Romans 2:14-15

There is another possibility that at least needs to be looked at in Romans 2.

On occasion, but not very often, a culture that has no direct contact with God and His Word will somehow come up with a system that is quite moral and pretty much in agreement with much of God's way. What happens is the conscience rises in its approach to standards that may even come close to the standards of God so that it will bear witness, either accusing or excusing. Or we might change that to say restraining or permitting.

That is what the function of a conscience is. It restrains or it permits. If it restrains, and we go ahead, the conscience feels defiled. If it restrains, and we stop ourselves, the conscience feels clear. If it permits and we go ahead and do it, the conscience feels clears. If it permits, and we do not do it, the conscience will probably feel bad.

We probably have a society that at least somewhat approximates this to some extent over there in Singapore, where in comparison with the United States, crime is almost non-existent. I would imagine that the conscience of those people, compared to most Americans, is quite tender indeed.

Conscience does not determine what is right or wrong; rather, it recognizes the law or standards that it has been educated in, and responds. A conscience must be educated, but the education might be lacking. The conscience is not always to be trusted.