Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
What can be known of God is made plain in and to people because God Himself has shown it to them, so He is not hidden and they are left without excuse. He shows Himself through nature and the Word, the two books of education in which His eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen, and by the inward drawing and striving of the Holy Spirit upon mind and will, a light that reaches even the heathen through nature and their own need as they search for the first great cause. The God thus made known is made known in Jesus Christ, who came to represent the Father, and in the righteousness of Christ revealed in the law and in the gospel, which is the power of God to save everyone who believes and in which the just live by faith. Yet many who know Him do not glorify Him as God nor give thanks, but hold the truth in unrighteousness, becoming vain in imagination with darkened hearts and changing His glory into images of created things, against which ungodliness the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. That light makes all accountable, and mere knowledge does not cleanse, so ministers, churches, and families are warned to be sanctified through belief of the truth, to know Christ as Saviour before following Him as pattern, and to walk in the light in obedience until His character shines forth from them.
How God Makes Himself Known
What may be known of God is made plain in and to people because God Himself has shown it to them, so that His presence and will are not wholly hidden and they are left without excuse. What can be known about God has been made plain inside people and manifest in them by His own showing, including by the witness of His Holy Spirit to testimonies borne to them and by light sent which, even when not received, still leaves them without excuse. The verse must be particularly understood together with verse 20 and with the whole first chapter of Romans read in its full force until its particular meaning is grasped, as setting out a true experience and a solemn warning.
That knowledge comes through nature and the Word of God, the two books furnished for education, by which His eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen and understood. It reaches even the uneducated heathen through nature and through their own necessities, so that, dissatisfied with darkness, they reach out for light and search for God as the first great cause. God shows Himself within every soul living on the earth by the drawing and inward striving of the Holy Spirit upon mind and will, calling each person to reverence His law.
The God thus made known is Jesus Christ, made known in Christ in the living oracles who came to represent the Father, and in the righteousness of Christ placed distinctly in the law, which reveals God in His true character and reveals the law as holy, just, and good. Joined with the verses before it, the verse connects with the gospel as the power of God to save everyone who believes, in which the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith and the just live by faith.
God has given through Scripture abundant testimony to His existence, His character, and the truthfulness of His word, which appeals to reason and gives sufficient evidence of divine authority for faith. Faith rests on evidence rather than demonstration, so opportunity to doubt remains for those who wish to doubt, while those who desire to know the truth find ample ground for faith. Inability to understand the mysteries of His providence is no reason to doubt, since the difficulty lies only in the weakness and narrowness of the human mind that is already constantly surrounded in nature by incomprehensible wonders and should not be surprised to find unfathomable mysteries also in the spiritual world. Many pagan philosophers once had a pure knowledge of God, but degeneracy obscured it when they worshiped created things and God's handiwork in the sun, moon, and stars instead of God Himself, and the record of the various ways in which God speaks to the heathen stands in striking contrast to heathen ideas.
Holding Truth in Unrighteousness
What may be known of God is made plain within people because God Himself has shown it to them, and the verse describes a class who will arise to hold that known truth in unrighteousness while doing the ungodly work set out with it. To hold the truth in unrighteousness is, though knowing God, not to glorify Him as God nor to give thanks, but to become vain in imagination with darkened, foolish hearts. In that state they change the glory of the incorruptible God into images made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things, and are left without excuse.
This withholding is like a servant who hides his lord's entrusted treasure instead of using it to God's glory. It gives almost nothing to God while spending freely on self-pleasure, and the light thus given makes the withholder accountable for how he responds. Men such as Voltaire, Hume, Rousseau, and Byron knew God because He showed Himself to them, yet held the truth in unrighteousness, glorified Him not as God, were not thankful, and became vain in imagination with darkened hearts. Being under Satan's training they sowed infidelity, and to admit their works as study books in schools while setting aside the Word of God as unessential and placing it in a corner is to accept Satanic authority in the education of youth against light plainly given through nature and the Word as the two books of education.
The same holding of truth in unrighteousness applies to all who regard God as He is represented in Living Temple, by the witness of the Holy Spirit to testimonies borne and by light sent which was not received. To continue accepting the sophistry in that book leads on and on in delusion, just as befell many after the passing of the time in 1844. Against all such ungodliness and unrighteous unfaithfulness of men and women who hold the truth in unrighteousness the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. None will be pleased to meet that unfaithfulness in the judgment.
Accountability and Faithful Response
What God has made plain gives light and makes each person accountable for the response, calling all to reverence His law as pure and binding because it expresses His character. Knowing the truth is not enough to cleanse the heart, for cleansing comes only through sanctifying grace doing a thorough work in conversion and removing every kind of iniquity. To profess belief in the truth while denying it in works leaves the heart unsanctified.
The verse stands as a solemn warning and charge to ministers who preach the Word, to churches, and to every family, including fathers and mothers who claim to be sons and daughters of God. It lays bare a work greatly neglected in churches and homes and holds families accountable to labor together with God as faithful, exemplary believers sanctified through belief of the truth. No family can continue that neglect in home life and remain guiltless.
Christ must be known individually as Saviour before He can be rightly studied as pattern and example. By studying His character feature by feature, by beholding Him and communing with Him and seeing Him in the living oracles, ministers and believers are transformed into His image, imbued with His Spirit, walk in His footsteps, and truly represent Christ to the world. In thus representing Christ they represent God to the world, instead of copying defective men. Those who see the light must walk in that light in obedience to the commandments, accepting His character so as to become children of the Heavenly King and members of the royal family, with the truth and light and righteousness of Christ shining forth through yielded channels in distinct lines and nothing accepted as a substitute. Not all will obey that drawing, and to turn away from conviction in order to avoid the cross weakens and extinguishes the power of the Spirit upon mind and will.
