Text: Romans 2:12-16
Memory verse:
”who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)“
Romans 2:15 NKJV
The conscience is like the linesman, who assists the referee on the field in various sports to alert him when the ball goes out of play. It is like an inner judge who convicts you whenever you act wrongly or the secret policeman who arrests you whenever you violate the rules of living. Its work is not visible to the ordinary eyes. It operates gently and may be ignored, but it can’t be easily silenced. You may silence it for a while, but it comes back after some time with the same judgment. You may ignore it by presenting a different comportment outside, but it waits for you to be through with all your pretenses, and it returns again with its whips.
The conscience is the part of you that tells whether you are on the right track or not; whether you are right or wrong. A guilty conscience indicates that you have done something wrong. The conscience testifies for or against you (Rom 9:1; 2 Cor 1:12)
Everyone, whether young or old, believer or an unbeliever, has a conscience (Prov 20:27). It is God’s gift within us.
Though, the conscience is not a perfect reflection of God’s absolute standard of right and wrong, but God places it in you to tell you that you have sinned against God. God wires it into the mind to indict a man of wrongdoing even when he has not been exposed to the preaching of the word of God or the gospel of truth.
”Their conduct shows that what the Law commands is written in their hearts. Their consciences also show that this is true since their thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them.“ (Rom 2:15 GNT).
This is what apostle Paul is saying. Even the Gentiles have the law of God written in their hearts (verse 14). We know this because their consciences tell them when they are right or wrong. The conscience serves as the unbeliever’s inner sense of right or wrong. For example, although he may reject it, the conscience of an unbeliever tells him that it is not right to steal or to kill. Who tells a child to hide after taking what is not his or hers? The conscience works through the thoughts to accuse them when they are guilty of wrongdoing.
Friends, no one will have any excuses before God on the judgment day, not even someone who died without the Bible, for their consciences will testify against them for having sinned against God. If the unbelievers will not escape judgment, what about the believers who have the gospel of truth?
Prayer points
1. Father, help me not to turn off or lower the voice of my conscience in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, help me to always respond promptly to the voice of my conscience, in Jesus’ name.
Today’s declarations
1. My conscience is my inbuilt mechanism to keep me on the right track.
2. I can pretend and deceive everyone around me, but I can’t deceive my conscience.
Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng