This tract is very much like the preceding one, only it focuses upon the common attempts people make to shift the blame for their sin and guilt to someone, or something, else. It appeals to the reader to realize that there is no one he can blame for his sin, but himself. He is not the innocent victim of his environment, upbringing, society at large, or whatever else or whoever else he may try to blame. It then appeals to him to stop trying to shift the blame, and instead to accept God’s gracious offer to forgive him all of his sins and to eternally justify him.

It has been said that two of the easiest things for anyone to do are: 1.) Complain; and 2.) Blame. And this certainly is true. We so quickly complain about things when they do not go our way. And we often just as quickly seek to find someone or something to lay the blame on when we find ourselves in some predicament or under some accusation. "It's not my fault," is what we usually declare. And especially is this so when we find ourselves in some legal predicament.

In fact, it is so common for a person to seek to blame someone else or something else for his troubles, that there is a whole branch to the legal profession dealing with it. It concerns itself with pleas of extenuating circumstances, shared blame, and a person's capacity for bearing guilt.

Defending Yourself Before God

Though human judges often hear a defendant plead, "It's not my fault!"; no one hears this more than God Himself. This is because as soon as a person is confronted with the truth that he is a guilty sinner in God's sight and is deserving of receiving God's wrath, he immediately tries to defend himself. And a common form of defense involves trying to make an excuse for one's sin and guilt by shifting the blame to someone or something else.

For example, a person might say:

— "I didn't know that I was sinning. No one told me. God should not hold me responsible for that."

— "I was never taught about God's law, so I didn't know what I was doing."

— "I didn't have the advantage of being brought up in a Christian home. If I had, things would have been different."

— "No one ever told me what The Bible said. This is the first time I've heard anything about it."

In fact, sometimes a person will even go so far as to blame God Himself, or declare that it wouldn't be right for God to judge him. He may say something like:

— "It's not fair. I've done my best. And I'm not as bad as a lot of people I know."

How About You?

You too are charged with being a guilty sinner in God's sight. And in connection with this, God's wrath is against you, just as Romans 1:18 says.

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (Romans 1:18)

In view of this, are you tempted to try to defend yourself by shifting the blame away from yourself? Are you tempted to say, "It's not my fault"?

No Excuse

As much as any of us would like to be able to blame someone else, or something else, for our ungodliness and sins, the truth is that we cannot do it. In fact, after God declares that we are worthy of His wrath in Romans 1:18, He goes on to show that everyone of us is "without excuse" and "inexcusable," and that "there is no respect of persons with God" on this point. Hence we are undeniably guilty sinners in God's sight and deserving of God's wrath, with no one to blame but ourselves.

Redemption Provided

Though it is impossible to be acquitted of your guilt as a sinner in God's sight, it is possible to have all charges against you dropped and for you to be eternally justified in God's sight. And not only is this far better, it is just what God is both able and willing to do for you, if you will let Him.

God is able to do this for you because of what His Son — the Lord Jesus Christ — did for you when He died in your place on the cross of Calvary.

²⁴ Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

²⁵ Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

²⁶ To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:24-26)

By dying in your place the Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself the debt and penalty of your sins. He functioned as your substitute-Redeemer. This means that He assumed your guiltiness before God and suffered the punishment for your sins for you. What you could not do for yourself, He did for you. And in so doing He completely satisfied God's Justice concerning the penalty for your sins, and He made it so that God can now freely forgive you all of your sins and justify you in His sight. As Romans 4:25 says, He "was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification."

The only condition that God places upon you to receive His gift of forgiveness and justification in His sight, is that you believe in the total sufficiency of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you. As the Apostle Paul says, God is "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." (Romans 3:26)

To believe in someone means to completely depend upon him and his ability to do something for you that you cannot do for yourself. And this is exactly what it means to "believe in Jesus."

Have you believed in Jesus as your all-sufficient Savior? If not, why not do so right now. Then instead of being "guilty before God," the following will be true of you: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" (Romans 5:1) — K. R. Blades