suppressing the knowledge of God

Calvin makes a powerful argument concerning our inherent knowledge of God as
well as the suppression of that knowledge. I found this interesting:

> But to render their madness more
> detestable, David [Ps. 14:1] represents them as flatly denying God's existence; not
> that they deprive him of his being, but because, in despoiling him of his
> judgment and providence, they shut him up idle in heaven.

In other words, denying God may mean denying him in his attributes and not
just denying his being. If someone denies that God rules or that God is judge
over all, he has in effect denied that the true God exists.

I can't find the specific passage now, but somewhere in this week's reading he
makes the point that an individual can't at the same time acknowledge God in
his holiness, judgment, and power and then go on sinning against him. I see
that played out in my own life. When I am bent on sin, I have to view God as
far away, unconcerned, or less than perfectly good. In other words, even in a
single act of sin, it's impossible to view God for who he really is and at the
same time go on in sin. This encourages me to cultivate and meditate on a
true view of God. This will do far more to kill sin than fleshly methods of
sin avoidance.