WITHOUT EXCUSE God lays out clearly why all people, even those who may never have heard the name of Jesus Christ, have NO EXCUSE for not pursuing God. God speaks through Paul in Romans 1:19 to say “What may be known of God is manifest in them (man), for God has shown it to them. God then proceeds to speak on why that truth is impossible to miss: “For “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are WITHOUT EXCUSE.” Passage 19 refers to the CONSCIENCE of every man. We’re made in God’s image. We have a limited understanding of His love, discernment of good vs. evil, etc.. God imbued us with these qualities for the sole purpose of forming a connection with Him that could grow into a relationship if we followed the path HE laid out in front of us. Passage 20 refers to CREATION. God reveals through empirical laws of nature (gravity, electromagnetic force, nuclear force, thermodynamics, et al) and complexity that screams out "design" that all we see was, indeed, created. Yes, God has made it clear to all who open their eyes, minds and hearts the majesty of His creation. God knew the attacks against Him would come from men who, out of desperation to eschew an authority greater than himself, would ignore the clear truth of Romans 1:19-20 by any means possible. These alleged science-based assaults truly do not stand up. But Satan is the "prince of the power of the air". He strokes the ego and sublimates reason in order to make the arguments their" itching ears" (2 Tim 4) want to hear sound reasonable. God will not accept that. He says so here. All men are "without excuse" if they do not take the light God has given all of them and pursue more light. For crying out loud, everyone we know has at least heard of heaven. They all know God offers the promise of eternal life, and only insane people don’t desire that. As God revealed to Solomon, “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecc 3:11). Yet, so many will not even take the steps God has laid clearly in front of them to find out what that entails. I ask you: what other than a supernatural evil force (Satan) could get a man so caught up in the pursuits of this world that he would ignore the path they’re all aware could lead to eternal life? Trusting that God truly wants, as He wrote through Peter, “none to perish” (2 Peter 3:9), we ask why doesn’t HE appear in the sky and end the debate for all time? He’s answered that question. He gave us His WORD, and Jesus was His final WORD. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” Hebrews 1:1-4 God gave the world His Word to finish the argument, and to fortify Christians against the attacks of the world. The prophecies, timeless wisdom and supernatural foreknowledge (how, apart from divine revelation, did Isaiah know the earth was round, or Job that the earth was suspended in space or Moses about germs) trump all human explanation; they authenticate God’s hand, and God lays the path in front of all men The Word + conscience + inexplicable wonder of creation + innate desire for eternal life = more than enough light to prompt pursuit from every man, woman and child of higher reason. For those who continue to side-step these paths, there is “NO EXCUSE.” How I wish, for the sake of many dear friends and family members, that there were excuses, loopholes or special dispensations. Oprah and many others pose “how can Jesus be the only way when so many have not and will not ever hear of Him?” They are questioning undeniable supernatural revelation with limited human logic. But the Bible says clearly that the man who denies His revelation is “without excuse,” so I know there are no exceptions. Jesus was called the light of the world. God has given all people some light (creation, conscience) and he has given us the intellect to follow where that light leads. Light obeyed begets more light. However, if man rejects light enough times, God turns them over to the darkness, as it says a few verses later (Romans 1:25). Ultimately, those people are “without excuse.” Of course, this argument must always come back to the Bible. The real issue here is so many people who call themselves Christians do not believe the Bible is 100% inspired and inerrant. Many believe the parts they like are inspired. Many others have convinced themselves it doesn’t relate to them. Sadly, many of these positions are supported or even arise from the pulpit. There’s that prince of confusion at work again. Christians allow themselves to be confused. Let’s look at this logically: all Christians must accept, at the very least, that the foundation of their professed faith is drawn from the Bible. If they start questioning any of it, how can they not begin to also question one of the farthest fetched sounding ideas in the Bible: the resurrection? If they don’t believe in the resurrection, they are not Christians. Sorry folks, but the Bible is an all or nothing proposition! “All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God will be fully equipped for every good work.” – 2 Tim 3:16 “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”- 2 Peter 1:21 God ordained these 66 books we currently have as Canon. His hand was on the Councils of Hippo and Carthage. The 39 Old Testament books truly are the 27 New Testament books concealed. And those New Testament books truly are those Old Testament books revealed. The evidences fully support that. Not that there’s anything wrong with questioning any of that. If there’s something that bothers you, a seeming contradiction or whatever, ask away! The answers are there. REALLY! Don’t be afraid to tug at that troublesome thread of doubt. It will hold strong. Consider the example of “Doubting” Thomas Didymus. He demanded proof, and he got it. He got to stick his fingers in the risen Christ’s side, and that led to the moment God wants all of us to have, to be able to declare with total conviction: “My Lord, my God” (John 20:28). The disciple Paul advised the Thessalonians to “not put out the spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”- 1 Thess 5:19-21.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 02:28:58 +0000
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