**The Whole of Mankind is Inexcusable for not Believing in…

**The Whole of Mankind is Inexcusable for not Believing in God**

**By Martyn Lloyd-Jones**

**“. . . men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).**

**“So that, when he talks about ‘the invisible things of God’ he is referring to God’s eternal power and Godhead and to nothing else. He is not referring to God as He has revealed Himself in salvation, but only to the power and Godhead of God. Now here again are two terms that we must define carefully. The word ‘power’ of course is simple; . . . if you look at creation you see the power of God. . . .**

**“But now this other word has unfortunately translated here in the Authorized Version – “Even His eternal power and Godhead” (v.20). This should never have been translated ‘Godhead’, because Godhead really means God as God, and that means the whole of God, the Person, the Being of God. But that is not what the Apostle is talking about, and this is just a sheer bad translation. He deliberately used a word which should never have been translated as ‘Godhead’. What does it mean? It means ‘deity’; it means ‘divinity’. ‘Even His eternal power and divinity’, not His ‘Godhead’, because that is everything. But this is only partial, this is only one aspect of revelation. This is the general aspect, and here it is that God shows His divinity. What does that mean? It means the ‘divine excellences’, the ‘divine perfections’. It means those particular attributes in God in which He reveals not so much Himself and His Being, as His powers and attributes, His abilities; what the Apostle Peter in his first Epistle calls, ‘His virtues’ – ‘That ye may show forth the praises’ (or the virtues, the powers, the attributes, the excellences) ‘of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light’ (2:9). That is the thing the Apostle is referring to here.**

**So, then, we can summarize the matter by putting it like this: in creation, in providence, and in history there is not enough knowledge to save us. You will not find the love of God there, nor will you find the grace of God, nor the mercy and the compassion of God. But you will find His greatness, His glory, His majesty, His might, His dominion, His justice, His righteousness – yes, and His holiness in a measure. This general revelation which God has given and which remains, is not enough to save man but it is enough to render man inexcusable for his godlessness and for his sinfulness. It is enough to render man inexcusable in the matter of ungodliness and of unrighteousness because, says the Apostle, there is enough there to establish the Being of God, His greatness, His power,, His justice, His righteousness, His law.**

**In other words, Paul’s statement is that there is enough in creation and providence and history to establish the fact that God is the Creator and that God is the moral governor of this universe. And that is why the Apostle says that the whole of mankind is without excuse. There, without going further, is enough to establish God the Creator, and see God the moral governor of the entire universe.”**