Who Is The "Fool" That Says There Is No God?

Today is April 1 as known as "April Fool's Day" which everyone in the world is pulling some prank on someone whether they know them personally or not. Honestly, I think pulling a joke on someone you know will not result in you being in the hospital from someone you don't know. This is also the day where we some posts on social media or a blog just having a good attempt at a good laugh, which goes to show you should not believe everything you read on the Internet because that is how World War II got started.

This is also the day where some Christians love to call it, "National Atheists Day" while quoting Psalm 14:1 which says, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" I have already some a couple of posts on social media quoting that verse as well as a few bumper stickers. Mike Leake wrote, "The problem with these bumper stickers, T-shirt slogans, and Facebook status updates is that it reeks of pride. You aren’t a Christian because you were smarter than an atheist, saw the evidence, and made a rational decision. No, you are a Christian because God through his grace caused light to shine into darkness (2 Cor. 4)."

Here is the question, does this verse apply only to atheists who believe that God cannot exist? The answer is no.

Who is the "fool" that says in his heart there is no God? A study note from the ESV Study Bible says:

There are three Hebrew words for fool, and all speak of moral orientation rather than intellectual ability. The term here denotes someone who stubbornly rejects wisdom; the word lies behind the name Nabal (see 1 Samuel 25:25). As in Ps. 10:4, there is no God expresses not philosophical atheism but the idea that God, if he exists, takes no interest in human affairs and will not call people to account for their deeds. The result of this denial is that they are corrupt and do abominable deeds, and thus none of them does good.

So the "fool" is not just someone who denies God exists, it is someone God is far off and everyone can live the way they want to. Deists believe that God created the world yet has not interaction with His creation. The "fool" is the one who believe God exists yet live like He does not which has been called practical atheism. The Gospel Transformation Bible says, "While not everyone professes atheism, all practice it at some level by refusing to do good or seek after God—as though he did not exist (Ps. 14:1–3; Rom. 3:10–12)."

The gospel is for all the "fools" in the world. We are all called to repent and believe in Jesus by turning from our foolish ways under the power of the Holy Spirit. If you know someone who is believe God exists yet live like He does not, pray for that person and confront them of their sin. What about atheists? I will leave you with these words from Mike Leake:

...before the gospel came into your life you (like every atheist) saw the truth of God but you actively rejected and suppressed it. Then grace happened. Now you are able to see. Now your heart embraces the gospel. It is by grace that you have been saved. So, stop boasting and calling atheist fools...People aren’t won to Christ because you expose them as idiots. People are won to Christ because the gospel breaks through and liberates dead enslaved hearts.

Maybe today rather than mocking their “ignorance” and depravity we should be weeping for their souls, praying that the Lord would embolden us to live the gospel and speak the gospel, and perhaps we should use this day to thank the Lord that He is rescuing us from being idolatrous fools (by nothing but His free grace).