilt in Romans 7:1–25 must drive us into Romans 8:1–39, where our conscience finds peace in Christ, in his Word, in his promises, and in his Spirit. The Puritans were fond of saying something like this: “We must not let our conscience [and this is their word] overspeak the Word of God. What do they mean by that? Well, they mean, when we get overwhelmed with all these guilt feelings, because we still sin so much, our soul must not wallow in the quick-sand of those guilt feelings or consult our own feelings and let them be a judge, or attempt to read our own condition, in the light of the present sensations of misery. But rather we must take those guilt feelings and fly with them to the Lord Jesus Christ to his Word and to his promises; confess what we have done wrong; confess our guilt; confess our inner warfare and surrender our burdens upon our Saviour, his Word and his promises.

Rabbi John Duncan, a great Scottish Divine, put it this way: We must take God’s Word in all of its fullness of its promises as the only exit from a conscience torment. Till the prevailing mood of self-condemnation is passed over, the believer must hold the tiller of his mind, relentlessly in the way of God’s Word. He must not trust either his feelings or his weak conscience. This is hard work at the time, but it is the true road back to comfort. So, how do you do that? Well, you do like David: You hold soliloquy, that is you speak to yourself, to your own soul. You hold soliloquy with your own soul. Oh, my soul, why art thou set in grievance. David does that. So, by the power of the Spirit, looking at the Word, looking at the Son of God, looking at the promises, you say something like this to yourself. We say to Satan: Satan I know you want to have me and destroy me. I am a sinner Satan, so much of what you accuse me, is true, but Satan, the Bible tells me all sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to the sons of man. He will blot out as a cloud our sins and as a thick cloud our transgressions. He will cast them into the sea. He will remember them no more forever. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And if the Son shall make us free, we shall be free indeed. Though our sins be as crimson and scarlet, he will make the penitent sinner like snow.

You see, we bring God back his own promises. We show him his own handwriting. The old Puritans used to say, you put God’s promises into suit, like you are taking God to court. It is done reverently of course. Show him his own handwriting, by saying Lord, do as Thou has said. Deliver me from this bondage of sin. Let me find peace of conscience again. In my heavenly Father’s bosom through the Lord Jesus Christ. Know what a sweet thing this is. How precious the cross of Christ becomes when we see that the cross cancels out our sin. And the Father can look upon us through Jesus as if we had never sinned. And we are rest in the fullness and freeness of the Gospel; not minimizing sin, but maximizing grace.¹

Joel Beeke