David’s (4) points outlined in the 10 min video
- All people know God the father, Romans 1 (I Agree)
- All people reject true knowledge of God (I Disagree)
- There are no innocent people in the world (I Agree)
- All people are condemned for rejecting God (I Disagree)
The fundamental problem with David Platt’s interpretation of Romans chapters 1 through 3 is that he fails to see that Paul is constantly juxtaposing two distinct categories of people; 1) those who receive God and His Word, the believer and 2) those who reject Him, the unbeliever. He instead only focuses on the unbelieving group and draws his conclusions about those who have never heard from them alone. The second issue I see with David is that he conflates two categories of people; those who are incapable of fulfilling all the demands of the law (all of humanity) with those who actively and continually reject God (a portion of humanity). A temporal transgression of God’s law does not equal a continual and outright rejection of the law giver (God).
There is a difference between a believer, who occasionally transgresses God’s law, repents and has a change of mind and someone who continually and actively rejects God, an unbeliever. The two cannot be conflated into a single category. Romans 1:18-32 is describing those who know God but have completely rejected and walked away from Him to the point that He has given them over to a depraved mind, homosexuality, and worship of idols / created beings. David’s premise #2 is that Romans 1 says that “ALL people reject true knowledge of God” in this active and continual sense. This is simply not established in the text. What it says instead is that “God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress truth”. It should be noted that the subject of God’s wrath is on ALL ungodliness and unrighteousness (not all people of all time) and the category of people this is true of are those who suppress truth, or the unbelievers. David completely fails to acknowledge the other category of people – the believers mentioned in verse 17 - “the just shall live by faith”. Again we see the category of believers and unbelievers described in sharp contrast with one another in chapter 2 verses 7 through 10, but no mention there either.
David’s premise #4 is based on his premise #2 and therefore is not true either. What we do know to be true both from personal experience and the Bible is that all people are guilty of transgressing God’s law. However, David's assertion is that ALL people reject God since none are capable of following the law or conscience perfectly and this simply does not follow. More importantly, salvation is based upon faith and not works (ability to live up to the standards established by the law or conscience).
Conclusion
