The Evidence of Our Conscience...

Yesterday, we looked at a section in our Bibles that provided a second piece of evidence that proved we are guilty of having a problem with God when we live as though we can achieve moral excellence. We discovered that it is our inferior standards that serve as evidence of our guilt when it comes to the problem we have with God. The harsh truth is that, at the end of the day, there is only one standard that matters when it comes to good. And that standard of good is God’s standard. And God’s standard of good is perfection.

Paul then provides a third piece of evidence that proves that we are guilty when we try to live life as though we can achieve moral excellence. We see this evidence revealed for us in Romans 2:12-16. Let’s look at it together:

For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

To understand what the Apostle Paul is communicating in these verses, we first need to define some terms. Sin here refers to acts of commission and omission that are committed against God and others that flow from our selfish rebellion against God and the word of God. The Law here refers to the first five books in our Bibles today, which was called the Law or the Torah. Paul’s point is that everyone who is guilty of selfish rebellion and sin will experience a life that is eternally separated from God in Hell. Regardless of whether or not a person was raised in the church or not; regardless of whether or not a person participated in an organized religious system that had rules or not; a person who out of their selfishness and rebellion hurts God and others will be found guilty upon Jesus return and will experience God’s just and right response as a result of their guilt.

Now a natural and almost immediate objection to this statement by Paul is “well that does not seem fair or just. How can God judge someone when they did not know the standard? How can someone who never read the Bible be judged and experience the same punishment as the person who has read the Bible? Paul provides the answer this objection by stating “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” The word just here means to meet the standards that make us right with God. The word justified here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to be declared not guilty.

Paul’s point here is that it is not reading or hearing the Bible that enables us to meet the standards that make us right with God. Instead, it is obedience to the message and the commands of the Bible that enable us to be declared not guilty and right with God. You see obedience matters. This morning, it is not church attendance or Bible memorization that makes you right with God; it is faithfully following the message and teachings of the Bible that cause us to be right with God.

Now you might be thinking “You just dodged my objection. What about those who never have seen or heard about the Bible? How can God judge them and find them guilty? What about the pygmy in Africa who never heard about the Bible or Jesus?” Notice what Paul states next in verses 14-16:

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

Here we see the Apostle Paul explain that when those who have never read the Bible or attend church naturally live their lives by a code of conduct or standard that reflects the message and the teachings of the Bible, they are a Law to themselves. In other words, the natural impulse of humanity to live according to a similar code of conduct or a standard serves to reveal the internal presence of God’s Law or standard within their lives.

Did you know that humanity throughout history, across all cultures and continents has been guided by similar set of laws and standards? Without communicating with one another cultures and societies throughout the world share a common belief that certain activities and behaviors are just plain wrong. For example, it is universally viewed wrong to sleep with someone else’s wife. Something within every culture and every human says “that’s just not right”. Similarly, universally it is viewed as being wrong to steal from someone. It is just not right. By contrast, there are universal actions that are viewed as being positive and good. For example, the person who risks his life to save another is viewed in a positive light as doing something that is good across all cultures.

And it is this intuitive and natural sense of good and evil that is universally present in humanity that reveals the reality of God’s existence and revelation. When Paul uses the phrase “they show the work of the Law written in their hearts” in verse 15, he is revealing for us the reality that God has revealed and made known the existence of His standards of moral excellence in every human being. God has written His moral Law on the hearts of all humanity. Paul then explains that it is the conscience that provides the practical proof that God has written His moral law on the hearts of all humanity. The conscience is ones inward faculty of distinguishing right and wrong.

And it is here we see Paul provide the third piece of evidence to prove that we are guilty when we live life as though we can achieve moral excellence. And that third piece is that we are guilty based on the evidence of our consciences. Every human being has a conscience that serves to either accuse or defend our actions. And while we can ignore our conscience; while we can suppress our conscience; and while we can even harden our conscience to the point that people would think that we have no conscience, at some point in all of our lives we have sensed our consciences activity in our lives.

At some point in our lives, we have responded to a situation or engaged in an activity that was good and honorable and felt our consciences affirmation of our actions. And at some point in our lives, we have responded to a situation or engaged in an activity that violated God’s moral law that was written on our hearts, which resulted in us having what- “a guilty conscience”. This is what Paul is referring to when he uses the phrase our consciences bearing witness.

Paul’s point here is that regardless of the level of our exposure to the claims of Christ or the message and teachings of the Bible, our consciences testify and provide evidence of our guilt when we live life as though we can achieve moral excellence. You see, when Jesus Christ returns, all of humanity will stand before Him. Whether the American who listens to Christian radio and podcasts and has five Bibles scattered around their home, or the Pygmy who lives in the jungles of Africa, all will stand before Jesus to give an account of their lives. And as all humanity stands before Jesus, Paul reveals the reality that God will judge the secrets of men through Christ. And it will be our consciences that will testify as to our guilt or innocence when it comes to whether or not we achieved moral excellence.

For the Pygmy who lived in the jungle of Africa, they will be judged based on the amount of revelation they received when it came to God’s existence and standards. They will be judged based on how they responded to the law of God that was written on their hearts. If they lived a life that perfectly followed that internal standard as testified by their conscience, they will be declared not guilty. However, if they selfishly rebelled against God’s law that was written in their hearts, their conscience will testify against them the moment it happened and again when they stand before Jesus. And it is the testimony of the conscience that will provide the evidence of their guilt.

You see, God is perfectly just and right. He treats everybody the same way. Everyone will be held accountable based on the amount of revelation about God they received. For those who never read a Bible or heard the message of the gospel, they will be held accountable for how they respond to God’s general revelation of Himself through the creation and through their conscience. For those who have received God’s special revelation in the form of the Bible and exposure to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel throughout history, they will be responsible for their response to the message and the teachings of the Bible. And the standard is the same for all perfection.

So do you consider yourself a good moral person who strives to live life according to a code of conduct? Do you try to live life as though you can achieve moral excellence? How are you doing? Have you violated that code of conduct yourself? How strong is your code of conduct? Does it require perfection? Have you ever suffered from a guilty conscience?

Because, the timeless reality is that we are guilty when we live life as though we can achieve moral excellence. We are guilty based on the evidence of our own violations of the standards we set for others. We are guilty based on the evidence of our inferior standards. And we are guilty based on the evidence of our own consciences. And if we are guilty, then we have a problem when it comes to our relationship with God. A problem that needs a solution. A problem that requires rescue. A problem that requires responding to the gospel.