¹⁸  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
¹⁹  because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
²⁰  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes 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, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
²²  Professing to be wise, they became fools,
²³  and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
²⁴  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
²⁵  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 1:18-25 (NKJV)

When confronted with the Gospel message, there is often an attitude on display within society given as a reason to reject the message as worthless or irrelevant. There are two common forms of this attitude on display, the first being atheism and the second being agnosticism. In short, atheism could be described as a belief that God exists only as a figment of mans imagination, and agnosticism could be described perhaps as cowardly atheism in my opinion, in that it suggests there is no real way in which the existence of God can be known, nor His will understood. Either way the outcome is an attempt to nullify the Gospel message by suggesting the foundation, which is the very Person of God Himself, is at fault and therefore making the Gospel itself irrelevant.

The most common reaction by most Christians when faced with such opposition is to defend the Person of God by making an argument for His existence, offering as much evidence as possible for such a belief being true. The trouble is however that the evidence offered is most often found outside of the Bible itself, which can then lead to circular arguments where various theories are knocked back and forth like a tennis ball. The sad thing with this approach is that firstly it bears very little fruit, and secondly is that it is not a Biblical stance.

The opening text of this article comes from the letter to the Roman church, where the apostle Paul had just declared that “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, because it is the power of salvation to all who believe.” Immediately following the announcement of the Gospel, Paul makes a distinction between the righteousness of God which is revealed by faith, and the unrighteousness of man, which seeks to willingly suppress the righteousness of God. As a result of this attitude, the Bible tells us that the wrath of God shall be revealed against those who hold to it.

The reason I have said it is not a Biblical stance to attempt to argue for the existence of God before atheists and agnostics, is that the Bible clearly exposes their stance for the foolish lie that it is, and it is a self deceiving lie that those professing such views knows full well. The Bible says such things as; “ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Or elsewhere, “The fool has said in their heart, there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1) In other words, the Bible teaches us that God has revealed His existence and His attributes to all mankind by what He has created, therefore making true atheism an impossibility.

If you have heard the Gospel message and seek to attempt to side-step the consequences by pleading ignorance, either through total atheism or agnosticism, your plea will never be heard by God. We are told that “it is appointed for men to die once and then face the judgement” (Heb 9:27) , and all who have rejected Christ and His Gospel shall spend eternity under the wrath of Almighty God (Rev 14:10-11). It is my cry that if this describes you, then repent and cry out to be forgiven by God whilst His mercy is still extended to you through the Gospel of Christ, for all who call upon His name shall be saved from His wrath (Rom 10:13).

A truly sad thing is that if anyone desires to follow the path of ignorance I’ve described, they will find it an extremely easy path to follow with much company, the majority of which company will confirm their choice as being the right one. That is of course until it is too late. But even this natural course is described in this letter to the Romans in great detail, and just reading it plainly it can be seen mirrored in todays society generally:

²¹  because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²  Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³  and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. ²⁴  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, ²⁵  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. ²⁶  For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. ²⁸  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹  being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰  backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹  undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; ³²  who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:21-32 (NKJV)

Just as in the childrens story of the “Emporer’s Invisible Clothes”, it is so easy to get swept up in the delusion of the masses and become deaf to the voice of reason being spoken in isolation, but that does not excuse those being deceived from facing the consequences of their deception. The notion that God does not exist, and therefore His wrath against sin and His offer of forgiveness through the blood of Christ are pointless, is the greatest deception of all. It is a deception carried out by the master deceiver himself, the devil, who “prowls like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8). My exhortation is that you awake from your slumber and cry out to God for forgiveness only found in Christ alone.

My one final point that I would like you to consider is this: Think about the actions of some of the most vocal so called atheists we know today, such as the likes of Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins. Consider their great effort to prove God does not exist and convince others of this being the case, and ask yourself the following question: Are these the actions of someone who genuinely believes God is simply a fairy story with as much relevance as the tooth fairy, or are they the actions of someone angrily and defiantly shaking a fist at the Creator they have known is there all along but refuse to acknowledge? Do not be swept along by their foolishness and arrogance, and instead humble yourself before the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and receive the forgiveness of your sins that have been purchased by the very blood of God’s Son Himself.

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