What did the written law reveal about man's actions that conscience could not?
The written Law revealed that everything man was doing, even after searing his conscience, was breaking God's Law and became sin. Before the written Law, man could only go by conscience, but the Law removed doubt and showed man's actions for what they really were.
Les teaches from Romans 5:20 that the law entered with Moses around 1500 B.C., when he came down off the mountain and introduced it to the nation of Israel. The law entered so that man's sin might abound—not to make it worse, but so it might be seen for what it really is. Until the written Law appeared, man could only go by conscience. But when the written Law came, there was no doubt that everything man was doing, even after searing his conscience, was breaking God's Law and became sin. God saves people where they are, not after they clean up, and then He does the work of regeneration, wanting all the credit and glory.
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Did the law make people sin more or just make them realize how sinful they were?
The law did not make people sin more; it made them realize how sinful they already were. The sin problem began with Adam, and mankind inherited a sinful nature. When the law came, it could only show man how sinful he really was. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
What was the role of conscience before the written Law, and what did the written Law reveal?
Before the written Law, humanity could only go by conscience. When the Law entered through Moses around 1500 B.C., it removed doubt, revealing that man's actions—even after a seared conscience—were breaking God's Law, and sin became clearly evident. The Law did not make sin worse; it exposed sin for what it really is.
More Questions
How did the written Law change the way human actions relate to sin?
Once the written Law came, everything people did—even when they had seared their conscience—was undeniably breaking God's Law and therefore counted as sin.
Did the law make people sin more or show them their sin?
The law did not cause people to sin more; rather, it entered to make them understand how sinful they were.