Second, I believe that the presence and activity of conscience is a remnant of God’s image in fallen man. Dr. Robert Reymond, in A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, defines conscience as “that human sense of moral oughtness and the capacity to distinguish between moral right and moral wrong” (pg. 418). He uses that definition as a proof that man is superior to the animals. I completely agree. I want to try and take it a bit further by suggesting that knowing the difference between moral good and moral evil is something Adam and Eve had prior to the Fall and, therefore, a characteristic that reflects the image of God.

Genesis tells us that when God created Adam and Eve, he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (2:7). This breath from God gave man life, an eternal spirit, understanding, reason, language, etc. These are qualities that make us distinct from the animal world, and more in the image of God. This word “breath” [in Hebrew, “nesh-a-ma’ “] is used many times in the Old Testament. It means breath or spirit; the Spirit of God imparting life and wisdom. It is used once when referring to the mind. This place is Proverbs 20:27, which says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.” This is the spirit at work, searching our hearts and minds, helping us to understand whether a choice is good or evil.

Paul explains conscience in Romans 1 and 2. There are truths we can know about God because we can observe them in creation and because God has written his law in our hearts. “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them” (Romans 2:14-15).

God knows the difference between good and evil without being being acquainted with evil, without participating in evil. When God breathed the breath of life into Adam, he gave him that same understanding. Adam knew that eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was wrong because God gave him a law, “Do not eat fruit from that tree.” The tree itself did not have any inherent quality about it that could give knowledge of good and evil. Transgressing God’s law would give Adam that knowledge. Satan’s lie was that there was wisdom to be gained in the eating of it. I’d bet that Adam’s and Eve’s consciences were at work, thinking, looking at the fruit, weighing the words of God and the words of Satan. The knowledge (the intimate acquaintance, first-hand, participatory knowledge) of evil, something God does not possess because He is holy, came when Adam decided to believe Satan over God. Adam’s heart became corrupted, the image was marred, even before he took a bite of the fruit. His actions were simply the outward manifestation of his already fallen heart.

It was Adam’s conscience at work, telling him he was naked, as he and his wife sewed fig leaves together and hid from God. It was their consciences at work, accusing and excusing, as they shifted the blame and tried to rationalize their sin. It is my conscience at work anytime I am faced with a moral decision. It is my conscience at work when I feel ashamed for doing evil. This isn’t something I received after turning to Christ. My conscience has been working for as long as I can remember.

Equally as long, I can remember the desire for a clean conscience. Some men strive for a clean conscience with relativism, situational ethics, dissolving moral absolutes, and attempting to rationalize God out of existence. Instead of achieving a clean conscience, however, they end up with a defiled conscience. “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled” (Titus 1:15).

There is only one remedy for a guilty conscience: the blood of Christ.

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:11-14).

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:19-25).