No Excuses

Leviticus 4
13 “If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty.”
22 “If one of Israel’s leaders sins by violating one of the commands of the Lord his God but doesn’t realize it, he is still guilty.”
27 “If any of the common people sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but they don’t realize it, they are still guilty.”

God’s people could never use the excuse, “well, I didn’t know” to rationalize their sin. Oh, they could try, but God’s Word lays that excuse wide open for what it is: bologna. The same holds true for Christ-followers today. When we become aware of our sin, we need to repent immediately, trusting upon the Blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our sins. We also cannot fall into the satanic trap of, “well, since Jesus’ Blood covers my sins, I can just do what I want, and ask for forgiveness later.” Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 6 that we should be dead to sin:
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

May our lives be filled with integrity, and when we do sin, may we quickly turn to Jesus in repentance!