If you’ve read some of the earlier parts of this series, you may remember that we talked about people who “suppress the truth” according to Romans 1:18. This verse tells us that people don’t suppress “a truth” or “some truth” but “the truth.” This may naturally lead people to ask, “OK, so what’s ‘the’ truth?” Well, we answered that question by saying that “the truth” in its most basic form is that God exists.
Of course, someone might respond to this by saying, “Well, I don’t know that God exists so how can I suppress something that I don’t even know?” That’s a really good question and the Bible answers it in the very next verse:
“That which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them” (Romans 1: 19 RSV).
We can illustrate this verse in a way that should be familiar to anyone who has spent time in school. Here’s how it’s done: Let’s say that a teacher gives an “open-book” test, a test where every student can see the answers to the test questions in a textbook during the test. Now let’s say that when the tests are graded and returned, a bunch of students discover that they’ve failed this open-book test.
Given this situation, do you think that it would be fair for the failing students to complain that they failed because they didn’t know the answers? Well, of course not. While there might be many possible excuses for failing an open-book test, one thing that can’t be said is that these students failed because the teacher didn’t let them see the answers.
Where’s The Evidence?
This little illustration represents the idea behind Romans 1:19: “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them” (NIV). The word for “plain” or “evident” used here means apparent, to become clear or visible. (1) This means that all of creation is like a giant open-book test about God. So the Scriptures tell us that the evidence for God definitely exists and that God personally delivers that evidence and allows everyone to “see the answers” for themselves.
But again, someone might respond by saying, “Evidence? Where’s the evidence?” Well, OK, read on…
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 NIV).
This is something else that we talked earlier when we discussed the Teleological argument for God’s existence. You might remember that there were three points to this argument:
- A design implies that a designer must exist
- Creation shows evidence of design
- Therefore, there is evidence of a supernatural designer of creation
Remember that “Creation” is a kind of window through which we can understand the truth of God’s existence. The fact is that everyone, everywhere is quietly reminded each day that there can’t be a “Creation” without first having a Creator. This means that we can see the reality of a Creator by the existence of His work (like the earth, sun, moon, stars and so forth).
The Scriptures tell us that this evidence is so clear that people are literally “without excuse.” This means that no one will ever be able to truthfully claim that they didn’t know about God’s existence. They may not be comfortable with the idea of God’s existence but no one will ever be able to honestly claim that the evidence wasn’t there.
This is important because of what comes next…
Choices
“Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead” (Romans 1:21-22 NLT).
When it comes to rejecting the truth of God’s existence, the Bible tells us that everything comes down to one cold, hard reality: people don’t acknowledge God because they really don’t want to. You see, people who aren’t interested in acknowledging God can often find many different ways to justify their unbelief but ultimately there’s only one real motivation: “…even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks…” (NAS). So if this is true, the question then becomes, “Why do people feel this way about God?”
Well, John 3:19 gives us the short answer to that question…
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19 NIV).
This Scripture implies that people choose not to acknowledge God so they can keep from feeling responsible to Him. Think of it like this: if people can “convince” themselves that God doesn’t exist, then they are free to make their own rules, do what they want and live self-indulgent lifestyles without any feeling of responsibility on their part towards God.
While this may sound great to some people, there’s one not-so-little problem: people must deliberately hold back the testimony of nature that proclaims God’s existence in order to live the kind of lifestyle that presumes that He doesn’t! In the end, this is what causes people to “suppress the truth is unrighteousness” according to Romans 1:18.
Ways To Suppress The Truth
So now that we’ve talked about why people suppress the truth about God, let’s look at how that actually takes place. What forms do people use to suppress (or “hold down”) the truth of God’s existence?
Well, one way that people can do this is by substituting something else for the word “God” in everyday conversation. For example, the term “Mother Nature” is a common way of referring to creation in a way that eliminates the idea of a Creator. People may also refer to things like “luck,” “fate,” “chance,” or “karma” to explain why things sometimes happen in life. If you listen carefully, you’ll find that people can use these substitutes to eliminate almost any acknowledgment of God from any conversation.
So it’s not that people don’t know that God exists- it’s that people do know but they prefer not to acknowledge or thank Him. No one can truthfully say that they don’t know that God exists because the evidence is all around us. Someone can say “I don’t want to believe in God” but they can’t say that there isn’t any reason to believe.
(1) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance With Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon and Vine’s Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words