“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Stephen Charnock: No man is exempted from some spice of atheism by the depravation [moral corruptness] of his character, which the psalmist intimates, “there is none that doeth good:” though there are indelible [un-erasable] convictions of the being of a God, that they cannot absolutely deny it; yet there are some athiestical bubblings in the hearts of men, which evidence themselves in their actions. As the apostle, (Titus 1:16) “They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him.” Evil works are a dust stirred up by an atheistical breath. He that habituates himself in some sordid lust can scarcely be said seriously and firmly to believe that there is a God in being; and the apostle doth not say that they know God, but they profess to know Him: True knowledge and profession of knowledge are distinct. It intimates also to us, the unreasonableness of atheism in the consequence, when men shut their eyes against the beams of so clear a sun, God revengeth himself upon them for their impiety, by leaving them to their own wills, lets them fall into the deepest sink and dregs of iniquity; and since they doubt of Him in their hearts, suffers them above others to deny Him in their works, this the apostle discourseth at large [Romans 1:24--Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves] The text then is a description of man’s corruption.”
Clay Miller: The Bible puts all men under sin. We are naturally corrupt and because we are naturally corrupt we do sin. No one is exempt. Rehabilitation will not work. We cannot pay the penalty for the sins we have committed, nor can we change ourselves. We can make changes, but they too will be corrupt changes. We are hopeless in and of ourselves. The only way we can be made right with God is if He simply overlooks our sins and offenses and decides not to punish them (which will not happen), or He chooses to provide Someone to stand in our place and take the punishment of our sin for us. This He has done for His elect. He gives them this great gift. It comes with repentance, a new desire to serve Jesus Christ, not for merit, but out of love and gratitude…What has changed is our position. We have gone from corrupt sinners to corrupt sinners saved by grace. This is what the truth of our condition is designed to do…to drive us to recognize our utter need for a righteousness outside of our own. Christians are not necessarily better than some of the most moral non-Christians…but we do not stand before God based on our works, but based on Christ’s life and His substiutionary atonement for our sins on the cross.
For the Christian, when we stir up the dust with an athiestical breath,,,that is, when we sin, we hate it, we do not enjoy it. For the non-Christian, they don’t care, they minimize it, explain it away. They claim to believe in God, even to know Him, but their actions and response to those actions show otherwise. Saying we know God and actually knowing Him can be two different things.
And God’s judgment is seen by handing men and women over to their sin. That is judgment…God’s wrath in action. Men get worse and worse and think they are okay…But in reality they are storing up more and more wrath for themselves. This is all of our destiny unless God intervenes. All of this is because we either deny God altogether or we try to make God what we want Him to be, rather than bow to Him as our Lord and Savior as He is. More later.
