Receiving guilt in one's conscience

To receive guilt in one's conscience through the word of God,

which is the sword of the Spirit,

is a blessed thing.

However, to be tested by the word

that gives guilt to the conscience

is an unhappy thing

(Ephesians 6:17; 1 Samuel 24:5; 2 Samuel 24:10).

Shouldn't one receive guilt in one's conscience?

Even the law experts and Pharisees,

who were seeking an opportunity to accuse Jesus by testing Him,

would have felt guilty in their consciences upon hearing Jesus' words,

'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her,'

in response to the woman caught in adultery.

Similarly, shouldn't church members who seek

only to find fault with their pastor or church issues within the church

feel guilty in their consciences upon hearing God's words,

'Why do you pass judgment on your brother?

Or you, why do you despise your brother?

For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God?

(John 8:3-9; Romans 14:10)

There's no choice but to feel guilty in one's conscience.

The closer we follow Jesus, who is the light of the world,

the more the works of darkness without fruit will be exposed,

so there will be no choice but to feel guilty in our consciences

(John 8:9, 12; Ephesians 5:11).