No Excuse!

By C. Warren Andreasen


How many times have we heard a person say; “I didn’t know”, “I’m sorry”? It seems that it is very basic to our nature to make excuses when we fall short of some goal or standard. “I intended to be there but at the last minute I got a telephone call and time got away from me, then it was too late”, or “I was on my way and I did not have enough gas, and could not afford to buy more, so…”, or some other excuse? Kids are the worst excuse makers… or are they?

In Hebrews 9:27 it tells us “it is appointed unto all men once to die, but after this the judgment.” I suppose many who come before judgment will want to make excuses. I can hear some of the excuses now… “If only somebody had told me.”, “I could not afford the gas to go to church all of the time”, “I did not have good clothes...”, “The churches are full of hypocrites”, “There are so many religions I did not know who to believe...”, on and on go the excuses.

Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities… His eternal power and divine nature… have been understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse,

“OH NO!” you say. We will have no excuse? How can we be held accountable for that which we do not know? How has God given his law? (Ignorance of man’s law is not excused; it is a citizen’s duty to know the law.)

God has “published” seven editions of his divine law so we cannot even claim ignorance! They are as follows:

1 - Written in Nature

Psalms 19:1-4 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display the knowledge, there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Anyone who studies science and nature should be overwhelmed with the glory of God. Just for a few examples, think of the bat. The bat has a built-in SONAR system that is better than anything man has ever built. It has enough resolution that it can pick out a small insect on the wing. It has enough range it allows the fast-flying mammal to navigate while flying at full speed. It is so sensitive it can detect the differences in surface texture, it is small enough to be flown in a small creature that can be as small as a mouse, and it is self-repairing, finds it’s own fuel, and requires no maintenance. Ungodly men will say “it is just evolution!”

There is such a thing as evolution you know… In the early part of World War 2 electronic RADAR was developed, but it was very crude, requiring large amounts of power and space. It did not work very well. Over the years RADAR has become greatly refined… it has evolved… on it’s own? Hardly. The intelligence of a man is behind it. There are many similar examples, the bat is just one example. Many sea animals have similar abilities, and we are only talking about one function. Rattlesnakes have heat sensors that allow them to see in the dark. Birds can fly, there are flying creatures as small as a fruit fly, there is a complex and rarity of life in general. We have reproduction, healing… we cannot even count the marvels much less explain them. I could go on for hours talking about the marvels of God’s creation, but I must not if I am to cover all seven points in a reasonable amount of time.

I will cover one additional point here… the Atom. Science tells us that the Atom is made up of the smallest particles of matter. It is made up of various sub-elements called Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons. The center of the Atom is made up of the positively charged protons and some neutrons that have no charge. The electrons carry a negative charge. All of the laws of nature tell us that “like charges repel” and “unlike charges attract”. We can demonstrate this principle by taking two magnets. Try and push the two like poles together and they resist. If you are strong enough, and if the magnet is weak enough, you can hold the like poles together, but as soon as you let go, they will fly apart, Take the unlike poles and get then near each other and they slam together and are difficult to pull apart. Now we go back to the Atom and find that all matter is made up with the Protons held together by some force that keeps the nucleus from flying apart. The electrons (negative charge) are in the shells around the nucleus and are held so that they do not come crashing into the nucleus, (largest group of protons), which have the greatest repelling force. We can cause it to split apart. The energy release is so great that it is referred to as the “Atomic Bomb”. What is this enormous energy that is able to hold matter together against its nature? Colossians 1:17 tells us that He (Jesus) is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Science does not know what this force is, and calls it the “weak force” or sometimes “atomic glue”. I won’t even go into the life force itself but suffice it to say that the ungodly world refers to the mighty works of God as “Mother Nature” and the “Laws of Nature”.

2- Written on the Conscience

(Romans 2:15) ...since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

You can kill your conscience if you work at it, but you can’t control it. Even a small child knows basic right from wrong. Who has to tell a child, when something has been stolen from him, that he has been wronged? Each of us is born with the knowledge of right and wrong impressed on our hearts. We “know” when we are wrong, and we “know” what is good.

3- Written on Tablets of Stone

(Exodus 24:12) The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction

Who does not know of this event? It has been the subject of history ever since. The Ten Commandments are the foundation of our law to this day. It is the same law that is written on our conscience.

4- Christ the Living Word

(John 1:14) The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christ was not only the Living Word, but He lived the Word so that we could learn both from what he said and that he did while here amongst us.

5- The Entire Scriptures

(Romans 15:4) For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope,

The Scriptures (Bible) is available as no other book has ever been. I would guess most homes in the United States of America have at least one Bible. I would also guess most of them go unread.

6- Written on the Heart

(Hebrews 8:10) This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

The “House of Israel” is all who follow Christ. Once a person accepts Christ as the Son of God, the Holy Spirit begins to reveal God’s law in our hearts. Even those who do not know Christ have a God shaped vacuum in their hearts, which is why man, at any time, anywhere, always worship a “god”. In our very being we know of God.

7- Christians as Living Epistles

(2 Corinthians 3:2-3) You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Even people who reject Christ know how a Christian should act. The single greatest influence on the unbelieving world is the actions of those who call themselves Christians. Your actions speak so loud that people can’t hear what you say. The unsaved world sees Christ in His church and in His people.

The world knows well the result of the “law of the sinful nature”. There is no escape from this law and the result can be described as “bad fruit from a corrupt tree” (see Galatians 5:29-21); sexual immorality; impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft (drugs); hatred; discord; jealousy; fits of rage; selfish ambition; dissensions; factions and envy; drunkenness; orgies; and the like. When the law of God governs our lives, the lower law is displaced and we become new creatures. People see the change, people see and recognize our deeds. People see the Law of God at work within us, and in fact, get a glimpse of Christ within us.

Conclusion:

As I hope you can see, there is NO EXCUSE when we are called to judgment. Since there is no excuse we have no recourse other than to reject Christ, or submit to God’s law, which provides for salvation through Christ. There is death through the law, or there is life through Jesus Christ, and there are no other choices.

(2 Corinthians 6:2) I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

(Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Only you can make the choice, life or death, accept or reject Christ, there are no excuses, no reason, no rationalizations, either you do our you don’t. Making no choice is a choice that is rejecting Christ. Now is the time, you must make a choice.

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