Without Excuse!

       “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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” Rom. 1:18-20

The second chapter of the book of Romans begins with the recognition of man’s heavenly accountability with the words “you, therefore, are without excuse”.  Although the topic of the following verses in that chapter focuses upon the subject of judging others, the “therefore” of the first verse conveys  that the statement that men are “without excuse” is based upon reasons stated in the previous chapter. Those reasons can be found in such statements as “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”.  The phrase “what has been made” is reference to creation's testimony of “God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature” (Ro.1:20-21).  

Jesus referred to creation's testimony when admonishing His followers to “consider the birds of the air” and the “flowers of the field” and how they all live under the providence of the heavenly Father (Mt. 6). The Psalmist declared that the “heavens”, meaning the sun, moon, and stars, “declare the glory of God” (Ps19). These verses, and many more convey that mankind has no excuse to not recognize and worship the God of creation. An irrefutable testimony abounds in the terrestrial and celestial cosmos of this creation, declaring the wonder and the glory of God. 

However, being true to His own word that declares “out of the mouth of two or more witnesses everything is established” (Deut.17:6), God has provided man with another method of testimony that further establishes that men are “without excuse”.  That testimony is the preaching of the Word of God. Psalms 19 says “His word has gone out into all the world”. We see that even more emphatically declared in the New Testament where Paul reveals that even in the days of the early church, that the gospel was “bearing fruit throughout the whole world” (Col.1:5-6).  Paul also wrote “God choose through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe” (1Co.1:21). Why is preaching here described as “foolish”?  The answer is found in what we have recognized in Paul’s letter to the Romans. That being that God has already made “His eternal power and divine nature” known through His creation. The message of “His eternal power and divine nature” have already been testified to by “what has been made”.  The preaching of these qualities is only necessary because as Paul writes in this same chapter to the Romans, man has “suppressed the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain” (Ro.1:18-19).    

Returning to the many warnings Paul states in chapter one of his letter to the Romans, it is clear that the testimonies the Lord has provide for all mankind, both through creation and through the preaching of the Word, give support to the admonishment that we are “without excuse”. Those warnings include the declaration that the wonders of God are ”clearly seen…so people are without excuse”.  No soul will be able to stand before the judgment seat and declare that they did not know. They will be “without excuse”.

Consider how you are responding to this evidence that testifies to “His divine power and eternal nature”.  What is the acceptable response to this testimony?  In another example of a “therefore”, the writer of Hebrews declares “Therefore…..let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”.   What is your acceptable response to the testimony provided by this natural world and by the testimony of the preached word?     Or, in lite of these testimonies, as Paul writes in chapter twelve of his letter to the Romans, what is “your reasonable act of service”?