No one will ever stand before God and say, "But I never heard. I never knew You existed!" Even if they haven't heard a preacher preach to them, they've had this inner witness and they'll be accountable according to the revelation they have. This is true of every person.
As an American soldier serving in Vietnam, some of my comrades told me, "I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God." However, once those bombs began dropping and the bullets started to fly, those "atheists" cried out to this God they didn't believe in for mercy at the top of their lungs.
The truth is every person who has ever breathed has a revelation of the existence of God.
Without Excuse
Romans 1: 20 goes on to say:
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen [not obscurely or vaguely, but clearly seen], being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.No one will ever stand before God and say, "But I never heard. I never knew You existed!" Even if they haven't heard a preacher preach to them, they've had this inner witness and they'll be accountable according to the revelation they have. This is true of every person.
(Rom. 1:20)
When atheists tell me, "I don't believe in God," I just go ahead and talk to them as if they do. They say, "I told you, I don't believe in God" and I answer, "I know what you said, but it's not true." I've kept talking like this to many people who have claimed not to believe in God. Somewhere in the conversation, I end up pricking this little part of them that already had this knowledge of God. Then—all of a sudden—they open up and start admitting it.
Psalm 46:10 says:
Be still, and know that I am God.When you get still, you can hear this homing device. When you aren't occupied with anything, it'll start drawing you to God. That's the reason why—prior to salvation—people don't like to be still. They call it being "bored" or "lonely" among other things. Although they use many different terms to describe it, this homing device in their heart is what's speaking to them.
What does it say? "You know this isn't right. You shouldn't be living this way. There has to be more to life than this. Where did I come from? Where am I going? Who created me?" In order to drown this out and ignore it, they have to saturate their eyes and ears with radio and television. They must constantly keep themselves busy with something or this homing device will talk to them and convict them over their lifestyle.
Progressive Steps
Everyone already has a revelation of God. You were born with it, and it stays with you throughout your entire life.
But the rest of Romans 1, beginning with verse 21, reveals progressive steps you can take that will diminish or stop this intuitive knowledge of God from drawing you home to Him. You can actually reach a place where your heart becomes hardened so much over a period of time that you can't hear this homing device—this revelation of God—anymore. Romans 1:21 and following talk about these progressive steps you must take in order to walk away from this revelation.
These principles also apply to everything God does in your life. They don't just work before you were saved concerning God's existence. Before you lose the benefit of anything the Lord has done in your life, you must pass through these four steps.
These four keys in Romans 1:21 describe the steps you take both to walk away from and to draw near to God. Take, for instance, the joy of the Lord. Perhaps it's not as strong today as it once was in your life. If you've ever known God's love, but you aren't experiencing it today as you did once before, there were steps you took away from Him. These are also the same steps you use to come back to Him.
Let's say the revelation is healing. Perhaps you've been healed, but now it seems like you've lost that healing and you're back to where you were before. God didn't quit transmitting His healing power—you just stopped receiving. You've done at least one of these four things listed in Romans 1:21.
The Four Keys
We could continue right on through the rest of Romans 1, starting in verse 22, and bring out many other important truths. But we're going to limit the scope of this study to the four keys to staying full of God revealed in verse 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.Expressed negatively, as in this verse, the four keys are:
(Rom. 1:21)
- They glorified Him not as God
- Neither were thankful
- Became vain in their imaginations
- Their foolish heart was darkened
- Glorify God
- Be thankful
- Recognize the power of your imagination
- Have a good heart
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers