| “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). |
| “The Gentiles, which have not the law … shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness” (Romans 2:14-15). |
| “Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly” (Hebrews 13:18). |
| Among Christians and even out in the world, we often speak of our conscience, but do you really know what our conscience is? Normally we think of it as that part of us that enables us to tell right from wrong, and that is true. But did you know that man did not always have a conscience? |
| When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, they were innocent, and did not have any thought of good or evil. When Satan tempted Eve to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, he told her that if she did so, she would know good and evil. This was true, for Satan often mixes truth with a lie. But Adam and Eve did not need to know good and evil; God had made them so that they did not have to think about such things. |
| However, when they sinned, they acquired a conscience, and had a sense of good and evil. As the Bible says, immediately they knew they were naked. Since then, every man and woman has had a conscience, with some sense of right and wrong. That is why God says in Romans 2 that the Gentiles, who had no law, have a law written in their hearts, for their conscience tells them right from wrong. Also, the author of the book of Hebrews (probably the Apostle Paul) asks them to pray for him, that he might live with a good conscience. |
| Since we have a conscience, people sometimes say, “Let your conscience be your guide.” Is this good advice? Not really, for in order to work properly, our conscience needs the light of the Word of God. Yes, we all have some sense of right and wrong, but without the guidance of God’s Word, it is easy to persuade ourselves that it is all right to do something wrong. |
| Our conscience is really like our eyes. We may have good eyes, but if we are in a totally dark room, our eyes cannot see. We need the light in order for our eyes to see properly. In the same way our conscience needs the light of God’s Word so that it will work properly. |
| When we do something wrong, our conscience bothers us, and that is good. Before we are saved, God uses our conscience to show us that we are sinners. After we are saved, God uses our conscience to convict us if we have sinned. But again, our conscience works properly only if it is guided by God’s Word. |
