God has put an invisible beeper, a conscience, inside every human being, which warns us when we’re about to do something wrong. At his second appearance before the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther stated about his stand, “To go against conscience is neither right nor safe.”

Adam and Eve lived in a time of innocence that we refer to as ‘the dispensation of innocence.’ No man had yet sinned against the Lord and God was man’s provider. But as we know from the Bible account, Adam and Eve went against the one explicit requirement God had placed upon them. They were not to eat of “the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”  When they ate of ‘the tree of knowledge’ they gained that knowledge. With that their conscience became awakened. They we then driven from the Garden of Eden and thus innocence was over – they now live under ‘the dispensation of conscience.’ Now they were responsible for what they knew was right and wrong.

“For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed (counted) when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses” (Rom. 5:13,14).

The term impute in this passage is an accounting term; it simply means “to put to one’s account.” While men sinned during the period between Adam and Moses, they were not held accountable for those sins because God had not yet given the commandments that prohibited them. However, this does not mean that they were any less guilty of sin or any less deserving of eternal judgment. It is important to remember that, during this period, men were living under ‘the dispensation of conscience;’ therefore, they were without excuse. This is what Paul means in Romans 2:

“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show 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” (Rom. 2:14-15).

Conscience means “to know” or “with knowledge.” Under the dispensation of conscience, the conscience within each man’s human spirit was to govern mankind from within. It required men to do all known good, and abstain from all known evil.

You will note from the Biblical account that after Adam and Eve had sinned, “they knew that they were naked” and consequently, they sewed figs leaves together to cover themselves (Gen. 3:7). In other words, their consciences were activated to know the difference between good and evil, and right and wrong. They knew they had sinned against God and felt guilty as a result of it. God killed an innocent animal to take its skin to cover their nakedness. This was the very first shedding of blood to cover sin and a metaphor of Jesus coming to die for us as “the Lamb of God” whose blood takes away the sins of the whole world.

Having seen and experienced this, Adam and Eve must have told this story to his children. Thereby their son Cain knew that God required a blood sacrifice, but he did evil in the sight of the Lord and brought an offering from the fruit of the ground. He sinned and had to deal with the guilt of his decision (Gen. 4:5). God would not receive Cain’s offering because it came from the earth, which had been cursed. Adam’s other son, Abel, on the other hand, responded to God in faith and brought what God required of him... one of “the firstlings of the flock” of sheep, shedding its blood.

By this Biblical history God teaches us that, even though there was no Law from the time of Adam to Moses, we are to understand that conscience was their guide, for they were “a law unto themselves.” As a result, they were “without excuse.” You see, God is demonstrating that, no matter what dispensation He has placed man under—Conscience, Law, Grace—all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

With this in mind, Paul adds, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses.” Even though the Law of Moses hadn’t been implemented at that time, death still reigned supreme in that, eventually the people died. But that raises this question: if the sins of men were not charged to their account, why did death still have mastery over them? The Sin-nature entered into Adam when they sinned the original in. This Sin-nature is passed to all Adam’s human lineage in their physical bodies, just as a virus is. This is true of the entire human race. Since we are Adam’s posterity, we are all born in him, what was true of him is true of us as well.  “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12).

God, in His infinite knowledge, sees what we are unable to see. When Adam reached for that forbidden fruit, we were in him; consequently, we are identified with his sin. Another example of this principle is found in Hebrews 7:9-10. So then, the trio of death— physical, spiritual and the possibility of eternal death—reigned because we have all sinned in Adam and we sin by the Sin-spirit that Adam passed onto all of us. (This also explains how a newborn, who has never committed one sinful act, sometimes dies due to complications. They were born in Adam and thus born in sin! Personally, I believe God has made a very special provision for these little ones as we read of David in 2 Sam. 12:22-23.)

“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound” (Rom. 5:20). God gave the Law to Israel, through Moses. The Law exposed and magnified sin! The Law shined a spotlight on it to show man how exceedingly sinful he really is. When the Law says, “Thou shalt not steal,” man’s natural response is to question the law rebelliously and disobey it. That is the Sin-nature at work in man. When you tell a toddler that he is not allowed to open the basement door and then move out of their range of sight, he will put his hand on the door knob and look to see if you’re watching. You see, it shows us that there is a natural tendency to do wrong due to the Sin-nature in man. God magnified that a hundredfold when He gave the Law. Once again, it was to demonstrate that all are sinners in word, thought, and deed.

From the beginning, conscience has been woven through all the ages and dispensations. It is what’s known as a horizontal or trans-dispensational truth. But we find it interesting that there is very little emphasis placed on conscience under the Mosaic system, which shouldn’t surprise us (Heb. 9:9). The commandments served as the conscience of the people of God in time past: explicitly saying, “Thou shalt not…,” “This do and thou shalt live…,” “If you hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep His commandments and His statutes….” There was a law or statute to govern every step of their lives.

Now, when we turn to the Gentile epistles, Paul makes frequent references to the conscience under grace. Today we have liberty in Christ, but we are never to use that liberty for an occasion to the flesh, whether it’s to entertain impure thoughts or commit an immoral act. Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. The Law demands; grace beseeches (pleads)! As God implores us to walk worthy of our calling, He uses His Word, the Spirit, and our consciences as an early warning system, to assist us in living a life that is well pleasing to Him. Remember and remember well: it’s a dangerous thing to disobey your conscience.

Having a conscience, we all know with a knowledge that is deeper than and beyond our corrupted minds. Our conscience is a function of the human spirit in every man. It is by the conscience that the Lord speaks and leads or guides us in the path of righteousness, wherein there is peace for our heart.