(Psalm 14:1) “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”

The problem with the fool is his heart, “…The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” The fool’s heart (or his spirit) is dead in sins and trespasses; it is corrupt; it is void of any spiritual discernment of God, or of any truth – for the fool is blind, and walks in total spiritual darkness. The fool’s inward man (his soul) is controlled by the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and the pride of life. His will is bent to sin – for his nature is totally depraved. The fool is guided by the own selfish desires of his flesh. His whole world is himself and what he can gain for himself. He has no thought of life after death, or where he will be after death. To the fool, life ends in death; and there is nothing else. To the fool, hell is a myth; religion is a crutch for weak people. To the fool, God is a lie; for creation and control of the universe is a happen-so; and is governed by the creation and its natural laws; not by some Supreme Power called God.

So, to summarize, the fool is dead in sin, depraved, spiritually blind, loves sin, is full of self, and denies the existence of God, life after death, judgment, and hell.

Question: How does a person come to the conclusion that there is no God?

However, the real Question is: Before revelation of sin, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit of God of a person; are all men not counted as fools? The answer is Yes.

Before, the Holy Spirit quickens a dead, depraved, blind, prideful sinner; this sinner does not know God by experience; he is not seeking for God. He doesn’t care whether there is a God or not. He has no discernment of truth; nor does he even desire to know truth. God, before quickening of a sinner by the Holy Spirit, is only an abstract idea that he may or may not heard of growing up (1 Cor. 2:14).

Question: How then do you explain that in every man is a conscience of right and wrong? The answer is very simply, Yes, everyman is born with a conscience of right and wrong. But, the truth of the matter is, without the influence of the Holy Spirit, everyman is born dead in trespasses and sin (Eph. 2:1-3). Paul explains in (Rom. 5:6-8) that man died in Adam because of sin (1 Cor. 15:21); therefore, man is spiritually dead until quickened by the Holy Spirit of God. Man, spiritually-dead, is born with the “old man” in charge; which means, his flesh was in control of his spirit. The flesh is where Paul said sin dwelled in him (Rom. 7:14-24). A spiritually-dead person has no revelation of Who God is; he has no spiritual discernment of God (1 Cor. 2:9-14). Paul said the spiritually-dead person is under the law of sin and of death (a spiritual death; or separation from God’s revelation and life) (Rom. 8:2).

The only way a spiritually-dead person can be raised from that dead position is by the power of the Holy Spirit of God in Regeneration. The process of regeneration of the dead sinner first begins in quickening by God: (Eph. 2:1) “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (John 6:63) “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words (Rhema) that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:65) “And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father” – whereby the sinner is given eyes to see, and ears to hear, the Gospel of Jesus Christ;

Secondly, the law of God is applied to the quickened sinner, whereby he comes to the knowledge of being a sinner in the sight of a Holy God (Rom. 3:19-23). The fool will never see his need of a Savior, until he sees he is a fool and a sinner before the Holy God, and because of his sin debt, he deserves hell.

Thirdly, Godly sorrow must be worked in the quickened sinner by the Holy Spirit by giving the sinner the gift of repentance (Acts. 5:31). When repentance is worked in the quickened sinner’s heart; not only does the sinner then see his sin and rebellion to God; but true Godly sorrow causes the quickened sinner to turn from his own sin to seek for forgiveness from God. The Gospel reveals that forgiveness of the sinner is in, and through, the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross (Rom. 1:17); as the sinner sees and knows that Christ on the Cross became his Sacrifice, Substitute, and Savior (2 Cor. 5:21). When this happens, the Gospel of Jesus Christ becomes “Good News” to the sinner; for Jesus paid the price to the Father on the sinner’s behalf, and thereby reconciled the sinner to God; and redeemed the sinner from the penalty, and punishment of sin (Eph. 1:7).

Fourthly, the sinner, being quickened, given repentance, and drawn to Christ – God is working behind the scenes in the sinner, as He draws the quickened sinner to Himself (Jn. 6:44-45) – comes to confess what God has revealed to him to be truth about Christ and Who Christ is to him (Rom. 10:9-10). Confession is the result; not the requirement. The Requirement is the Atonement of Christ on the Cross, and the work of the Holy Spirit in Regeneration on the person. The Result is confession by the regenerated sinner of Who Christ is, and Who He is to him. This confession is proof that the person is a believer through faith in Jesus Christ as his Sacrifice, Substitute and Savior.

A person is a fool until he is revealed Who Christ is; and until he is regenerated, or given the New Birth from above. Until the sinner comes to confess Who Jesus Christ is, and is to him; the sinner remains a fool – for there is no God to him, until regeneration and conversion. Until then he knows not God; he is not seeking for God; and he has no knowledge of truth. The truth of the matter is; all men without exception are born not knowing God, and must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God (notice Psalms 14:2-4):

(Psa 14:2) “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.”

(Psa 14:3) “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

(Psa 14:4) “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.”

When most read (Ps. 14:1), they immediately attribute this verse as describing the Atheist; and think or say, ‘O, how awful these people are.’ However, the truth is, until regeneration by the Holy Spirit of God in a person, he is a fool, and says, ‘There is no God.’ Therefore, (Ps. 14:1) applies to all men that have not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God.