FORMULA FOR FUTILITY

ROMANS 1:20–21

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened

(Romans 1:21).

Perhaps two of the ugliest words in the English language are the words futile and its noun form futility. To think that in the final analysis all our efforts are judged to be worthless, or of no value, is a sad commentary on the human race. Yet Paul is saying that because man refuses to honor God and bow to Him in a spirit of gratitude, subsequent human thought, however brilliant, ends in futility.

Men disagree about God

Have you ever wondered why it is that very brilliant and educated people can examine questions regarding the existence of God and come down on opposite sides? St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, was one of the intellectual titans of western civilization. He devoted himself to defending the truthfulness of the existence of God and through all of his intellectual exercises was absolutely convinced of the reality of God’s being.

Yet other intellectual giants sit on the other side of the table and argue against the existence of God. Men like David Hume, Friedrich Nietzche, or in our own day, Jean-Paul Sartre, the French existentialist, were powerful thinkers. Yet from God’s perspective their work is futile.

Why men do not agree

If Paul is correct that God has revealed Himself clearly so that knowledge about Him is not obscure or difficult to obtain, why is it that men of such brilliance come to different positions?

Paul’s answer to this question is profound. He sees the problem men have with acknowledging God’s existence not so much as a problem of the intellect, but rather as a moral problem, a problem of the will. Men and women who refuse to acknowledge God’s existence do so, in the final analysis, because it is contrary to their manner of living. They do not want to bow to the moral claims of a holy God on their lives. And with that refusal as the basis of all their intellectual work, futility (from the eternal standpoint) is the logical result.

CORAM DEO

Because sinfulness warps our thinking capacity, we must depend on God to transform us through the renewing of our minds. As you ponder Romans 12:1–2, pray that God would continue to transform your mind and protect you from vain thinking.

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