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The Confusion of The Confused Displayed and Corrected
An Essay By Rev. Earl Jackson
Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Pro 17:15 He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.
Mal 2:17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Human depravity is so complete and so profound that not only do men love darkness rather than light, as it says in John 3:19; but they cannot even recognize the difference between the two, as it says in Isaiah "they put darkness for light, and light for darkness (Isa. 5:20). This is not just a case of color blindness. In fact this is not just a case of utter and complete blindness, which it certainly is. You can teach a Blind man which way to go with a stick and He will be able to find the food at the grocery store. This is far more insidious and serious than that, this is a case of willful choice and selection, of deliberate choosing of the wrong color, and of deliberate preferences toward anything that goes against God, light, truth or rightness. It is not innocent blindness over which a man has no control. This is willful rebellion, and is a deliberate attempt to confuse, muddy, mutate, thwart and destroy anything having to do with God. This is not silent sin, or secret sin, this open and aggressive, anarchistic rebellion. The depravity of the unregenerate human heart is so vile and evil, that in it's blindness it seeks to distort all truth and to eradicate all beauty from the earth, and to turn all ugliness and filth into something to be admired. This makes art of rotting carcasses, and tosses everything high, noble, beautiful and precious under the feet of swine, and into a trough of filth and putrefaction. It seeks the way that is right unto man own views, right in his own eyes. But that is the way of death and destruction. Sin is anarchy against the most high, and so corrupt is man because of it, that he calls good evil and evil good; darkness light, and light darkness; the bitter sweet and the sweet bitter. What confusion? What rebellion lies in the hearts of man? Man does not just do evil. Man thinks evil. Man lives evil. Man speaks evil. Mans serves evil. and Man is evil! "Every thought and imagination of his heart is only evil continually" (Gen 6:5). He prefers and chooses hell before life, Satan before God, darkness before light, death before salvation, and he clings to idols of wood and stone rather than trusting in the living and true God. Depravity is more than just a mere pollution, it is more than just a sickness or a disease. It is the attempt at the total upheaval and overthrow of the moral universe, and it is the attempted assassination of God Himself. It seeks not just to confuse everything, making sanity impossible, but it seeks to eradicate all vestiges of the Sovereignty of God, wherever it may be found. Of course it cannot achieve it's futile goal, but it can transform the world into a place of continual desolation, a storm of constant evil, a black cloud of choking hatred, maliciousness, malevolence and filth. All that God hates, the sinners in the world love and cling to. All that God loves, the sinners hate and turn their backs on. Can you imagine anything more stupid and deformed than this upside down way of thinking and acting? Such are the depths and chasms of sin. God's image bearers, transformed into alien beasts of darkness, lust and continual hatred. If Adam and Eve only knew what evils they would unleash upon all generation of their children?
But this is not the whole story. In fact this is not even half the story. This is not even a tiny tidbit of the story, not even just the crumb of mans side of it, or of the human interpretation of it. This is not even the tip of the iceberg as far as human recklessness and sin is concerned. There is so much more, but none of it, absolutely none of it makes any sense at all without the clear voice from God on all this stuff. Men may love darkness rather than light, but that does not mean that God has not shined his bright and peerless light into the very depths of darkness and hell itself. God is the interpretation and interpreter of of all things. Everyone and everything is sheer insanity when considered apart from Him. But with Him, all things live and move and have their being in his perfect plan. With God all things are possible, and all things in fact happen exclusively because of Him. There are no causes, but His cause. There is no will, but His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. There are no powers but His power. "There is no power but of God: the powers that be (all of them) are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1).
There is no confusion whatsoever with God, and nothing but confusion in those who do not know him. People try to make God out to be confusing, but God is perfect light, perfect holiness, perfect love and perfect truth all the time! He would not be God if even one of his glories or perfections were missing or were inactive for even one moment. He is who He is, all the time. He never will be what He is not now. And He never was what He will not be in the future. He is in The Eternal Now. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Make no mistake about it. He is the perfection of perfections, the light of all lights, "with whom is neither variableness nor shadow of turning" (James 1:17). He is who He is, and sin cannot change Him. Satan is powerless before Him, and there are no foes or forces that can defeat Him, or diminish Him in any way. Everything originates in Him, "for Him and By Him" (Heb.2:10). And everything returns unto Him. "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Rom. 11:30). His glory is spotless, and nontarnishable. His sovereignty is absolute, complete and unchangeable. He is God alone, and beside Him there is no other.
