The Law Written Upon Every Human Heart

When Paul writes that gentiles "show the work of the law written in their hearts" (Romans 2:15), he describes a universal truth that Dr. Livingstone discovered among Africa's rudest tribes: even those without Scripture readily admit their sinfulness. The moral law is interwoven into man's moral constitution because he was created in Elohim's image in knowledge and holiness (Genesis 1:27; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24).

This law, though defaced by the Fall, remains traceable—like an inscription on a moss-grown stone. Guilt reddens in the blush; consciousness of sin betrays itself in childhood's downcast look. Even those wallowing in sin carry within them a conscience that convicts and warns of judgment. Dethroned but not exiled, conscience still asserts her claims. Felix trembles; Herod turns pale, dreading Christ; Cain flees conscience-stricken into solitude. Like the ghost of a murdered man, conscience haunts the soul, making her ominous voice heard even by the hardened in iniquity.

In creation, Elohim's law is written as light to direct and convict. In regeneration, it is rewritten as power to govern and transform (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10). The rudest savage carries a God within him who warns the guilty and echoes Scripture's command: "Depart from evil and do good."