Why are people without excuse according to Romans 1:21?
They are without excuse because, though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks. Instead they became vain in their imaginations, leaving God out of their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened, producing empty, foolish thoughts.
Les teaches that the reason people are without excuse is that when they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God and were not thankful. Instead they became vain in their imaginations. When they leave God out of their thinking, they begin to put forth foolish imaginations, which are nothing but vanity and emptiness. In those vain imaginations, their foolish heart was darkened. Les points out that “darkened” is a verb and asks who did the darkening—God did. He illustrates this with Pharaoh: when God began dealing with Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron, confronting him to let Israel go, God put Pharaoh on the spot and gave him a choice. Pharaoh chose not to let Israel go. After the first plague he thought about it, but that was as far as he got. Each subsequent refusal left him in a more hardened position than before. Les clarifies it was not that God zoomed in on Pharaoh’s heart like a laser beam and fried it.
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.
More Questions
What happened to people who knew God but did not glorify Him or give thanks, according to Romans 1:21?
According to Romans 1:21, because people knew God but did not glorify Him as God and were not thankful, they became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened.