We All Have a Conscience Part 1
The Law Written on Their Hearts
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.
The Conscience
The conscience, then, is a judge between a man and himself, so that men cannot run amok in their sin and do whatever they want. Because they all know what’s right and wrong, even if they suppress it. Once they are in the spotlight, the judge gives the verdict, and every man admits, as did Joseph's brothers: “I’m guilty”. That happens to all of us; we cannot escape justice, even if the fallen courts of men declare the guilty innocent, the conscience won’t let any man escape the guilty verdict.
Once the conscience is awakened, it is very sensible; it won’t let the inward guilt that we feel go away. Once the verdict is dictated on a particular sin, it will non-stop remind us of the degree of our sins, of the circumstances that cause the sin and will be merciless upon us. That is true in the case of Joseph's brothers; they might have dealt with a conscience that was asleep within them, but once awoken, they realised the gravity of their sin, the misery they caused their brother Joseph and how now they are experiencing misery themselves. It was not an easy task to ask for Benjamin after Joseph was lost; it was not an easy thing to leave a brother behind. They even remembered Reuben’s words, “I told you not to do it, and you wouldn’t listen”. Now, they not only have to deal with the consequences of their sin, but also with the judge within them.
God made us all with a conscience; we cannot escape it. We might try to run, we might try to hide, but when the time comes, the conscience will awaken, the verdict will be dictated, and we will be judged within us. Even if the world sees us as innocent, we will know within us that we’re guilty of violating God’s Law and what particular sins we’ve committed, we will know within us that we deserve condemnation for the sins we’ve committed. No one can escape justice in this world, even if we escape the justice systems of our cities, our countries or the entire world, within us we will be declared guilty, and it is something that we cannot run from. The final judgement will come, and there the True and Final judge will show what we’re guilty of. In the meantime, God has left a judge who will constantly remind us until that day that we’re guilty.
One example of this reality is in the work of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. In this work, a man who believes that murdering someone evil will result in everything becoming better, later realises that even if he believes he committed the perfect crime and the world will be better because of it, there’s something within him that won’t leave him alone. He has now to face not only the consequences of his sin, but also the judge within him. The promises of the man above morality that can do anything without guilt or shame are a lie; the Übermensch that constructs his own morality has failed. In the same way that Joseph’s brothers, now, this man only hears one thing within him: “guilty”.
The conscience is such a strict and just judge that some men have seen in its guidance the guide and rule for perfect morality. If my conscience declares me “innocent”, then I must be innocent indeed. Such is the case of Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher, who saw in the conscience something so wonderful that it filled his mind with awe and wonder as the starry sky above him. He built a whole ethical system on how to be a “good person” based only on the law written on his heart. Unfortunately for him, he ignored the Lawgiver completely and, in doing so, broke the law that he thought he was following perfectly. Why so? Ιf a man follows his conscience perfectly in such a way that he’s never condemned by it, isn’t he morally perfect? If that’s the Law that God requires of all men, then if it’s written in their hearts and they follow it, then that should be enough, doesn’t it? The simple answer is no. Because God requires perfect obedience to His Law, and the conscience is not always awakened until it is in the spotlight or until God, through different circumstances, awakens it. The first 4 commandments, summarised in the greatest commandment, are something that we all break, regardless of whether we “fulfil all the other commandments” as the rich young ruler did. So our conscience is not the perfect guide for morality, but it is given to us by God to restrict the sin and to be unable to escape righteous judgment in this life and await the next.
What is the Purpose of the Conscience in Our Lives?
In our natural state, its main purpose is to guide us to Christ. Heidelberg’s catechism question 3 states:
Q & A 3
Q. How do you come to know your misery?
A. The law of God tells me.
As the Law of God, specially revealed in Scripture, the Law of God revealed generally through the conscience is for men to recognize and know their misery. To understand their sinful nature and to lead them to Christ, the One and Only Redeemer, the only One in which all men can find hope, the only One that can save them from their misery and reconcile them to God. We call it the first use of the law, or it’s pedagogical use, because as a tutor it is to teach us about our nature in rebellion and separation from God and lead us to the Savior.
In the end, it all goes to Christ. 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!
