What does it mean to be godless?

Answer

The term “godless” is mentioned approximately twelve times in the Old Testament in modern translations. It literally means “without God.” According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “godless” is defined as “not acknowledging a deity or divine law.” Those who are godless lack respect for God; their thoughts and words are profane, and they behave in impious and wicked manners.

The Old Testament provides various descriptions of a godless individual. It is stated that the godless will not stand before God “He also shall be my salvation: For a hypocrite shall not come before him.”, (Job 13:16). Isaiah prophesies about the judgment that will befall Israel, who had turned godless “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”, (Isaiah 33:14), at the hands of a godless nation “I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.”, (Isaiah 10:6).

In the New Testament, the term “godless” appears four times in the New International Version and the New American Standard Bible. However, the English Standard Version translates the same Greek word as “irreverent” three times and as “unholy” once. The initial three instances in the New Testament address godless speech (chatter, babble, and myths) that should be avoided (1 Timothy 4:7;1 Timothy 6:20;2 Timothy 2:16). The final mention refers to Esau as a go

Godless (or unholy) person who showed great disrespect for God in selling his birthright «lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. », (Hebrews 12:16).

Taking all the biblical evidence into account, the term godless appears to describe someone or something that does not honor the One True God. In the Old Testament, godlessness manifests itself primarily in two ways. First, there are those like the nations who surrounded Israel; they may have been very religious, but they did not know the One True God. Then there are those within Israel who should have known God but acted as if they did not, so they were godless as well. (This may be the reason that the KJV translates the Hebrew word as “hypocrite”—even though they had intellectual knowledge of the One True God, they did not act on that knowledge.)

In the New Testament, godlessness is closely associated with irreverence. Godless usually describes speech that dishonors, makes light of, or even mocks the serious things of God. Godless people naturally speak in godless ways. The believer must avoid all kinds of godless speech and attitudes.

The godless person is not someone who has no god, for everyone has gods, including the atheist. A god is simply that which a person elevates to the position of greatest importance and significance. For some people, this is the One True God or some pagan god, and for others, it may be family, wealth, prestige, scientific materialism, or personal autonomy. Everyone has gods, even the godless, but only believers in Christ know and revere the One True God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.