Even when He is busy creating evil in His universe (Isa 45:7), He is Glorifying Himself! Even when He busy sending plagues, famines, pestilence, swords, or smiting people with whatever kinds of sickness and disease He wants them to have, He is Glorifying Himself! When He is busy forming many vessels of wrath to torture and destroy throughout eternity because it is something that He has decided to do in His infinite wisdom (Rom. 9:22), He is still glorifying Himself in the fulness of His Infinite perfections! No being can rise up against Him, question Him, fault Him, or say unto Him, "what are you doing, or why have you made me thus? (Rom. 9:20). He is the supreme potter and we are the clay in His infinite hands (Rom. 9:21). Nothing or no one has ever resisted His will (Rom. 9:19). He directs all things infallibly, and constantly. That's what divine Sovereignty means. It can mean nothing less than the total control of God Almighty over all things. That is why His name is LORD!
He has mercy on whomever and whenever He wishes to have mercy. And He hardens whenever and whomever He wishes to harden. He dooms whomever He wishes to doom. And saves whomever He wishes to save. And Guess what? He is always Right! Father Knows Best! Father Knows All, because Father Planned it all! He is always Good. He is always Holy. He is always Perfect. He is always Love. He is always Just. Don't you dare rise up to question or dispute with the Almighty! He can snuff you out in the twinkling of an eye. Humble yourself before Him, and He will raise you up to stand in His presence. You don't deserve any answers, other than those He has already given you in His Bible. He has told us everything that He wants us to know, and we need to know nothing else. Don't you dare to presume that you can raise yourself up against Him. You have no rights in His universe but the rights that He gives you, and questioning the Almighty is not one of them! "Let God be true, but every man a liar" (Rom. 3:4). So, it is far better for you to assume your place at His feet, to learn your nothingness, and His everything-ness, and to heed the words "The earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof" (Psa 24:1; 1Cor. 10:26), "the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab 2:20).
I say all this, because there are only two issues in the entire universe, and everything is explained by them, and exclusively in terms of them. I know that people will accuse me of over simplification. So what? Let them show that what I say is not true... There is the issue of the absolute and complete sovereignty of the almighty God over everything. And there is the issue of sin in His universe. There are no other issues, because if the first is true, then the second is fully explained! If God is really who He says that He is, "the All-Mighty, Self-Existing, Creator and Lord of All Things". Then sin, and all aspects and elements of it; along with it's history (and salvation from it through Christ), originates exclusively from Him, and serves only His purpose. His purpose is to Glorify Himself and to save the elect and damn the reprobate through Jesus Christ the only Savior. Sin exists to serve His exclusive purpose along these lines and for no other reason. There is nothing else that matters. There is nothing else that requires explaining, because God has clearly, fully, and unquestionably revealed both issues, in the Bible. The Bible is exclusively about these two things, and nothing more. So that all men everywhere are "without excuse". The Bible is the History of The Sovereignty of God over all things. Everything else is subordinate.
This concept, as radical and simplistic as it might sound, is taken directly from the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 1. Here it is.
Rom 1:18-22 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools"
Look closely at what Paul is saying. There is absolutely nothing here that is difficult to understand. It is especially easy if you start with verse 20 first, because in that verse God describes the purpose for all things in the universe; even the invisible things like sin, evil, death and the Satanic forces.
Rom 1:20 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."
Notice "invisible things... are clearly seen"
"Being understood by the things that are made"
God created and made everything, in the universe,including sin (my second issue mentioned above) so that from understanding that which He made (everything), even the invisible things (second issue above), we know everything that we need to know about his "eternal power and Godhead" (First issue above, The Godhood of God, i.e. Absolute Sovereignty), thus rendering us without excuse before Him.
Now when you look at the other verses you will see what God is referring to. Look.
Vs. 18: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness". The wrath of God is part of issue 1 above...the indisputable sovereignty of God over all things. "Wrath" is one of the Divine attributes. It is a quality of Deity which cannot be denied. It cannot cease to operate. It is the same sort of thing as His infinite LOVE. It makes God to be God.
Now notice. In order for God to be wrathful, He has to have something to be wrathful against, and on which to pour out his anger...here it is. "His wrath is"..."against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness".
Did God make them? Absolutely.
