Saturday, January 13, 2018

WITHOUT EXCUSE

Stephen Charnock lists ten attributes of God that may be recognized by the light of Nature:

1. the power of God, in creating a world out of nothing
2. the wisdom of God, in the order, variety, and beauty of creation
3.  the goodness of God, in the provision God makes for His creatures
4.  the immutability of God, for if He were mutable, He would lack the perfection of the sun and heavenly bodies, “wherein no change hath been observed”
5. His eternity, for He must exist before what is made in time
6.  the omniscience of God, since as the Creator He must necessarily know everything He has made
7.  the sovereignty of God, “in the obedience his creatures pay to him, in observing their several orders, and moving in the spheres wherein he set them”
8.  the spirituality of God, insofar as God is not visible, “and the more spiritual any creature in the world is, the more pure it is”
9.  the sufficiency ofGod, for He gave all creatures a beginning, and so their being was not necessary, which means God was in no need of them
10.  His majesty, seen in the glory of the heavens
All of these attributes of God may be known by sinful man by observation of the natural world.

Charnock, The Knowledge of God, in Works, 4:115; cited from Beeke, Jones, A Puritan Theology, p. 17.

While the gospel may not reach every individual person in their lifetime, everyone is without excuse for sinning against the light God did give them in these four books.

“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed 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: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:19-21).