Foolish Kings

7 min read

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

3 Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

— Psalm 53:1-3

TGIF! We could all use a little infusion of self-awareness as we enter into the weekend—not to ruin our weekend with depressing thoughts but in the hopes of having a glorious weekend being alive in Christ.

We all have a little bit (or a lot) of the fool in us. And the better we acknowledge this reality, the better we will be glorified in Christ.

The word of God is the basis of our reality—the basis of everything we know about existence. (It is impossible for a person to be saved without acknowledging this point.) And the word of God tells us that there are two undeniable facts that are the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. (1) God, who is absolutely holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, and eternal, created the universe, this earth, and all living things, including every single human being who has ever been born. And (2) every single one of us (you and me), by nature, is corrupt to the core—”vile,” it says here—and we cannot help ourselves or do anything about it.

Our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ begins by understanding and acknowledging these two fundamental truths.

On a positive note (very slightly), I think that pretty much every believer believes that there is indeed a God. However, that belief tends to be general, abstract, and vague. And so in actuality, we act as if there is no absolutely holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, and eternal God who is present wherever we are. The result is that we end up worshiping a puny little god, and maybe we do that to support the illusion that we are in total control of our lives.

But the positive note is that even a vague understanding of God may be enough to save our souls, and that, because of God’s undying love for us.

But in order to be saved by the gospel, there is “huge” barrier that we need to cross. Without grasping, deeply and personally, that we are wretched sinners—truly vile—we have no hope of being saved.

In the same way that many believers have a vague notion about God, we also have a vague notion about our sin. What I mean is that many Christians may be able to accept as a general principle that we are all sinners. However, faith is demonstrated by the ability to recognize and to confess specific sins—even the “tiniest little” sins (if there is such a thing).

Or to really get down to where the rubber meets the road—we may be able to admit our wrongdoing to God, but how easy is it to look someone in the eye and say genuinely, “I am wrong. You are right. I’m sorry.”? How easy or hard is it to recognize and to genuinely admit to anyone, “I was wrong,” about anything? Or how easy or hard is it to accept the fact that we have done wrong and change our behavior in the future?

TGIF! Are we encouraged yet?

But there is such a great power and freedom and joy and peace to not having to be that person who is right and perfect all the time. In the kingdom of God, being the one who is right and perfect is a liability. There is already One who is right and perfect all the time. And the kingdom of God ain’t big enough for the two o’ ya’s.

Father, You know my sin, all of them. Yet You are still merciful because of Your love. Lead me into confession and repentance because of Your kindness, and may my pride never blind me to my wrongdoing. But let me witness be freedom, joy, and peace that is found in Your grace. In Jesus’s name. Amen.