There is a saying that goes, “Ignorance is bliss.” What this means is that if you are unaware of certain things then you have a greater chance of not being disturbed or frightened or upset as much as you would do if you knew all the facts. But is ignorance bliss? Imagine driving down a road, and you see a sign that tells you that the speed limit is 100kph. So you speed up but after a kilometre unknown to you the speed changes down to 50kph. So now you are speeding but you don’t know it. And because you don’t know it you are not bothered by it. Unfortunately you’ve just passed a police car, who chases and stops you. The policeman tells you that you are speeding, you argue that you didn’t know because there were no signs. He tells you that ignorance is no excuse and writes you out a ticket. In that scenario ignorance certainly doesn’t bring about bliss. In this passage Paul reminds us that being ignorant of God’s commands does not lead to a blissful life. Instead “You are to pursue godliness.”

Darkened Thinking
What is Paul talking about when he says that Gentile or pagans are darkened in their understanding? Does he mean that they are stupid? If not, then what is he saying? Pagans are not stupid or dumb. Some are highly intelligent. But their understanding is darkened because for all their knowledge they do not know God. It is like walking into a dark room, you can see the basic shapes but the fine detail you can’t make out until you turn on the light. Pagans are like this when it comes to God. They have the same evidence that you and I have that God exists and that He works in this world, but they do not understand it properly.

How come? If the evidence is so clear, as all the Bible tells us it is, then why doesn’t every one believe? It is because while everyone sees the same evidence they do not come to the same conclusions. Imagine watching a rugby test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies. The referee penalises the All Blacks for some reason and the Aussie supporter yells out, “That’s right ref send him off he’s been doing it all day.” The kiwi supporter yells out, “What are you blind ref, he didn’t do anything wrong.” If you listen to these two biased witnesses tell you about the game afterwards you will be tempted to think that they watched different games. The truth is that while they saw the same game their mind understood it from two distinct positions. This happens when people talk about God. A friend of mine was looking at a glorious sunset and she turned to another woman standing beside her and said “And to think that some people can see this and not believe that God exists.” The other lady said to her, “Trudy I’m one of those.”

Many times when you talk to people about God some of them will ask you for proof. Young people if some one asks you to prove that God exists, what question should you ask them first?

The first question that you need to ask them is “What evidence would you accept?” For a smart man like Richard Dawkins no amount of evidence would be acceptable. He believes that it is impossible for the Christian God to exist so that every scrap of evidence so far as he is concerned leads him to believe that God doesn’t exist.

The Apostle is saying that when this is your position then the pursuit of Godliness is impossible. In fact because of the hardening of your heart it is the only position you can take. It is a deliberate act of trying to remove God from your life. Many have gone down this path so that they can indulge in impurity without having a pesky conscience to worry about.

This is why the Bible calls those who say that there is no God fools. God does not go away just because you say that you don’t believe in Him. Are you a Fool or do you pursue godliness

Stop
But Paul says that if you are a Christian then you have been enlightened. You see the evidences pointing you towards the existence of God. The Holy Spirit has opened your mind to believe and trust in Jesus Christ. But just saying that you believe is not enough. It is one thing to say that God exists, it is another to live as though He exists. This is what godliness is. It is living knowing that God is watching you every moment of the day. If you live such a life then you will be living as children of light. This passage tells us that you are to stop living as a pagan and live in godliness. How? How are you to do that? Vs22 says to put off your old self with it’s corrupt ways and vs24 says to put on the new self that is created in God to be true righteousness and holiness. Sounds good but how do you and I do that?

The starvation diet is the most effective way for overweight people to lose weight quickly. But it is also the most unhealthy way to lose weight. Just like that, trying to become godly by concentrating only on getting rid of the bad habits and traits does not lead to godliness. Most often it leads us to believe that we are better than we are. Jesus told a story about a man who had a demon cast out of him. The demon wandered all over the earth looking for another home but since it couldn’t find one went back to the first man. He found the man well cleaned but empty so he moved in taking seven other demons who were worse than him. So the result was the man was worse off than when he started.

No you must put off evil and put on the good. You are to grow in godliness by removing the weeds out of your life and encouraging godliness by being kind and compassionate to others forgiving as God has forgiven you. As you grow godliness in your life by using the means of grace that God has given you (the Bible, Prayer, Fellowship with other Christians) then your old self shrinks and becomes easier to remove from your life. Note that I said easier not easy for removing your old self can be a mighty battle, a battle even more mightier than fighting aggressive cancer. Let us encourage each other in this battle not so much by boasting in our success but in our efforts of struggle. Are you willing to pursue godliness.

If you were arrested today for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? You are to pursue Godliness with every breath of your life.