Did God make them unrighteous? Absolutely not. He created Adam perfect and in His own image, which is not unrighteous at all.
Did evil create itself? Absolutely not. God created "all things" (John 1:3; Gen 1:1; Isa 45:7; Rom. 11:30).
God therefore created Adam, with the full knowledge and Divine intention, that He would sin and become unrighteous and ungodly, holding the truth in unrighteousness, thus fulfilling that part of God's plan for His own Glory. God is the only being in the universe who has the right to be exclusively self-interested and self-absorbed. Only what He desires counts, and everyone else conforms exclusively to His sovereign will.
Does any of this make God a sinner? Absolutely not. God cannot sin, because sin is only what He says that it is. Since He defines it, He is above it and is not subject to it. A sinful God is an impossibility. Even when He authorizes and empowers sin, He himself is not a sinner. He Creates evil, but He Himself remains completely Pure and Holy in all things, because He is the Master of Creation, not a subject in it.
Vs. 19 "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them".
There is no such thing as ignorance about God! Belief in such ignorance is a lie. All men know all that they need to know. God says so right here. "That which may be known about Him", is known "in them" (in man), because it is a matter of Divine Revelation "God hath shown it unto them". Men try to use ignorance as an excuse, but that defense is the same as calling God a liar, because God says He showed it unto them. No ignorance means no excuses. How did God show Himself, (His Eternal Power and Godhead), and show his wrath against sin and sinners who remain in unbelief and rebellion? See Verse 20 where we started!
Vs. 21. "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened".
"When they knew God"... That would be Adam and Eve, certainly. But in this context Paul is referring to all men; specifically those rebellious sinners who practice unrighteousness and ungodliness upon which He pours out His wrath. In other words, the object of His wrath once knew Him! God says so, and there is no disputing what He says. He is not ignorant of any truth, sense all truth originates with Him. If He says all men knew God, by virtue of direct revelation, then He knows what He is saying, and why He is saying it. This verse says that even the reprobates knew God because He showed them "That which may be known of Him". This explains the idea of the human conscience.
But notice what is said about them: "They glorified Him not as God". That is the root problem of all sinful beings. They do not love God and worship Him "with all their heart and soul and mind and strength" (Mark 12:30). All sin breaks the first commandment. No other command is necessary to condemn the whole world and stop every mouth before God. God planned it this way, so that He would receive all the glory, all the time.
When men do not worship and adore Him in willing obedience, He receives His Glory in the perfect display of His wrath revealed from heaven upon them. You don't have to like this arrangement, because it is God's business not yours. That's simply the way that it is. If you don't like it, Tough! Get over it, and get down on your knees and start worshiping Him. He is either worshiped and adored to receive His Glory, or He pours out His wrath on the God haters and that equally brings Him His glory! Either way...God wins! Either way He is glorified in all things. You cannot resist God. Nobody can, and nobody does. Don't fool yourself. Don't be deceived. You have no choice in the matter of what God does or does not do, and it has nothing to do with your imagined free will. And if you do not wish to be counted among the damned upon whom He pours out His full wrath and fury, you must be counted among the loved ones upon whom He pours out His streams of Grace, Love, Mercy and Eternal Life.
If you are concerned about this situation, and are uncertain about to which group you belong. The surest way to prove that your are a reprobate in the first group, is to try to argue with God about this, or anything that He says or does. The only way to confirm your election and grace, is to fall on your knees and worship Him, through the merits of the one who was not tainted by any sin at all. The perfect sinless Jesus Christ, is the way, the door, the truth, the key, the only Savior of sinners. There is no other way, flee to Him, and receive His forgiveness and love through faith in what He has done on the cross, and through His blood. If you are to be saved, then that alone is your salvation, and He alone is your Savior. Your worship of Him, and repentance of your vile sinfulness, will prove that He is calling you into His gates of Life, and is even now blessing you with the riches of His grace and love. But if you feel none of this, and you remain unconcerned about your own heart, and could care less about your eternal relationship to the one who hold you in the palm of His hand, then you will continue on in your unrighteous and ungodly ways, your heart will continually grow harder and more vile, and there will be no surprise for you when the gates of hell swing open wide to receive you. Throughout all the endless ages of eternity, as your parched lips glow like the coals of a furnace, you will parse them and say these words, which will haunt you forever, but it will be to late ; "I believe and confess that you are God Almighty and that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Glory be to thy Holy Name." That's what you will say in the furnace throughout the endless ages. Be certain of it. "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Romans 14:11). Better to confess Him now, and own Him as your Savior now, then to wait till it is too late and you have to spend eternity in the impregnable, inescapable penitentiary of the doomed and the damned.
