BLAMING OTHERS FOR OUR SINS
Mike Johnson
It is widespread for people to blame their mistakes on others; we tend to want to shift responsibility. People also blame SIN on other people. Many did this in biblical times; regrettably, the blaming of sin on others also often takes place today. Commonly blamed for people’s sins today are:
1. Satan — The idea “the Devil made me do it” is prevalent. At least people who say this realize Satan is involved in sin. However, they may not understand that we cannot shift responsibility for sin to Satan. Eve, in the beginning, tried to blame Satan when she sinned. She ate the forbidden fruit and said in Genesis 3:13, “...The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Satan indeed tempts people; he does influence people to sin (I Cor. 7:5). However, Satan can be resisted (James 4:7), and the fact that Satan tempts us does not mean we are not responsible for our sins. Therefore, it does no good to try and shift the blame to Satan.
2. God — Some people try to blame God for their sins. Perhaps this is what Aaron was trying to do in Exodus 32. He tried to explain the golden calf he made for the people to worship by pointing out (v. 24) that the people gave him the gold, and he went on to say, then “. . . I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.” Was he trying to say that it was a miracle from God?
It is essential to understand that God is not responsible for our sins. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. . . .” Thus, we cannot blame God.
3. Wives — Some husbands blame their wives for many things, and some even blame them for their sins.
Consider one Old Testament example. Earlier, we noted that Eve tried to blame Satan for her sin. Adam did not try to blame Satan; instead, he blamed his wife, Eve, for his part in eating the forbidden fruit. Eve gave her husband fruit to eat, which influenced his deed. Nevertheless, this did not make him less guilty.
When a man feels an inclination to shift responsibility for his sins to his wife to justify himself, he should consider the Old Testament example of Job and his wife. Job suffered much affliction, and his wife told him he should just curse God and die. Job rebuked her and said in Job 2:10, “. . . Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” He resisted his wife’s bad advice.
4. Husbands — At times, a woman who is a faithful Christian will have a husband who is not a Christian. Sometimes, she may be neglectful in her service to God, and when confronted about her neglect, she may blame her spiritual problems on her husband. Again, the husband may have caused her to become discouraged. (Generally, it is more difficult for people to be faithful to God if their spouse is unfaithful.) Yet, the wife is still responsible for her sins. Many other women have remained loyal to God even though their husbands have discouraged them spiritually by their words and deeds.
Peter gave some excellent advice to women whose husbands were not believers in I Peter 3:1 when he said, “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.” The woman is to win her husband to Christ by her “conduct.”
5. Preachers — Sometimes, people become offended by something a preacher says in his sermon and refuse to attend any more services. They sometimes blame the preacher for their unfaithfulness when they ask about their neglect. The preacher may have said something correct and needful in his sermon. II Timothy 4:2 says that he is to “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” It is also true that a preacher can make a mistake in judgment, as preachers are not perfect. Regardless of mistakes that others might make, we must remain faithful to God. We can blame the preacher for our neglect, but we are still responsible and must answer to God.
6. Other Christians — At times, one Christian mistreats another. He then may try to excuse his neglect in serving God due to his mistreatment. Also, some might say they will not attend services due to “so many hypocrites there.” These try to blame their spiritual neglect on others but are still responsible for their sins.
Many people take the easiest course concerning their sins. Instead of repenting, they blame others. It does no good for us to shift responsibility.
A person who is not a Christian must believe (Heb. 11:6), repent (Acts 17:30-31), confess Christ (Rom. 10:10, and be baptized (Acts 2:38). A Christian who sins must repent, pray, and confess his sins (Acts 8:22, James 5:16, I Jn. 1:8-10). God will not excuse us because of what someone else did or did not do. We bear the responsibility for our sins.