What can be known of God is made plain in and to people because God Himself has shown it to them, so He is not hidden and they are left without excuse. He shows Himself through nature and the Word, the two books of education in which His eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen, and by the inward drawing and striving of the Holy Spirit upon mind and will, a light that reaches even the heathen through nature and their own need as they search for the first great cause. The God thus made known is made known in Jesus Christ, who came to represent the Father, and in the righteousness of Christ revealed in the law and in the gospel, which is the power of God to save everyone who believes and in which the just live by faith. Yet many who know Him do not glorify Him as God nor give thanks, but hold the truth in unrighteousness, becoming vain in imagination with darkened hearts and changing His glory into images of created things, against which ungodliness the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. That light makes all accountable, and mere knowledge does not cleanse, so ministers, churches, and families are warned to be sanctified through belief of the truth, to know Christ as Saviour before following Him as pattern, and to walk in the light in obedience until His character shines forth from them.
How God Makes Himself Known
What may be known of God is made plain in and to people because God Himself has shown it to them, so that His presence and will are not wholly hidden and they are left without excuse. What can be known about God has been made plain inside people and manifest in them by His own showing, including by the witness of His Holy Spirit to testimonies borne to them and by light sent which, even when not received, still leaves them without excuse. The verse must be particularly understood together with verse 20 and with the whole first chapter of Romans read in its full force until its particular meaning is grasped, as setting out a true experience and a solemn warning.
That knowledge comes through nature and the Word of God, the two books furnished for education, by which His eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen and understood. It reaches even the uneducated heathen through nature and through their own necessities, so that, dissatisfied with darkness, they reach out for light and search for God as the first great cause. God shows Himself within every soul living on the earth by the drawing and inward striving of the Holy Spirit upon mind and will, calling each person to reverence His law.
The God thus made known is Jesus Christ, made known in Christ in the living oracles who came to represent the Father, and in the righteousness of Christ placed distinctly in the law, which reveals God in His true character and reveals the law as holy, just, and good. Joined with the verses before it, the verse connects with the gospel as the power of God to save everyone who believes, in which the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith and the just live by faith.
God has given through Scripture abundant testimony to His existence, His character, and the truthfulness of His word, which appeals to reason and gives sufficient evidence of divine authority for faith. Faith rests on evidence rather than demonstration, so opportunity to doubt remains for those who wish to doubt, while those who desire to know the truth find ample ground for faith. Inability to understand the mysteries of His providence is no reason to doubt, since the difficulty lies only in the weakness and narrowness of the human mind that is already constantly surrounded in nature by incomprehensible wonders and should not be surprised to find unfathomable mysteries also in the spiritual world. Many pagan philosophers once had a pure knowledge of God, but degeneracy obscured it when they worshiped created things and God's handiwork in the sun, moon, and stars instead of God Himself, and the record of the various ways in which God speaks to the heathen stands in striking contrast to heathen ideas.
Holding Truth in Unrighteousness
What may be known of God is made plain within people because God Himself has shown it to them, and the verse describes a class who will arise to hold that known truth in unrighteousness while doing the ungodly work set out with it. To hold the truth in unrighteousness is, though knowing God, not to glorify Him as God nor to give thanks, but to become vain in imagination with darkened, foolish hearts. In that state they change the glory of the incorruptible God into images made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things, and are left without excuse.
This withholding is like a servant who hides his lord's entrusted treasure instead of using it to God's glory. It gives almost nothing to God while spending freely on self-pleasure, and the light thus given makes the withholder accountable for how he responds. Men such as Voltaire, Hume, Rousseau, and Byron knew God because He showed Himself to them, yet held the truth in unrighteousness, glorified Him not as God, were not thankful, and became vain in imagination with darkened hearts. Being under Satan's training they sowed infidelity, and to admit their works as study books in schools while setting aside the Word of God as unessential and placing it in a corner is to accept Satanic authority in the education of youth against light plainly given through nature and the Word as the two books of education.
The same holding of truth in unrighteousness applies to all who regard God as He is represented in Living Temple, by the witness of the Holy Spirit to testimonies borne and by light sent which was not received. To continue accepting the sophistry in that book leads on and on in delusion, just as befell many after the passing of the time in 1844. Against all such ungodliness and unrighteous unfaithfulness of men and women who hold the truth in unrighteousness the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. None will be pleased to meet that unfaithfulness in the judgment.
Accountability and Faithful Response
What God has made plain gives light and makes each person accountable for the response, calling all to reverence His law as pure and binding because it expresses His character. Knowing the truth is not enough to cleanse the heart, for cleansing comes only through sanctifying grace doing a thorough work in conversion and removing every kind of iniquity. To profess belief in the truth while denying it in works leaves the heart unsanctified.
The verse stands as a solemn warning and charge to ministers who preach the Word, to churches, and to every family, including fathers and mothers who claim to be sons and daughters of God. It lays bare a work greatly neglected in churches and homes and holds families accountable to labor together with God as faithful, exemplary believers sanctified through belief of the truth. No family can continue that neglect in home life and remain guiltless.
Christ must be known individually as Saviour before He can be rightly studied as pattern and example. By studying His character feature by feature, by beholding Him and communing with Him and seeing Him in the living oracles, ministers and believers are transformed into His image, imbued with His Spirit, walk in His footsteps, and truly represent Christ to the world. In thus representing Christ they represent God to the world, instead of copying defective men. Those who see the light must walk in that light in obedience to the commandments, accepting His character so as to become children of the Heavenly King and members of the royal family, with the truth and light and righteousness of Christ shining forth through yielded channels in distinct lines and nothing accepted as a substitute. Not all will obey that drawing, and to turn away from conviction in order to avoid the cross weakens and extinguishes the power of the Spirit upon mind and will.