Ephesians 4:17-19 (NKJV) This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
People think of themselves as enlightened, but Satan has blinded their minds.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (MEV) But if our gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost. The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Satan does not want them to see the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it’s worse than blindness, because it is a darkening of their minds. This prevents people from being able to think straight about spiritual things.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life” (John 14:6).
Without God there is no real truth and hearts that are hardened to the truth lead to ignorance. (Where there is a heart that is hardened against the Lord you also have ignorance.) A person who lets man’s wisdom rule will be obscured from the proper application of thinking. He won’t think right, even when he thinks he is thinking right. He’ll reject belief because, “He doesn’t need a religious crutch.” He’ll reject belief because, “Scientists say the world is billions of years old.” … Or some other reason. Belief is extremely important to salvation and the non-believer is dead because of spiritual ignorance. Truth and life go together. If you believe God’s truth then you receive God’s life. And you would think that there would be people just clamoring for the truth. But the hardness of his heart enslaves them. They are “past feeling” according to verse 19 … so much given over to sin that it controls them.A hard heart comes when a person repeatedly rejects the loving invitation of God to accept His Son Jesus. This kind of person loses “sensitivity.” I’m reminded of Pharaoh from Exodus. Seven times Pharaoh hardened his heart, and seven times God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. You know, you eventually get what you want. The more you fight God, the more God gives you over, the harder it will be to break through. And the ultimate end is that you are “separated” from the life of God. (It’s the word “Alien” from verse 18 … a “Non-Participant.”)
We all need the life of God – John 1 says, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Our source of physical life is God, and our source of eternal life is God. If you think that the philosophies, religions, gurus, and systems of the world will give you enlightenment, understanding and most importantly life, you are badly mistaken.
Linda Luecke says
Please pray for my friend Kim, she has a couple of friends that argue with her for her belief.