What insanity prevents you from making peace with God now? "He says "come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest". God has never turned any humble seeking soul away. You just need to quit your inner atheism, and flee to Christ, and grasp the hem of His garment by simple faith. If you want to be saved simply go to God and say something like this...
"Lord I believe. Please help my unbelief. I do receive the free gift of your love, Christ as my Savior and Lord, and I do repent of my evil corruption and sinfulness. I'm turning to you not just to escape the damnation of hell, but because I know that it is you who I need in my life. Without you I am lost and blind and ignorant. Come into my Life Lord Jesus. Transform me by your Grace. Help me to live for Christ and fill me with your Holy Spirit as you promised. And please be with me all the rest of my days, so that I might serve you and love you, with my whole mind, heart, soul and life, and you alone.
In Jesus Name I sincerely pray. Amen."
Salvation is free for the asking, and if you prayed to God something like the preceding prayer, then He gave you a fresh start, a new heart, and you were born-again into His family of Grace and Love, just like He talked about in John Chapter 3. I would love to hear from you and offer additional help to you if you have trusted Christ because of the plain speech God has presented to you in this article. Please CLICK HERE to let me know about your life-changing commitment to trust Christ. I would love to personally welcome you into the family of God, and pray for you on your new journey.
vs. 21. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools".
That says it all. There is the wisdom of God alone which is truth. And there is the foolishness of man, which is all that you will ever have if you do not trust Christ, believe and be saved. God's wisdom or mans foolishness? Which do you possess? If you did not hear the voice of God speaking to you in the plain words of this article. Then perhaps you should re-read it, and pray and seek God's face in the light of what you read. If you do not follow God's wisdom, but imagine that you have some wisdom of your own, then you will be the fool this verse talks about. Don't go there, my friend, and do do that. It is the way that seems right unto a man, but the ends are the ways of destruction.
May God bless all who read this.
© 2012 EHJ all right reserved
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Pro 17:15 He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.
Mal 2:17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Human depravity is so complete and so profound that not only do men love darkness rather than light, as it says in John 3:19; but they cannot even recognize the difference between the two, as it says in Isaiah "they put darkness for light, and light for darkness (Isa. 5:20). This is not just a case of color blindness. In fact this is not just a case of utter and complete blindness, which it certainly is. You can teach a Blind man which way to go with a stick and He will be able to find the food at the grocery store. This is far more insidious and serious than that, this is a case of willful choice and selection, of deliberate choosing of the wrong color, and of deliberate preferences toward anything that goes against God, light, truth or rightness. It is not innocent blindness over which a man has no control. This is willful rebellion, and is a deliberate attempt to confuse, muddy, mutate, thwart and destroy anything having to do with God. This is not silent sin, or secret sin, this open and aggressive, anarchistic rebellion. The depravity of the unregenerate human heart is so vile and evil, that in it's blindness it seeks to distort all truth and to eradicate all beauty from the earth, and to turn all ugliness and filth into something to be admired. This makes art of rotting carcasses, and tosses everything high, noble, beautiful and precious under the feet of swine, and into a trough of filth and putrefaction. It seeks the way that is right unto man own views, right in his own eyes. But that is the way of death and destruction. Sin is anarchy against the most high, and so corrupt is man because of it, that he calls good evil and evil good; darkness light, and light darkness; the bitter sweet and the sweet bitter. What confusion? What rebellion lies in the hearts of man? Man does not just do evil. Man thinks evil. Man lives evil. Man speaks evil. Mans serves evil. and Man is evil! "Every thought and imagination of his heart is only evil continually" (Gen 6:5). He prefers and chooses hell before life, Satan before God, darkness before light, death before salvation, and he clings to idols of wood and stone rather than trusting in the living and true God. Depravity is more than just a mere pollution, it is more than just a sickness or a disease. It is the attempt at the total upheaval and overthrow of the moral universe, and it is the attempted assassination of God Himself. It seeks not just to confuse everything, making sanity impossible, but it seeks to eradicate all vestiges of the Sovereignty of God, wherever it may be found. Of course it cannot achieve it's futile goal, but it can transform the world into a place of continual desolation, a storm of constant evil, a black cloud of choking hatred, maliciousness, malevolence and filth. All that God hates, the sinners in the world love and cling to. All that God loves, the sinners hate and turn their backs on. Can you imagine anything more stupid and deformed than this upside down way of thinking and acting? Such are the depths and chasms of sin. God's image bearers, transformed into alien beasts of darkness, lust and continual hatred. If Adam and Eve only knew what evils they would unleash upon all generation of their children?
