Proverbs 14:2 reads, โHe who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.โ
This powerful proverb reveals a universal truth: those who live in righteousness honor and fear the Lord, while those who are perverts despise Him. Atheists, of course, deny that they despise God, and yet they have a string of contemptuous names for Him, such as โInvisible sky daddy,โ โFlying spaghetti monster,โ โImaginary friend,โ and โMagic man in the sky.โ This proverb also explains why criminals hate the police. Both cases reveal a deep-seated resistance to authority and accountability.
The Nature of Rebellion
At the core of rebellion is the desire to live without consequences. Just as a criminal despises the police because they represent justice and the enforcement of the law, atheists despise God because He represents ultimate justice and the enforcement of His perfect moral standard.
Romans 13:3-4ย draws a parallel between earthly authority and Godโs authority: “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is Godโs minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is Godโs minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
A criminalโs hatred for the police isnโt because the police are inherently bad but because their presence convicts the criminal of their crimes. In the same way, an atheistโs despising of God isnโt due to a lack of evidence for His existence but because His holiness shines a spotlight on their sinโparticularly their perverse sexual sin. And those who are given to the perversion of pornography will suppress the truth because they donโt want to face it.
Romans 1:18ย says: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Lust, pornography, fornication, and other forms of immorality arenโt just fleeting actsโthey shape the heart and twist the conscience. Jesus said: โFor everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposedโ (John 3:20).
Those who are steeped in sexual sin avoid God for the same reason criminals avoid the police: they donโt want their deeds exposed. Pleasurable though it may be for a season, it is particularly destructive because it enslaves both body and soul. Paul warns inย 1 Corinthians 6:18: “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”
Our culture glorifies and normalizes the perversions of pornography and promiscuity, but Godโs standard is written in stone on a mountain and amplified by Jesus: โYou have heard that it was said to those of old, โYou shall not commit adultery.โ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heartโ (Matthew 5:27-28).
Tragically, most atheists see God not as a loving Father but as a tyrant who wants to take away their so-called freedom. Jesus addressed this misconception inย John 8:34-36: โMost assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.โ
Proverbs 14:2ย reminds us that the fear of the Lord leads to uprightness. But this fear isnโt terrorโitโs a reverence born of understanding His holiness and mercy. Itโs recognizing that God doesnโt want to punish but wants to save.ย Ezekiel 33:11ย reveals Godโs heart: โSay to them: โAs I live,โ says the Lord God, โI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.โโ
May God give us wisdom as we engage a generation blinded by sin. And may His love be evidentโas it was to those of us whom He saved from death, by His amazing grace.
