S“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: “It is necessary to depress that secret atheism which is in the heart of every man by nature. Though every visible object which offers itself to our sense, presents a deity to our minds, and exhorts us to subscribe to the truth of it; yet there is a root of atheism springing up sometimes in wavering thoughts and foolish imaginations, inordinate actions, and secret wishes. Certain it is that every man that doth not love God, denies God; now can he that disaffects Him, and hath a slavish fear of Him, wish His existence, and say to his own heart with any cheerfulness there is a God, and make it his chief care to persuade himself of it? He would persuade himself there is no God, and stifle the seeds of it in his reason and conscience, that he might have the greatest liberty to entertain the allurements of the flesh. It is necessary to excite men to daily and actual considerations of God and his nature, which would be a bar to much of that wickedness which overflows in the lives of me.”
Clay Miller: We all operate on the principle of happiness. The problem is our hearts are corrupt and we think happiness is found in something created rather than the Creator Himself. That is our nature. So we very naturally begin to try to explain away the evident existence of God. No matter what we see, we refuse to believe, or really, to admit there is a God…or at least the God of the Bible to whom we must give account of our lives.
We do not naturally love God. So, what would a person in a world God created, who does not love God, do? He would try to convince himself that God is an illusion, not real…or, he would try to make up a God that is acceptable to himself. Both ways deny God.
This is all to say that, of course sinners will deny the God of the Bible. What else can they do to feel good about going on in their sin? They love sin more than God but are not willing to admit that they could be so corrupt as to make such a choice…so they deny Him altogether or they make up a god who is “cool” with what they do. This is the world we live in. This is the culture we are called to engage. May God do mighty things in the hearts of those we speak to!
