Clearly Seen

Romans 1:20

Last time we looked at how men are without excuse. No man can say that they did not know about God, because God has manifested Himself to all men. Today’s verse takes a further look into this truth.

Romans 1:20 states, “for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” There is a lot that we can take from this verse. We will step through it and try and gather as much truth as we can from it.

The first thing we learn is that this (this being what we talked about in verse nineteen) has been true since the beginning of time. God has never changed His way. We already saw this in our article on verse seventeen. What this means is that nobody has ever had an excuse. The Canaanites knew of God, as did the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, and Nazis.

The Bible says that His attributes are clearly seen. No one has to go searching for Him, He is clearly evident to them. It is not blurred, it is not difficult to understand or see, it is clear.

What exactly are these “invisible attributes” though? These attributes are things like His holiness and His power. Men can clearly see that there is a Creator. They have to teach themselves (and others) that there is no God, They have to convince themselves that He is not the Creator. In the Old Testament, every nation we read about worshipped something. It may have been Baal, Ra, or others which are obviously not worthy of being worshipped, but they inherently knew that there was a higher power. The same is true today. Some will claim that they are atheist or agnostic, but this is what they decided to convince themselves to believe. It is not a natural, inherent belief. Man knows there is a Creator.

It is clear for man to see that there is a Creator. It is also clear that there is a right moral code. Murder is inherently understood to be wrong. Cannibalism is inherently known to be wrong. God gives every man a conscience and an understanding of what is generally right and wrong.

Other attributes we aim to obtain such as being caring or generous or kind are what men will agree are good things. These are godly attributes, unbelievers just choose not to believe it. Choosing not to believe it, just as choosing to believe there is no God or that a statue is a God, are man’s fault. It is essentially choosing to believe that God is not the Creator and that He is not holy. They choose man over God.

These things are clearly understood by man. His power and Godhead. His holiness. That is why man has no excuse. We cannot claim that we do not know that He is the Creator or that He is all powerful or that He is good. It is clear to us. That is why all men are condemned. Man cannot be saved by this knowledge, but they are damned by it.

This is why we should not be ashamed of the gospel. All men and women are condemned and we know how they can be rescued. We cannot save them, but we know what they must do to be saved. This is why we must be a witness for Him.

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