“And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts …” (Luke 16:15)
Now, more than ever, we are living in a day of excuse. If we probe long enough and hard enough we can find a reason why the worst crime was committed. Yes, we should have compassion and understanding toward those who weren’t treated right as they grew up. The human personality can be warped early on. Psychological trauma goes deep. But despite what any of us has gone through, we have no right to do evil. God will hold us accountable.
Sin can always be explained. All sin has some justification that precedes it. But healing will never come by being “put on a couch” and psychoanalyzed. No matter what our past is or how deep the roots of sin may have gone, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
Real saving from our sin cannot occur while we’re looking for excuses as to why we do what we do. Psychological excuses are bad; but theological excuses are even worse. To claim that sin is inevitable and we all must sin because we’re all still “in the flesh” is an abominable error.
Grace does not give us a license to “safely” sin; it gives us the power not to sin. “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14) Yes, if we sin we have an advocate with the Father; but this is no excuse to continue in sin.
Because God has provided us with so great a salvation from sin we are now “without excuse” before God if we sin. We can be forgiven, if we confess our sin; but we will not be forgiven, if we find an excuse.
“The blood of Jesus never cleansed an excuse.” – Corrie ten Boom