Not My Fault – Eze 18
Ever since the first sin was committed, men and women have looked for someone to blame. Jail and prisons are filled up with people who are basically “innocent”. All of us who sin find reasons to justify what we do.
One common excuse is to blame our parents. We are suffering the consequences of what they have done. This was the proverb going around Jerusalem at the time of judgment, “The fathers eat sour grapes and the children are the ones the taste the bitterness” (v.2).
God carefully deals with this accusation by explaining that:
- Everyone belongs to Him, including the father and the son (v.4).
- Only the soul that sins will die (v.4).
- Those who are truly just in every way will live (v.5-9, 14-17). (If you read the list, you realize that no one is truly just and without sin!)
- Those who are sinners will die (v.10-13, 18-20).
- Those who repent will be delivered (v.21-22).
- God has no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked (v.23,32). What God really wants is for sinners to turn from their sin and be saved through trusting in Him (v.30-31)!
So the excuse that “it’s not my fault” or “that’s not fair” (v.29) just won’t stand up to scrutiny. The truth is that we are all sinners and will all die for our own sin. And the truth is that God doesn’t deal fairly with us. He actually is better to us than we deserve, forgiving us when we repent and turn in faith to Him.
What excuses are we making about God’s dealing with us? What do our excuses reveal about our sinful hearts? What sin are we trying to rationalize and justify? Why do we just come clean before the Lord and get right with Him?