I’ve Sinned

My son Daniel, excited by me getting a speeding ticket from a Wyoming state police officer in 2014.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us (1 John 1:9-10).

Years ago a young couple came to my office complaining about the breakdown of their marriage. The two immediately began arguing about their weekend drug bender. He blamed her and she blamed him. He said, “I wouldn’t have taken drugs all weekend if you hadn’t bought them.” She returned, “I wouldn’t have bought them if you hadn’t given me the money for them.” He replied, “I wouldn’t have had the money if you didn’t make me get a job.” It went on and on.

Finally I stood on my chair and yelled, “BOTH OF YOU STOP!” I told them they were both guilty. They’d both spent the weekend high with two babies at home. At anytime on Friday night, either one could have simply said, “No, I’m going to do the right thing.” They blamed the other when they were both irresponsible and guilty of sin.

That’s our excuse for sin, isn’t it? It’s the fault of another. You point the finger at Satan for the choice you made to lie. The government employee asked for a bribe which you paid to make life easier on you. Your children made you lose your temper. You took the Lord’s name in vain because the policeman caught you speeding.

Christian, God calls you to confess your sin not lay it on others. Satan may have tempted you from the store of sin already in your heart, but you surrendered to the temptation. You failed the test. You sinned.

Confession of sin isn’t making a list of your sins, tearfully saying “sorry” and begging for forgiveness. Confession is saying the same thing about your transgression that God says. The finger of God is pointed directly at you and confession is the truthful acknowledgement that you … you alone … are guilty for breaking His commandment. You are the sinner in need of the Saviour.

Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed…. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (James 1:14; Psalm 51:10).

Punishing the Child for the Sins of a Parent

Should you be held responsible for the sins of your ancestors? How would you even know those sins? How many generations back will you go?

Should you be punished for the sins of a neighbor, a cousin, or another person with your eye, hair, or skin color? How about being responsible for the sins of an entire city or a nation a thousand years ago?

What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?”

“As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:2-4).

In the days of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel, people were blaming one another for the sins of their ancestors. They even had a common proverb about it. God told Israel to stop repeating the proverb because it wasn’t true. God holds each sinner responsible for his own sins and not the sins of others.

Large African tribes throughout western Africa raided smaller and weaker tribes two hundred years ago, enslaved their African neighbors, and then sold them as slaves to Europeans. Should modern Africans be punished for the sins of their ancestors?

Should the Japanese of today be responsible for their ancestors who killed Chinese men and kept their wives as “comfort women” (sex slaves)? Or the Chinese tribes which enslaved each other four thousand years ago?

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth murdered US President Abraham Lincoln. Should Booth’s descendant pays a price today for their ancestor’s deed? Does God blame Booth’s descendants for his actions?

We are each individually responsible to God for our own sins.

When Adam sinned, he blamed God and Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. The serpent was the only one in the Garden who didn’t pass the buck (Genesis 3:8-13). Blaming someone else (or their ancestors) is always much easier than looking in the mirror to see where I miss the mark.

God saves and forgives individuals one-by-one by grace through faith in Christ. God’s Saviour meets the sinner where he is, not where his great-great-great-grandmother was.

Hating our Children

The water from the fountain sprayed on us as Kim and I sat enjoying the hot summer day. On the other side of the fountain was a family of four.

The boy of 5 or 6 grabbed his mother’s cell phone, ran, and waved it over the water in the concrete pond.

“Don’t you dare drop that in there,” yelled the mother. The boy just smiled.

After several more warnings, the mother gave up. “If you drop it I’ll just buy another one,” she said with a shrug. Her son tossed the phone into the fountain and ran away.

Kids feel entitled to things because of their skin color, social standing, or personal desires. Children are giving birth to babies. Thuggery, violence, drug use, and sexuality are perceived as the building blocks of success by whole communities (here). Parents refuse to act like parents, preferring to be best friends to their children. These are the mounting results of a godless society (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

God established parents as the foundation of the home, and godly parenting produces a civil society. Loving your children requires disciplining them.

He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly (Proverbs 13:24).