Early on, church people placed the blame for their repeated sins on Adam. Later, Satan became the go-to blamee. Then later, Adam made a powerful comeback in the sin-causing category. However, of late a new culprit has risen to the top spot. The new culprit is nothing other than sin itself. Sin has taken on a substantive, thoughtful, selective nature. Sin is no longer seen as something sinners do. Sin has developed into a decision-making entity that chooses its target and does its own thing on poor, defenseless human beings–and there is simply nothing they can do about it. America and those nations that follow her religious lead have taken on what I call the Clinton Copout.

America’s past president, when caught in a sex scandal with an intern, explained his “victimhood” this way: “These things JUST KEEP HAPPENING TO ME.” According to the leader of the free world, he himself did not do the sinful thing, the thing did itself on him and there was nothing He could have done about it. Incredibly, the thing had done its thing on him a number of times. The poor fellow had become a perpetual victim. Shortly thereafter, the national representatives that comprised the United Nations agreed with his assessment of the repeated problem by giving him a standing ovation as he rose to speak to the representatives of over a hundred nations. In a representative sense, the world rose to honor him for committing sin. Is it any wonder God is pouring out His wrath on this sordid planet?

Sharing the same Satanic mind-set as the societies in which she exists, the church places blame for her repeated sins, not on the sinner, but on the sin itself. Her motto should be: “Sin does itself on me.” Sin, we are led to believe, is not the sinner’s fault. Sin is not only natural, it is inevitable. So relax and enjoy it. After all, as one woman said, “God will forgive you.” That, I was told in so many words, was His job. A seminary-trained ex-missionary explained God’s attitude toward church sin thusly: God knew that sin was inevitable, therefore He sent Jesus to die so that church people can sin without fear of punishment.

That same God warned about this attitude by noting that such people “call evil good and good evil.” Evidently, sin is good because it causes man to need Jesus, Who saves sinning man in spite of his inevitable sins. And after all, “once saved, always saved.” Once the fix is in, it is IN. Therefore, what the world needs is more sin. More sin=more salvation. How do you improve on that system?

This theology goes along with a religion I read about some time ago which put forth the belief that Christ and Satan worked hand-in-hand to get people saved. The formula for success was as follows: Satan causes man to sin. Jesus then erases the effect of sin, making Him look good. Jesus is successful because Satan is successful. The success formula is more sin=more salvation=more glory for Jesus Who is indebted to Satan, who is pardoned by Jesus …. It is a win-win situation.

This is right up there with a sermon God led me to watch late one night on television. A false prophet was telling his youthful congregation that sin is not only good, it is prescribed by God Himself. His gospel went something like this. God wants man to have fun. Sin is fun. Therefore, man needs to sin–have fun–in order for God’s will to be done. Needless to say, his audience agreed with him.

What does the Almighty say about the sinner-sin disconnect? Let us use His own Words to answer the question. “The soul that sins, that soul dies” (Eze. 18:21,24). The New Testament counterpart to that Old Testament Truth is found in Romans 3:23: “For the wages of sin is death” for the one who commits sin. In summary: SIN RESULTS IN THE DEATH OF THE SINNER. THEREFORE, THE SINNER AND HIS SIN ARE CONJOINED. A disease, no matter how deadly, cannot affect a person unless it in some way contacts the person. It can do its damage only if there is contact. Whatever is or on the person becomes part of that person. For example, pneumonia in a person’s lungs controls lung function. Poison ivy on a person afflicts the person, as does the flu virus in a lung affects the lung’s functioning. Sin in a person affects the person. Sin, we are now led to believe, is like a flu virus and poison ivy. It finds the victim it wants and does its thing on that individual. The victim has no other part to play than to be the target.

As has been revealed in earlier series, God’s forgiveness is not automatic upon confession and repentance of sin. He tells us that after repentance one must “… turn from his wicked ways (be converted). THEN (AND ONLY THEN) I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN AND FORGIVE HIS SINS ….” (2 Chron. 7:14). Note the words “turn from” and “then.” God commands proof of the verity of one’s repentance and conversion. If we continue to sin after repentance and conversion, then both were false. So-called “sinners saved by grace” fall into this category. Jesus describes such people in Mark 7:6, noting that they “… honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” The five foolish virgins come to mind (Mat. 25). To return to sinning after conversion (reversal of life) makes us like the sow that, having been cleansed, returns to her mire, and like the dog that, having discharged his sickness, then eats it (Prov. 26:11). In Revelation 3:14-29 Jesus said He would spew (vomit) such people out of His mouth. He was referring to the church of the Laodicean era–the era in which we are living.

The belief that one can be a “good person who occasionally does bad things” is the theology of Satan which the religious establishment has embraced whole-heartedly, as did Adam and Eve. Read Revelation 3:21 to see what Jesus has to say about giving in to Satan’s temptations. Some may wonder why I continue to suggest the same Scriptural readings time and again. BECAUSE SATAN TELLS PEOPLE THE SAME LIES TIME AND AGAIN. Read the home page of the website for a list of some of his lies.

I recently witnessed a televised example of Separation Syndrome that highlighted how SS works much better than I can. A famous actor was explaining to an interviewer that his addiction to alcohol was actually not his fault. His story was that he had begun drinking in his teen years and had developed an addiction to the substance. Now, if he took one drink he lost control and drank himself into a stupor that could last for days. As long as he did not take that first drink, he could stay sober. However, if he took that first drink ….

The irony of this situation is that, though HE had drank to excess in his youth and therefore became addicted, and HE knew that if he took that first drink …. However, WHEN HE DID TAKE A DRINK IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT. He refused to take responsibility for taking that first drink. Evidently, the drink drank itself on him. Then whose fault was it? the interviewer asked. He did not know. But what he did know was that it was not his fault. HE WAS THE VICTIM.

In another situation a drug addict lied on a gun application by declaring that he did not take drugs. Upon being charged, for lying on a gun application he declared that he was not responsible for lying BECAUSE HE WAS ON DRUGS WHEN HE SIGNED THE APPLICATION AND DID NOT REALIZE THAT HE WAS LYING, or something to that effect. The bottom line was that the drug had done its dastardly deed on him.

From whence came this mind-set? From the church which, first blamed Adam, then Satan, then Adam again. Of late church people have become more intellectually astute. They have determined that it is the sin itself that is to blame for their sins. But the modern church was not the first to shift the blame for her sins onto someone or something else. We find the first use of the “________ made me do it” excuse being used in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:12 we find Adam explaining his sin to God, saying: “The woman you gave me, SHE gave me the fruit and I did eat.” Therefore his sin was Eve’s fault. Not to be outdone in the blame game, Eve blamed the Serpent who, she said, “… deceived me and I did eat.”

But in the final analysis we find that, when it is all said and done, someone else is to blame for all of man’s sins. The fault does not lie with Adam, or Satan or self. Actually, religious man has concluded that the fault for churchman’s sins lies with GOD. After all, it was the Lord Who created the garden; Who planted the trees, Who designated one of them to be off limits and Who made it to be appealing to the eyes, good for food and able to make one wise. Then the worst sin of all, He allowed the Serpent to enter it. If not for all that, Adam and Eve would not have sinned. THEIR SINS WERE GOD’S FAULT. I have heard similar arguments coming from “Christians.” Any sinner who blames his/her sins on anyone or anything other than him/herself is making the same accusation. This is mocking God. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, he reaps. Man sows the wind, then reaps the whirlwind. L.J.