But this is not the whole story. In fact this is not even half the story. This is not even a tiny tidbit of the story, not even just the crumb of mans side of it, or of the human interpretation of it. This is not even the tip of the iceberg as far as human recklessness and sin is concerned. There is so much more, but none of it, absolutely none of it makes any sense at all without the clear voice from God on all this stuff. Men may love darkness rather than light, but that does not mean that God has not shined his bright and peerless light into the very depths of darkness and hell itself. God is the interpretation and interpreter of of all things. Everyone and everything is sheer insanity when considered apart from Him. But with Him, all things live and move and have their being in his perfect plan. With God all things are possible, and all things in fact happen exclusively because of Him. There are no causes, but His cause. There is no will, but His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. There are no powers but His power. "There is no power but of God: the powers that be (all of them) are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1).
There is no confusion whatsoever with God, and nothing but confusion in those who do not know him. People try to make God out to be confusing, but God is perfect light, perfect holiness, perfect love and perfect truth all the time! He would not be God if even one of his glories or perfections were missing or were inactive for even one moment. He is who He is, all the time. He never will be what He is not now. And He never was what He will not be in the future. He is in The Eternal Now. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Make no mistake about it. He is the perfection of perfections, the light of all lights, "with whom is neither variableness nor shadow of turning" (James 1:17). He is who He is, and sin cannot change Him. Satan is powerless before Him, and there are no foes or forces that can defeat Him, or diminish Him in any way. Everything originates in Him, "for Him and By Him" (Heb.2:10). And everything returns unto Him. "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Rom. 11:30). His glory is spotless, and nontarnishable. His sovereignty is absolute, complete and unchangeable. He is God alone, and beside Him there is no other.
Even when He is busy creating evil in His universe (Isa 45:7), He is Glorifying Himself! Even when He busy sending plagues, famines, pestilence, swords, or smiting people with whatever kinds of sickness and disease He wants them to have, He is Glorifying Himself! When He is busy forming many vessels of wrath to torture and destroy throughout eternity because it is something that He has decided to do in His infinite wisdom (Rom. 9:22), He is still glorifying Himself in the fulness of His Infinite perfections! No being can rise up against Him, question Him, fault Him, or say unto Him, "what are you doing, or why have you made me thus? (Rom. 9:20). He is the supreme potter and we are the clay in His infinite hands (Rom. 9:21). Nothing or no one has ever resisted His will (Rom. 9:19). He directs all things infallibly, and constantly. That's what divine Sovereignty means. It can mean nothing less than the total control of God Almighty over all things. That is why His name is LORD!
He has mercy on whomever and whenever He wishes to have mercy. And He hardens whenever and whomever He wishes to harden. He dooms whomever He wishes to doom. And saves whomever He wishes to save. And Guess what? He is always Right! Father Knows Best! Father Knows All, because Father Planned it all! He is always Good. He is always Holy. He is always Perfect. He is always Love. He is always Just. Don't you dare rise up to question or dispute with the Almighty! He can snuff you out in the twinkling of an eye. Humble yourself before Him, and He will raise you up to stand in His presence. You don't deserve any answers, other than those He has already given you in His Bible. He has told us everything that He wants us to know, and we need to know nothing else. Don't you dare to presume that you can raise yourself up against Him. You have no rights in His universe but the rights that He gives you, and questioning the Almighty is not one of them! "Let God be true, but every man a liar" (Rom. 3:4). So, it is far better for you to assume your place at His feet, to learn your nothingness, and His everything-ness, and to heed the words "The earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof" (Psa 24:1; 1Cor. 10:26), "the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab 2:20).
