Excusing Sin

     It seems to me that people seek to dodge responsibility for their sinful behavior more every day by making excuses for it. Not long ago I heard one of the foremost television personalities on behavior excuse the sinful actions of a young adult by outlining a laundry list of people he concluded were responsible for his personal choices. He listed parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, and church members, indicating that it was his learned opinion that their failures all contributed to the actions of the young man under scrutiny. However, he never once mentioned the personal responsibility of that young man himself. I came away half convinced that he thought the young man was simply a robot with no will to choose but only an operating system preprogrammed to take certain actions.

     Of course, there is no question that a person is influenced by a great many factors. Sinful parents or other family members, ungodly friends, immoral teachers, and hypocritical church members can all negatively influence a person, young or old. Things seen in movies, television shows, on the web, in books and magazines, and heard on the radio all have an influencing agent to them. Yet as true as all this is the apostle Paul said through the Holy Spirit, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). It is very true that those who tempt others to sin through their own ungodly influences will have to answer for it (Matthew 18:7). Yet when I stand before the judgment seat of Christ it will not be to discuss the influences that surrounded me in my life. Rather, I will be asked about my actions alone.

     This tends to make modern men, particularly modern Americans, very uncomfortable. It not only hints at personal responsibility, it demands it. However, I also find that it often makes members of the church just as uncomfortable. Excuses sometimes come out in an effort to dodge or lessen the guilt of sins. Let’s consider a couple of them.

     “Everyone else around me was doing it.  It’s not like I was the only one.”  Consider the prophet Elijah. “So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ And the people did not answer him a word.  Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.’” (1 Kings 18:20-22). God did not have much support on Mount Carmel that day. Only Elijah stood against the prophets of Baal, outnumbered 450-1, receiving no encouragement from an indecisive nation, and in the presence of a very hostile king. I suppose if a person were ever in an “excusable” position to switch from God’s team to another it would have been Elijah. After all, everyone else was doing it. It’s not like he would have been the only one, right? So what? The prophets of Baal were sinning, the nation was sinning, and Ahab was sinning. Joining that team would have made Elijah a sinner regardless of how many were doing it.

     “I’m only human, after all.” We all are, aren’t we? I often wonder what this statement is supposed to mean? Does it mean that, as a human, I have faced moments of temptation and been overcome by them? If so every person who has ever lived (save Christ) would have to agree with it, including the inspired apostles (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). Does it mean that because I am a human I have no choice but to sin and should be excused on the basis of my humanity? Now we have a problem. In the above reference John reminds us that we have all sinned at some point. Yet chapter 2 begins with the statement, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” In 3:4 he says, “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” John knew as well as we do that our own weaknesses cause us to stumble from time to time. He also knew that the God who made us made it possible for us to choose not to sin. If the fact of my humanity is sufficient to excuse my sin than consider the charge I lay at the feet of the One who made me this way!

     Truly there is no excusing personal sin. So let’s not try. Rather let us have the faith, courage, and humility to repent of sin in our life for in that direction forgiveness and salvation is found.