The conscience is a gift from God, so all men are without excuse; we are all sinful, and we know it. When we understand that reality, the only options left are: should we stay in our misery, or is there anyone who can free us from our wickedness? The answer the Bible gives is simple: In Christ alone our hope is found!

This series of articles regarding the biblical understanding of the conscience are inspired by Rev. Elias Pledger.

Last year, the internet went viral when a couple at a concert hid from the spotlight after appearing on the big screen. They hid because they knew they were doing something wrong; there was something in them that couldn’t let them act shamelessly in their sin. That is the conscience. A gift from God to restrict our sin. Regardless of how comfortable we are with our sin, how well we’ve hidden it, when we are in the spotlight, when it is revealed to the eyes of others, there’s something within us that will psychologically and physically condemn us. It is a sensation that we cannot escape.

We see this same example in the lives of Joseph’s brothers. Once they are put to the test, they realize that what they’ve hidden for so long is now in the spotlight.

Then they said to one another, “In truth, we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”  And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” (Genesis 42:21-22)

Joseph’s Brothers

We see how they’ve lived a long time with the reality of what they did to their brother, but they had it suppressed, hidden. Now they have to deal with it; they can no longer hide it. As they did to their brother to bring them distress, they are now being distressed. They have to leave one of them behind and bring the youngest and the most loved child from their parent to Egypt if they are to see their other brother again.

And all of this happens because they are guilty. How can they know they are guilty, and what are they guilty of? This is legal language. For someone to be considered guilty in a court, there is a law they have to break, and there has to be evidence that they did so. What law have they broken? The greatest and the most important of all: The Law of God. But how can they know this Law? It is a very long time since it was summarised in the 10 commandments at Mount Sinai. Because it is written on their hearts, as it is in every single human being, that is what the conscience is. Paul put it in these terms.

“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” (Romans 2:14-15).

God has written two big books. One is the Bible, in that he has specifically and in detail revealed Himself to all men. In this big book, we have His Law specifically revealed point by point. This book is called the book of special revelation, or the Bible; it is as clear and as precise as it can be. The other book is called Nature, in which God has also revealed Himself, His character and His Law. Unfortunately, after the fall, the corrupt reason of man is constantly suppressing the Truth revealed in nature in such a way that what’s clear about God and revealed to men in this second book is blurred out for fallen men. Nevertheless, although not all men have the Bible to know the Law, God still wrote it on all men’s hearts so they cannot be free of the guilt of breaking it.

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