I say all this, because there are only two issues in the entire universe, and everything is explained by them, and exclusively in terms of them. I know that people will accuse me of over simplification. So what? Let them show that what I say is not true... There is the issue of the absolute and complete sovereignty of the almighty God over everything. And there is the issue of sin in His universe. There are no other issues, because if the first is true, then the second is fully explained! If God is really who He says that He is, "the All-Mighty, Self-Existing, Creator and Lord of All Things". Then sin, and all aspects and elements of it; along with it's history (and salvation from it through Christ), originates exclusively from Him, and serves only His purpose. His purpose is to Glorify Himself and to save the elect and damn the reprobate through Jesus Christ the only Savior. Sin exists to serve His exclusive purpose along these lines and for no other reason. There is nothing else that matters. There is nothing else that requires explaining, because God has clearly, fully, and unquestionably revealed both issues, in the Bible. The Bible is exclusively about these two things, and nothing more. So that all men everywhere are "without excuse". The Bible is the History of The Sovereignty of God over all things. Everything else is subordinate.
This concept, as radical and simplistic as it might sound, is taken directly from the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 1. Here it is.
Rom 1:18-22 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools"
Look closely at what Paul is saying. There is absolutely nothing here that is difficult to understand. It is especially easy if you start with verse 20 first, because in that verse God describes the purpose for all things in the universe; even the invisible things like sin, evil, death and the Satanic forces.
Rom 1:20 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."
Notice "invisible things... are clearly seen"
"Being understood by the things that are made"
God created and made everything, in the universe,including sin (my second issue mentioned above) so that from understanding that which He made (everything), even the invisible things (second issue above), we know everything that we need to know about his "eternal power and Godhead" (First issue above, The Godhood of God, i.e. Absolute Sovereignty), thus rendering us without excuse before Him.
Now when you look at the other verses you will see what God is referring to. Look.
Vs. 18: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness". The wrath of God is part of issue 1 above...the indisputable sovereignty of God over all things. "Wrath" is one of the Divine attributes. It is a quality of Deity which cannot be denied. It cannot cease to operate. It is the same sort of thing as His infinite LOVE. It makes God to be God.
Now notice. In order for God to be wrathful, He has to have something to be wrathful against, and on which to pour out his anger...here it is. "His wrath is"..."against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness".
Did God make them? Absolutely.
Did God make them unrighteous? Absolutely not. He created Adam perfect and in His own image, which is not unrighteous at all.
Did evil create itself? Absolutely not. God created "all things" (John 1:3; Gen 1:1; Isa 45:7; Rom. 11:30).
God therefore created Adam, with the full knowledge and Divine intention, that He would sin and become unrighteous and ungodly, holding the truth in unrighteousness, thus fulfilling that part of God's plan for His own Glory. God is the only being in the universe who has the right to be exclusively self-interested and self-absorbed. Only what He desires counts, and everyone else conforms exclusively to His sovereign will.
Does any of this make God a sinner? Absolutely not. God cannot sin, because sin is only what He says that it is. Since He defines it, He is above it and is not subject to it. A sinful God is an impossibility. Even when He authorizes and empowers sin, He himself is not a sinner. He Creates evil, but He Himself remains completely Pure and Holy in all things, because He is the Master of Creation, not a subject in it.
Vs. 19 "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them".
There is no such thing as ignorance about God! Belief in such ignorance is a lie. All men know all that they need to know. God says so right here. "That which may be known about Him", is known "in them" (in man), because it is a matter of Divine Revelation "God hath shown it unto them". Men try to use ignorance as an excuse, but that defense is the same as calling God a liar, because God says He showed it unto them. No ignorance means no excuses. How did God show Himself, (His Eternal Power and Godhead), and show his wrath against sin and sinners who remain in unbelief and rebellion? See Verse 20 where we started!
Vs. 21. "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened".
"When they knew God"... That would be Adam and Eve, certainly. But in this context Paul is referring to all men; specifically those rebellious sinners who practice unrighteousness and ungodliness upon which He pours out His wrath. In other words, the object of His wrath once knew Him! God says so, and there is no disputing what He says. He is not ignorant of any truth, sense all truth originates with Him. If He says all men knew God, by virtue of direct revelation, then He knows what He is saying, and why He is saying it. This verse says that even the reprobates knew God because He showed them "That which may be known of Him". This explains the idea of the human conscience.
But notice what is said about them: "They glorified Him not as God". That is the root problem of all sinful beings. They do not love God and worship Him "with all their heart and soul and mind and strength" (Mark 12:30). All sin breaks the first commandment. No other command is necessary to condemn the whole world and stop every mouth before God. God planned it this way, so that He would receive all the glory, all the time.
