“Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;” (Romans 2:15)
I was shown wisdom from a book I am currently reading; the subject matter was on our opening verse here, and the wisdom from the Lord through this man that He used to write this book was this, if you speak to someone who has never heard of the Mosaic Law, the law given to Moses by God to the children of Israel, that has never heard of the Gospels, or anything else from the Word of God, and if you ask them if murder is wrong, they will of course agree.
Satan has done an excellent job at modifying mankind’s thought process about Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill,” over the centuries. We are to defend our lives in certain moments and the lives of others, but we are never to murder. Now, I could have just as easily used adultery instead of murder or stealing or really any of the other ten commandments, but I thought it important to make that definition between killing and murder.
The point is this, that person knows what is wrong and what is right, and it has nothing to do with his upbringing, the culture that he lives in, or even the construct of his own mind, his conscience either accuses him or excuses him, because all who have ever been born have been blessed with this inner knowledge, if you will. This does not mean the Holy Spirit of God indwells them, that only happens when we are born-again, but there is for lack of a better word a spark of God, an understanding that comes from Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
That man, as all men do, knows what is right and what is wrong without having to be told from any other human being.
We can at the same time consider when Adam ate of the fruit, it imparted unto him this understanding, not the knowledge but the fulfilling, the understanding of the difference between good and evil.
For that is what accusing is, a known evil, a rebellious nature within us that goes directly opposite of not only the will of God, but of our own nature, we know when we have done wrong. The knowledge that whatever deed it was is not known by that person as opposed to the Most High, for that person knows nothing about the Lord, he may know the name “God” but there is no clear definition of that supposed deity. Excusing would also then be subjected to the same context, there is no “higher power” being formed or thought of in this man’s mind, but he knows when he has done good, when the deed is beneficial.
Saving a stray dog, helping a neighbor, these things they perform are so close together as to be indistinguishable from, a second knowledge, that of the emotions. That thing that accuses will make that person feel bad, distraught, anxious or any number of other negative feelings, emotions, while the positive, uplifting ones come when the good deed is performed.
Now granted, there are those that experience positive emotions when inflicting pain on others, but they are rare, and even the world as a whole frowns upon them. Remember differentiating between murder and killing?
“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” (1 Cor. 3:6) Born-again believers pay attention, diligent attention to these matters, for here is what will be written in our book, when the books are opened at the Bema seat, your conscience will be revealed. Try to remember that every person you meet was made in the image of God, and so has that so-called spark. Perhaps you will be the one that the Lord will use to help it to grow into a small flame for His glory.
