Ungodliness is the root of unrighteousness.
Ungodliness is the condition of man’s sin against God, with the result that man sins against man.
When man denies God, he denies Truth — Absolute Truth. Because God is stamped on man’s heart, man attempts to replace God and God’s Truth with man’s own concept of truth, or concept of God by constructing idols. Man’s concept of truth gives man the glory instead of God. God has made Himself obvious in all of creation and in His Word. To deny God is the epitome of arrogance. Arrogance doesn’t need God. Arrogance fashions its own god, rejecting the only true God.
All sin is ungodliness. The wages of sin is spiritual death (Romans 6:23). However, death is both spiritual and physical — two deaths (see Genesis 2:18 – “die” is plural in the original, as in “Dying spiritually, you shall die physically). The unregenerate soul will live eternally separated from God (Rev. 20:11-15).
Christ defeated sin and death. Jesus Christ died so that we don’t have to. Salvation is: Christ died that we might live. He died for the ungodly! Christ died for you! By dismissing God we dismiss ourselves to everlasting torment.
Man by his condition in sin rejects God’s revelations of Himself. Self-righteousness means man denies his own sin-loving nature. The worst of all idolatries is SELF – “I WILL.” The most important question in life becomes the most important answer in life – Do you choose Christ or self? Many people avoid the question thereby avoiding the answer, but with avoidance they have answered “Don’t interfere in my life, God.” Your life is either all about God or all about self! Self is a result of the sin-nature. Self is always more important to self than God is to self.
Man has not evolved, he has devolved. Man is not evolving from a lower form of life to higher form of life except through the delusions of his imaginations and perhaps excess alcohol, both of which are self-deceiving. In fact, the opposite is true. Man started out at the height of perfection from the hand of God (Genesis 1:26-31; 2:7-9). At the fall (Genesis3:7&8), Eve and Adam plunged from the height of Grace to the pit of disgrace. Creation has never been the same.
Religion makes God in man’s own image. In reality, God made man in His own Image. Religion excludes the Grace of God, replacing Grace with works and ritual. Grace means: God does all the work necessary to save us from His wrath. All men are under God’s wrath and must receive Christ as Savior or remain condemned (John 3:15-18 & 36). Religion is man’s futile attempt to impress God with good works. Self-righteousness is the religion of self. Satan has been very successful counterfeiting God’s plan of salvation by grace through faith in the cross-work of Christ (Ephesians 2:8&9). When man trusts himself he glorifies self instead of God. Religion is Satan’s most successful counterfeit of God. “The fool has said there is no God” (Psalm 14:1).
Adam’s first knowledge as a living soul was God – (God-consciousness). The second thing he realized was self-consciousness. Thirdly, Adam learned that he was created from the hand of God as were the heavens, the earth, universe and all life on earth (Genesis chapters one and two). Adam learned everything from God — ALL knowledge comes from God (Exodus 31:3; Proverbs 2:6; Isaiah 28:9,10,13, 26; Daniel 2:21,22; 1 Corinthians 1:5).
Adam had a perfect relationship with God and blew it (Genesis 1:1-31). Adam was created perfect and he enjoyed a perfect relationship with God. He had a perfect relationship with his wife – the perfect wife designed by God (Genesis 2:21-25). Adam fulfilled Eve and Eve completed Adam. God taught them Bible Doctrine every day in the Garden in the cool of the evening (Genesis 3:8).
God is forming a new species of mankind; a new creation under Christ. God, through His own Son Jesus Christ, is reconciling man to Himself (Romans 5, Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:20). Through faith in Jesus Christ, believers become a “New Creation” a New Species in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:17).
Satan’s strategy is to remove God from creation. Evolution, secular education, and atheistic intellectualism, all exclude God and creation. If there is no God then there is no judgment! If no judgment then each person makes their own reality, setting their own standard of conduct and in essence, creates themselves as God. If Satan and man can accomplish this, everybody is off the hook – eat drink and be merry, there is no God. How foolish! (See 1 Corinthians 3:19, 20).
Rejection of God as Creator is irrational arrogance. Observation of the structure and complexities of life, the heavens and the universe not only demand a Creator but affirm it. There is no greater folly than the replacement of God by the intellectual arrogance of man. This is the epitome of arrogance – it is slapping God in the face – it is blasphemy! Arrogance is a horrible thing – abhorred by God (1 Corinthians 1:19).