When men do not worship and adore Him in willing obedience, He receives His Glory in the perfect display of His wrath revealed from heaven upon them. You don't have to like this arrangement, because it is God's business not yours. That's simply the way that it is. If you don't like it, Tough! Get over it, and get down on your knees and start worshiping Him. He is either worshiped and adored to receive His Glory, or He pours out His wrath on the God haters and that equally brings Him His glory! Either way...God wins! Either way He is glorified in all things. You cannot resist God. Nobody can, and nobody does. Don't fool yourself. Don't be deceived. You have no choice in the matter of what God does or does not do, and it has nothing to do with your imagined free will. And if you do not wish to be counted among the damned upon whom He pours out His full wrath and fury, you must be counted among the loved ones upon whom He pours out His streams of Grace, Love, Mercy and Eternal Life.
If you are concerned about this situation, and are uncertain about to which group you belong. The surest way to prove that your are a reprobate in the first group, is to try to argue with God about this, or anything that He says or does. The only way to confirm your election and grace, is to fall on your knees and worship Him, through the merits of the one who was not tainted by any sin at all. The perfect sinless Jesus Christ, is the way, the door, the truth, the key, the only Savior of sinners. There is no other way, flee to Him, and receive His forgiveness and love through faith in what He has done on the cross, and through His blood. If you are to be saved, then that alone is your salvation, and He alone is your Savior. Your worship of Him, and repentance of your vile sinfulness, will prove that He is calling you into His gates of Life, and is even now blessing you with the riches of His grace and love. But if you feel none of this, and you remain unconcerned about your own heart, and could care less about your eternal relationship to the one who hold you in the palm of His hand, then you will continue on in your unrighteous and ungodly ways, your heart will continually grow harder and more vile, and there will be no surprise for you when the gates of hell swing open wide to receive you. Throughout all the endless ages of eternity, as your parched lips glow like the coals of a furnace, you will parse them and say these words, which will haunt you forever, but it will be to late ; "I believe and confess that you are God Almighty and that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Glory be to thy Holy Name." That's what you will say in the furnace throughout the endless ages. Be certain of it. "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Romans 14:11). Better to confess Him now, and own Him as your Savior now, then to wait till it is too late and you have to spend eternity in the impregnable, inescapable penitentiary of the doomed and the damned.
What insanity prevents you from making peace with God now? "He says "come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest". God has never turned any humble seeking soul away. You just need to quit your inner atheism, and flee to Christ, and grasp the hem of His garment by simple faith. If you want to be saved simply go to God and say something like this...
"Lord I believe. Please help my unbelief. I do receive the free gift of your love, Christ as my Savior and Lord, and I do repent of my evil corruption and sinfulness. I'm turning to you not just to escape the damnation of hell, but because I know that it is you who I need in my life. Without you I am lost and blind and ignorant. Come into my Life Lord Jesus. Transform me by your Grace. Help me to live for Christ and fill me with your Holy Spirit as you promised. And please be with me all the rest of my days, so that I might serve you and love you, with my whole mind, heart, soul and life, and you alone.
In Jesus Name I sincerely pray. Amen."
Salvation is free for the asking, and if you prayed to God something like the preceding prayer, then He gave you a fresh start, a new heart, and you were born-again into His family of Grace and Love, just like He talked about in John Chapter 3. I would love to hear from you and offer additional help to you if you have trusted Christ because of the plain speech God has presented to you in this article. Please CLICK HERE to let me know about your life-changing commitment to trust Christ. I would love to personally welcome you into the family of God, and pray for you on your new journey.
vs. 21. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools".
That says it all. There is the wisdom of God alone which is truth. And there is the foolishness of man, which is all that you will ever have if you do not trust Christ, believe and be saved. God's wisdom or mans foolishness? Which do you possess? If you did not hear the voice of God speaking to you in the plain words of this article. Then perhaps you should re-read it, and pray and seek God's face in the light of what you read. If you do not follow God's wisdom, but imagine that you have some wisdom of your own, then you will be the fool this verse talks about. Don't go there, my friend, and do do that. It is the way that seems right unto a man, but the ends are the ways of destruction.
May God bless all who read this.
© 2012 EHJ all right reserved
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