Pursuing His Righteousness, Not My Excuses

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB

Excusing Our Sin

It is simple human nature to try to get out of trouble, by hook or by crook. For those activities wherein we commit a wrong, we don't like being found guilty of it. Men gladly hire defense attorneys to come up with some reasonable "excuse" for why they broke the law. They often try to blame it on some outside "influence" that was beyond their control, and these attorneys make a lot of money in the process. None of us like to see it: a man who is clearly guilty of a crime gets a light sentence or simply goes free because of some "excuse" or loophole in the system. But really, isn't that how all of us approach God at some point in our lives regarding our sin?

Man's search for an excuse for his sin has been taking place since Adam and Eve walked the earth. In fact, we see them both run to "someone else made me do it" with the very first sins ever recorded:

12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:12-13 NASB

Adam blamed his sin on the woman; Eve blamed her sin on the serpent. And ever since we have followed in their footsteps, always looking for a way out that would somehow lessen the burden we have to bear for our wrongdoing.

I'm not condemning anyone who has done this in the past or considers it their knee jerk reaction in the present. Far too often, I too have leaned on my own ability to "figure a way out" of the predicament I was in for the wrongs I had committed. It is our flesh, the same flesh that is in all of us from birth, that tries its own way of escape. But we need to acknowledge this attempt to justify or excuse our sin and ask God to humble us.

Those who push off the conviction of their sin, whether from pride, arrogance, fear, etc., may be able to temporarily turn a blind eye to the guilt and shame which comes as a result of their actions, but in the end, it will catch up to us all. And I know that there may be many reasons we don't want to admit our failings. Understandably, we all want people to see the good in us (though Christ is the ONLY good in any man) and we are embarrassed and ashamed when our failures come to light. It's easy to point a finger at the sinner and demand they come clean, while we hide our own weaknesses. Unfortunately, we all probably know too well what it's like to point a finger at others, and we don't want anyone's finger pointing at us.

Bearing Each Other's Burdens

But the Bible is clear that we should bear each other's burdens and encourage our brethren out of their sin.

19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:19-20 NASB

1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:1-2 NASB

What is the culture of your church? What is the culture of you and your friends and family? Are you eager to forgive and help restore or are you more prone to shame and turn away? In the movie "How Green Was My Valley," there is a scene where an unwed young lady in the church is found out to be pregnant. The response of one of the deacons is to point her out in shame in front of the entire assembly and then drive her out of the church. It may be a fictitious movie, but that set of circumstances has happened too many times to count, I am certain of it.

It is certainly our pride that keeps us from admitting our sin, but I can't help but think that we may all be a little more honest about our personal failures if our churches were more inclined to open their arms in forgiveness than to clinch their fists in rebuke.

Now, don't misunderstand me on this. As the bride of Christ, we should hold ourselves and the brethren around us as accountable to a life of holiness. Also, we should never overlook or excuse a lifestyle of sin among believers. But what I am discussing here is the walking out of the believer's life, desiring to live sinless but understanding the reality of sinning-less.

Nothing Is Hidden From God

Earlier in this post, I mentioned how Adam and Eve tried to blame someone else for their sin. It is also interesting how they thought they would be able to hide their sin from God:

8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:8 NASB

To be honest, don't we ALL do that at some point in our lives? We try to pretend like the sin isn't present, wasn't committed, or that it just isn't something God really cares about. Don't we sometimes forget about our sin, thinking if we don't really think about it, God won't either? I mean, sure God is omniscient, but He doesn't see EVERYTHING, right?

13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Hebrews 4:13 NASB

To some, Hebrews 4:13 may be an intimidating and quite condemning verse. You may say, "wow if God sees ALL of me, He can't be too happy about the picture I'm providing." But to me it is an incredibly freeing characteristic about God. Since God sees ALL of me, there is nothing I need to try to hide. When I stand before the throne of judgment one day, God won't say, "oh, I didn't know THAT about you. Never mind on the forgiveness thing." Nor will He say, "well, if I had only known about ALL the sin in your life, I could've done something to help you, but unfortunately, you're out." No! He sees all of us, every little thought, action, and word spoken. In fact, He saw our entire sinful lives written out before we were ever born (Psalms 139:16). What's really amazing is that He saw all our sin and yet still loved and died for us.

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8 NASB

The all-seeing eyes of God should set us free to confess our sin to Him; all of it, because He knows it anyway! Don't hold back; don't try to hang on or squirm your way out or come up with some lame excuse for who you are or what you've done. Simply lay it down before Him so that He can forgive and help you to heal.

Repentance

So, how do we do it? How do we confess to a God we cannot see and receive forgiveness from a voice we cannot hear? It is quite simple; we do it by faith. Here are only a few of the examples we are provided throughout the Bible on how to approach God about our sin:

13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

Luke 18:13 NASB

21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Luke 15:21 NASB

4 Against You, You only, I have sinned

And done what is evil in Your sight,

So that You are justified when You speak

And blameless when You judge.

Psalms 51:4 NASB

15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

1 Timothy 1:15 NASB

So, will you do that? Will you stop playing the blame game, pursuing any and every excuse you can find to sweep over your sin? Will you instead, open your mouth, confess your sin to Him who is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin (1 John 1:9) and begin pursuing the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:33)? He is waiting with arms open wide.

God bless!

Matt