Plodcast Ep. 70 Secularism, Sleuthing C.S. Lewis, Harmartiology
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The Greek word translated "without excuse," "no excuse," or "inexcusable" is anapologétos
and it appears in the New Testament twice, both in the epistle the Romans.
Romans 1:19-20
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 2:1
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
In the first instance, we see it applied as a statement regarding those who refuse to live by what God declares and makes evident in His creation.
In the second instance, we see it applied as a statement regarding those who insist upon applying that same standard to other people without applying it first to themselves.
When combined, we see the picture even more clearly: natural revelation cannot tell me what to do, but it certainly can tell you what you must do.
It is inexcusable to ignore God's clear commands myself and it is inexcusable to apply them to others without first applying it to myself.
If someone invented a cure for cancer and walked through a cancer ward and gave the cure to as many as wanted it, but some refused it and some he didn't get to in time, those who died didn't die of a thing called "not taking the cure." They died from cancer. Similarly, those who die without hearing the Gospel do not die of a thing called "not hearing the Gospel." They die because of their sin. They are condemned for their awareness of the standards they ought to have kept and their insistence that others ought to have lived up to that same standard.
Ambrose Bierce, in the Devil's Dictionary, famously defined a Christian as, "one who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor.”
Imagine that God placed a tape recorder around your neck which only recorded moral judgments you applied to others. It recorded all your conversations and reactions with particular attention to phrases like,
"He should not have..."
"I can't believe she..."
"You should..."
"We can't just..."
Now, imagine God employed a set of angels with the task of editing those recordings down to individualized moral code distilled from your pronouncements. This moral code was made up of your own statements and neatly organized into a code of personal conduct.
Now imagine God judged you by your own moral code. You would fail and fall short of your own judgments. Just like everyone else would.
And God says that this is INEXCUSABLE. There is no excuse, no apology, no defense to be made. You condemn yourself by your own mouth. You pronounce your own judgment.
We defy what our moral sense tells us we ought to do and then,
we apply that same standard that we've rejected for ourselves to others.
BOTH are utterly WITHOUT EXCUSE and deserve the judgment they receive.
You may say then, "If that is the case, then who could be saved? Who could be judged worthy or up to snuff?" The answer is obvious, "No one."
Romans 3:9-12
both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
Where does that leave us? Up a creek without a paddle, in need of something outside of ourselves to save us. If someone or something doesn't save us, we are dead at the bottom of the pool.
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