Living the Word: Faith in Action

Science Without God

Romans 1:18–22

Ed Rangel · July 19, 2026

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A lab coat does not make the heart morally neutral.

Describing a process does not explain away its Creator.

Observation ends when a worldview rules God out.

Careful investigation is not the enemy.

The rebellion is using God’s gifts to declare the Giver unnecessary.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

Romans 1:16-17 · NASB

Creation makes God’s power and nature plain.

Suppressing Him destroys wisdom and leaves us without excuse.

Romans 1 traces the descent

God makes Himself known

→

Truth is suppressed

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Honor is refused

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Thanks are withheld

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Reasoning becomes futile

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Hearts are darkened

God has made Himself known through what He made.

Creation witnesses to His power and divine nature.

because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

Romans 1:19 · NASB

God made the truth evident.

The witness is real, public, and given by God.

1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

Psalm 19:1-4 · NASB

Creation speaks across every border.

Day and night give a continuous witness to God’s glory.

and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness."

Acts 14:17 · NASB

Ordinary gifts also testify.

Rain, seasons, food, and gladness point beyond themselves to the Giver.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Romans 1:20 · NASB

Invisible attributes are known through visible effects.

God’s eternal power and divine nature are understood through what He made.

Great are the works of the LORD; They are studied by all who delight in them.

Psalm 111:2 · NASB

Science studies God’s works; naturalism turns a method into a verdict against God.

Creation reveals the Creator, but not the saving gospel.

The death and resurrection of Christ must be preached.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Romans 10:17 · NASB

Sinners suppress what God has made plain.

Rebellion presses down truth that interferes with the life we want.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Romans 1:18 · NASB

katechō — hold down or restrain

Suppression is active resistance to truth made known by God.

19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

John 3:19-20 · NASB

Evidence and morality cannot always be separated.

A conclusion about God brings worship, conduct, authority, and judgment into view.

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Romans 1:21 · NASB

They want God’s world without God’s rule.

They receive His gifts while withholding honor and thanks.

24 "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

Acts 17:24-25 · NASB

The breath used to deny God is itself a gift from God.

Sincere questions deserve fair answers.

Honest examination welcomes truth and submits to it.

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

Acts 17:11 · NASB

III

Rejected truth produces futile thinking and a darkened heart.

The mind loses wisdom’s foundation after God is refused.

The mind is darkened after the light is resisted.

It can master created facts while losing creation’s meaning.

22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Romans 1:22-23 · NASB

Rejecting the Creator does not leave the heart empty.

Something within creation is always raised into His place.

16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:16-17 · NASB

Creation makes you accountable; the gospel reveals the Christ who reconciles sinners to God.

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

James 1:17 · NASB

Trace every good gift back to the Giver.

Gratitude confesses dependence and places every gift under His authority.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 · NASB

Separate the observation from the worldview.

Ask what was measured—and what philosophical conclusion was added.

Bring your own resistance into the light.

Confess where obedience threatens a habit, relationship, pride, or secret sin.

Practice the opposite of suppression for seven days.

Name one gift, thank God, and obey the duty it brings.

Follow creation’s witness to the revealed word.

Creation makes you accountable; Scripture reveals Christ and commands your response.

Come under the Creator’s rule through His Son.

Believe, repent, confess Christ, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

Bring hidden resistance into the light.

Repent, confess your sin, and ask for the prayers of the church.

The Father calls you home through His Son.

Romans 1:18-22

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