Heathenism and paganism worship creation instead of the creator. Heathenism is the result of rejecting God. Religion, intellectualism and secularism are all forms of man-made gods. It is inherent in man to be conscious of God. When man dismisses God, the void in man’s soul is filled with man-made gods. Self rejects God and worships self, resulting in paganism, heathenism, and idolatry. Humanity always suffers at the hand of humanity.
God gave man over to his lusts (‘sinful desires’ as seen in Romans 1:21-24). Lust of the heart is inherent in man’s nature involving his soul. Hell is a place of torment. Torments means never satisfied. It means eternal separation, eternal damnation, from God. The evil thoughts and lusts of the unbeliever’s heart may never be quenched. The unbeliever will apparently burn in two ways — with insatiable lust and the fires of hell. Hell is punishment beyond description for sin unforgiven. Rejection of God is unforgivable.
The void in the unbeliever’s heart can never be quenched in this life or the next if he dies without receiving Christ (Romans 1:21-32). Perhaps he will cry out in hell, in utter darkness for God and God will never answer. This would be eternal torment. In this life, God continuously reveals himself to all his creation. The unbeliever, the atheist, must turn (repent) from his disbelief in God, to faith in Jesus Christ, or perish (John 3:15-18; 3:36; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Colossians 1:19-22).
The Holy Spirit deals with the sinner through the Gospel so that the sinner can see his sin and the Savior (Romans 3:23; 6:23 8:28-30). Man’s sinful condition must be exposed before he can see his need for God’s Salvation. The Cross is proof of man’s condemnation. The resurrection is proof of man’s salvation. We are all common sinners unworthy of God’s uncommon Grace. Christ took our punishment! Christ took our place! He would not have done so if there were any other way! We are such losers by His standards. But, He is willing to make us winners by His Son. The supreme example of God’s wrath and God’s love were demonstrated at the Cross (John 3:15-18, 36).
Rejection of Truth is rejection of God. Rejection of God is an unnatural act against God. Man in his soul is designed to respond to God. Rejecting morality is rejecting God. Rejecting morality opens the door to unnatural sexual acts. Rejecting God is in itself perverted. Perversion is wickedness. Wickedness is sinister and vile. The same word for wickedness is used to describe Satan. The Bible describes Satan as the “Evil One” (John 17:16); “The Wicked One” (2 Thessalonians 2:8); “The Father of Lies” (John 8:44). There is always wickedness in high places. Rejecting God’s principles opens the flood gates of crime, corruption, immorality, perversion and evil.
We are all liars in the face of Truth. God’s Truth exposes the depravity of man. Man denies his depravity, therefore he denies God. Sin is inherent in man. When we deny Truth we make God a liar and the truth is not in us.
If you have not trusted the finished work of Christ on the Cross you can do so right now. Bow your head in humility and just tell God that you recognize your ungodliness and you have decided to trust the work of Jesus Christ who died for you personally. The moment you believed you were instantly quickened – “born again” (John 3:15-18; 36). You will spend eternity with God and that is what the Cross-Work of Christ is all about. Heaven is all about man reunited with God because of Christ. Hell is man eternally separated from God because of rejection of Christ.
Our relationship to God depends on our acceptance or rejection of His Eternal Truths. Our survival as the human race depends on our relationship to our Creator. Survival depends on conformity to God’s standards. Sanity is found in knowing God. Because God is God, He knows what is best for us. If we reject God then we reject His Truth.
Truth is not contradictory! Whatever is not truth is contradictory to God. The intellectual capacity of knowledge is truth. If we simplify our thinking we may say that Truth is right and everything else is wrong.
We know what is wrong only because we know truth. We live in a reality of opposites, a world of paradoxes. What we believe determines our thinking. Thinking determines actions. What we learn determines our thinking. The consequence of believed truth is life. The consequence of disbelieved truth is death. When we are discussing Truth we are discussing survival. Rejection of Divine Establishment has only one end – destruction. Man, by rejecting God and Truth self-destructs, inevitably. Rejection of God is replaced by acceptance of evil! There is no in-between. Evil is a consequence that Hell must pay just as Salvation is a consequence that God paid for us.
The Bible is where we find God! The Bible is where we find Absolute Truth.
Happy Studying! Thank you! Thank God!