"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" 

-Romans 8:1

I am a part of a wonderful group of guys who meet online once a week. This week during our time together I had a realization about how we react to sin. We were talking about who or what we blame after we sin. The enemy lies to us before we sin, he is the father of all lies as scripture says. He gives us many promises that our sin will provide what we need. He promises fulfillment, secrecy, comfort, power, and many more. He makes promises that only the Holy Spirit can give. We then sin and the demeanor of the lies changes. He then makes us think, “How could you?” “Why did you do that?” “You are a failure.” The enemy then makes us think about all the ways our sin hurts us. 

This cycle happens to us again and again and it is incredibly frustrating. We hate that we sin, but we keep sinning. Well, simply put, we love sin. We know scripture says to put sin to death, but why don’t we? We love sin. In the moment we love what sin gives us. In a way those promises the enemy gives are true. I want to propose a thought. The church today is too nice when we talk about sin. We say things like “I fell into sin.” “I have been struggling.” “I stumbled this week.” The truth is, I didn’t fall or stumble, I decided to sin. I actively decided to turn away from God. I decided to run toward my sin. For me, this makes this cycle of sin even more frustrating. 

The enemy promises these great feelings that I feel for a short moment before he shows me how I failed. I then play the blame game. I start blaming myself. I believe the lies of the enemy again. I was reminded during this meeting with the guys that I used to blame other things for my failing besides myself. I would blame society and the internet for being so available. Some of the guys would blame their parents for not teaching them. A big one is I would blame God. He made me this way. He is not helping me enough.  I never realized this blame game. I can’t blame society, I would still run towards sin without the internet. I can’t blame my parents for trying to preserve my innocence. I didn’t turn to them until I was 20, how would they know if I never said anything? I can’t blame God for me actively denying him so I can sin against him. So I am stuck blaming myself. I realized at this meeting, why do I have to blame?

My best friend read part of Romans 7 and 8. Romans 8:1 says “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” I don’t need to blame myself because there is no condemnation. What glorious news. Our God is so gracious. I let the enemy convince me that I couldn’t go to God right after I sin. I had to sit in my filth for a little bit before I could go to God. Forgetting that time is not going to fix anything, God doesn’t work on our time. Christ died for all the sins we have committed, but he also died for all the sins we will commit. I was giving the enemy free time to control my mind after I sinned instead of immediately confessing to the Lord and seeking forgiveness. This of course does not give us the green light to sin whenever because there is no condemnation. Instead, it is a reminder of our gracious and loving savior. 

The blame game is a part of our human nature. Look at the garden of eden. Adam immediately blamed God and Eve. Eve immediately blamed the serpent. We as humans do not want to take responsibility for the bad, so we blame others. In our pride, we only want glory. Yet, the glory is for God alone because he alone took the blame for us. If I don’t have to blame myself, I don’t get to praise myself when I succeed. I don’t have to blame anyone for my sin, not even the enemy. The enemy doesn’t get the credit, God gets the credit for saving me. When I run from God, no one is to blame. God is the recipient of praise and thanksgiving for taking the blame for me. I need to only accept his free gift of forgiveness.

I need help though. I would forget this if it weren't for my community around me. They remind me that I am an adopted child of God. He created everything and he chose me to be in his family. I have no need to blame anyone. I only need to praise God. When I turn from him, it is a miracle that he accepts me back with open arms when I repent. I will praise him forever because of that.