Over the course of past centuries, there have been amazing reports of missionaries who have penetrated the deepest inner most places of the jungle to find isolated tribes of people. Once the missionaries had completed their translation of the native language and could communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ, on many occasions the leaders of those tribes told the translators that they had already known of the Jesus that the Bible speaks of, but they did not know His name.
How is it that they could have know about Jesus without anyone ever telling them about Him? When asked how this was possible, the native people explained that they knew inside, in the inner heart, that there was a creator and that they were in need of a Savior. They were aware that there was something obviously wrong with the inner man that was constantly doing wrong.
When Paul wrote the Book of Romans, in the second chapter he makes a reference to the fact that there are those who have never heard of the law of God, yet they are found to be keeping that law daily in their lives.
Romans 2:14-15 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves. 15 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)
The Book of Ecclesiastes speaks of the fact that there is a knowledge of eternal things in the heart of every man.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
Where does this inner knowledge of the law of God, that is the knowledge internally that a person should not do certain things and should do certain other things, come from?
The fact that when people who do not know the law are found to have an internal conscience that compels them to follow a law, is an interesting fact. Where did this internal knowledge come from? How is it that a person knows that it is wrong to kill another person, harm another, or take what does not belong to them? How is it that they could come to this inner conclusion if there was no law given to them that these things are wrong?
If the theory of evolution were correct, then man like the rest of the animal kingdom, would live void of a knowledge of right and wrong. If on the other hand man was created, then it stands to reason that he would have within himself not only a knowledge that certain behaviors are wrong, but that he is also the product of creation by another being.
In the Book of Genesis, the Lord told Adam that on the day that he ate of the fruit, he would have the knowledge of “good and evil”. It is a product of mans fall that he knows when he is wrong, and that all men know that something is inherently wrong with them. An honest person would say that they don’t understand what it is within them that compels them to constantly commit wrong or immoral actions.
When any person comes to the Lord in prayer and acknowledges the fact that they are wrong and have done wrong, what the Bible labels as “sin”, then they may also pray that this same Lord would cleanse them of their guilt by removing the sin and the guilt that follows it. More than thirty-five years ago I prayed that simple prayer and have had the heavy burden of all my sin lifted from me forevermore.
Yes, there is an internal witness in the heart of every human being that confirms the fact that there is a God who made us all and who does love us. This internal witness is our conscience. Even without anyone telling us things a are wrong, all of us us know that they are. A tiny child will hide the fact that he took the cookie from the cookie jar, even before anyone scolded him the first time for taking a cookie without asking. A child will lie, knowing the truth, long before he is old enough to know that a lie is not acceptable behavior.
From birth we know the difference between right and wrong, and this is our own evidence that someone made us with this ability. He did this so that we might just be honest within our own heart and reach back up to Him in desperation to know Him and the power of His great Love.
Rob Robinson
