Condemnation and Justification
"It will never do to plead sin as an excuse for sin, or to attempt to justify sinful acts by pleading that we have an evil heart" - Archibald Alexander
I was having a conversation with someone and she talked about how people like to point out other people’s sins so as to take away the feeling of guilt when they have committed ‘just a little sin’.
Then, she said there was nothing like just a little sin; sin is sin. In other words, she meant, whether it was little or large amount of money stolen, stealing is still considered a sin.
But diverting from how little or great sin is, let me point out what I have discovered about people when they ask certain questions about an act they or someone else have committed.
Behind these questions are two critical views. It could be they are coming from a standpoint of ‘justification of sin’ or ‘condemnation from sin’. When coming from the stand point, they bring all manner of reasons to back up their claims so as to feel more comfortable in sin. And when coming from the latter, they feel more guilt and condemnation.
But there is a particular place in the Bible where a balance was created in the condemnation from and justification of sin. Those who were to stone the adulterer were questioned if they were without sin. After seeing that they couldn’t claim they had never committed sin, the woman was let loose from condemnation. In the same vein, the woman was told not to sin any more. This shows, she was not given justification to continue sinning.
So here is a piece of advice; when next you want to ask questions to condemn yourself or justify your reason to sin, ask yourself what stand point you are coming from. Do you want to feel condemned all the rest of your life or do you want to justify your reason for continuing in sin?
Till the next post, keep learning.
