January 21, 2022

Romans 1: 19-21 (NIV)

What may be known about God is plain . . . because God has made it plain . . . 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 men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like to be a Christian without a Bible.*

In the Old Testament, we follow the accounts of God’s interaction with mankind – after a fashion. Most of the story is limited to his relationship with a limited number of people. What was going on with the rest of the world?

According to one source, before God’s covenant with Abraham, all peoples had equal access to knowledge of God. This author concludes that monotheism was prevalent and honored, basing his premise on the events described in Genesis 14: 18-20.* Paul says that God’s invisible qualities are seeable and understandable, thus, according to another commentator, leading heathens to doubt their religion (or lack thereof) and prompting them to search for God. “For,” he says, “there never was a time in the history of the world in which the worship of . . . God . . . was not proclaimed somewhere.”* Furthermore, moving on to the New Testament, the Magi’s visit proves that people outside of the Jewish faith were aware of and anticipating the Messiah,* who opened the door for all people to become God’s people.

What a relief that now we can turn to the Bible and see for ourselves what God requires from us . . . except that throughout most of history and all the world, the average person could not read, and even if he could, there was no Bible available for him. Men had to rely on their spiritual leaders for spiritual guidance. Those leaders will be held accountable for their actions but how much responsibility did the common man have to seek and find the truth?

Paul seems to indicate three qualifications necessary to neutralize the wrath of God: (1) to know God; (2) to glorify God; (3) to give God thanks. Is that enough? What about the plan of salvation? Can we scrap faith, repentance, and baptism? Here is what I say: if the people about whom Paul is speaking are without excuse because of what they knew, then I am without excuse because of what I know. And so are you.

The creation, although it did declare so much of God, as left all men without excuse, yet did not fully manifest the will of God, nor bring men to eternal salvation.*