Have you ever tried to hold someone accountable for their actions, and all you get are their excuses for what they did, or did not do? If you have children you’ve heard a million and one excuses for disobedience, but excuses are not limited to children, that’s just the beginning of this age-old problem. In Romans 1:19-23, Paul makes it very clear that no one will have an excuse for not believing in God.
Romans 1:19-23 “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. 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: 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. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”
In verse 19, God has made himself known to the entire human race through creation. When we stand before Him one day, and all of us will, we will be held accountable for the general revelation of God by creation. The general revelation is the non-saving way He has revealed Himself to all men of His existence. Verse 19 tells us, He manifests or made known to us, who He is, and that is important because no man has ever found God on his own. God took the initiative to reveal Himself to man. No one can look around at creation and not realize that it took something bigger than ourselves to create everything. God created, and holds, the world in place by His own power.
His next revelation is His special revelation. This is what we have in the written word. This is often referred to as the saving revelation because it is necessary for someone to put their faith in Jesus. It is where God reveals to mankind how to know Him. The written word tells us about the Living Word, Jesus Christ. It is by this revelation that all men can be saved. We look back at the Messiah that came and gave His life as a payment for our sins. The saints, before the coming of the Messiah, believed in God and placed their faith in the coming Messiah. All are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. In Romans 10:17, Paul reminds us that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” That is why it is so important to send missionaries to unreached people. No one can be saved by simple general revelation. They can only come to a saving knowledge of Jesus by the special revelation found in the Bible.
In verse 20, we are told that God has revealed Himself to mankind since the beginning of the world. Remember in Genesis 3:8, God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. He talked with them, and the knowledge they had should have been passed down by them. God will hold mankind guilty if they have not accepted His Son Jesus as their Savior. Those who know about this special revelation will suffer a greater penalty than those who never heard, but all who don’t accept Him will suffer eternally in Hell. It is not God’s fault that we do not pass down knowledge of who God is, and how to be saved. In the beginning, all knew God and how to be His child. When we do not pass down this knowledge, we are leaving our children and those who come after them guilty before God.
In verses 21-22, we see God rejected. They did not know Him as their god, but they did have a knowledge of Him as God. They would not acknowledge Him as God, the only true God. They did not give thanks or acknowledge Him as the giver of all good gifts. They had been told, but they rejected God. The same is true today. The world is not gladly receiving the truth of who God is, or the truth about eternal life. People who reject God and His Son have chosen to do so. Some have rejected Him out of ignorance, but most out of willful rejection. They want no one ruling their lives but themselves.
No one will have an excuse that God will accept when they stand before Him. The only thing that allows us entrance to eternal life in Heaven, is having our sins covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. Unless we confess our sins, ask forgiveness, and receive Him as our Master we will be lost forever.
There will be no negotiating with God. Verse 22 says they professed to be wise, but their wisdom was foolish. They had rejected God and brought Him down on their level. In verse 23 we see their foolishness has blinded them to the truth of who God is and they have corrupted the incorruptible.
What about you? Have you tried to justify your actions thinking “God will understand?” What are your excuses for not fully serving and following Him?
