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Why Christians Need to Stop Making Excuses For Sin

So you call yourself a Christian?

I can’t tell you how many times that thought has run through my mind after interacting with a person who has professed to be Christian but shown signs of being… well… not.

I know, take the speck out of my own eye first, right? I have been. I’ve been talking to God about a lot of things happening in my heart and life and His response has been eye-opening.

I’ve always called myself a Christian. But there have been times (even in the not-so-distant past) that my actions have probably shouted otherwise. They’ve been more in agreement with the rest of the world than they have God. And that’s a problem because God expects much different His followers.

Maybe you’ve noticed these same discrepancies in the lives of people around you. You’re probably wondering how to reconcile that with what the Bible says about living holy and being set apart. Hopefully, this article will answer some of your questions.

Does God Excuse Sin?

Society has tried to make this a complicated conversation. We’re going to keep it simple.

Does God excuse sin? No, God does not excuse sin. He is willing to forgive it though if we come to Him with a repentant heart. That’s typically the problem. People have come to this place where we really aren’t repentant. We say sorry because we don’t want the consequences of our wrong choices, but we still refuse to separate ourselves from those wrong choices.

We come up with all kinds of excuses for not serving God and even more excuses for not obeying Him. Our hearts are divided. That’s a sad and dangerous place for us to be. We can’t claim to love Jesus and consistently make choices that serve ourselves instead of honoring Him. If we know what the honorable choice is, it’s our responsibility (out of love for the Lord) to make it.

Maybe you’re wondering, what if we don’t know. Is ignorance an excuse for sin? This is another one of those questions that we tend to make more complicated than it needs to be.

Here’s the thing – if you’re a Christian who has an active relationship with the Lord, you talk to Him, consider Him, position yourself to hear from Him – you can bet your socks that if there is sin in your life, God will let you know about it. He will not let you stay in ignorance. He loves you too much to let you wander without warning. That being said, we have the freedom to choose to ignore His warning. There are many people who call themselves Christians who foolishly exercise that choice. I know I’ve been there.

The good news is that repentance and forgiveness is only a choice away. God’s love is persistent. His grace is abundant. And forgiveness is always available for the repentant heart.

The Dangers of Making Excuses

What does it matter right? Maybe you’ve compromised in an area or two of your life and you haven’t seen the damage yet. You’re wondering how do excuses hurt you? What are the disadvantages of excuses?

To explain the dangers of making excuses thoroughly we have to address the reason behind the excuses. Why do people make excuses?

People typically make excuses for two reasons:

1. We don’t want to be held accountable or accept responsibility for our choices and the consequences of them.
2. Ignorance is bliss. We’d rather do things our way.

Almost every excuse can be boiled down to one of those two reasons. Why is it bad to make excuses? Excuses keep us from living in the freedom and fullness of Christ. They keep us bound to the very sin that Jesus died to free us from and they keep us from becoming the people He created us to be. Those are just some of the disadvantages of excuses. There are more!

When we refuse to properly address the sin in our lives while claiming to be a Christian we misrepresent the God we serve, His love, His grace, and what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus.

We become a stumbling block for the lost and for the new believers. Instead of holiness and love, we showcase hypocrisy and pride. Instead of leading people towards the Lord, we lead them away from Him.

This is a big part of why we need to stop making excuses for sin. Our excuses can have an eternal impact on us and others. If we’re going to take our Christian walk seriously, we need to start addressing the sin and the excuses we make for it seriously. Not sure where to start? Below are 6 of the most common excuses Christians make that keep them from dealing with sin properly.

6 Excuses Christians Need to Stop Using to Excuse The Sin They’re In.

1. “I’m just being myself.”

Wrong! God NEVER intended for you to be defined by sin. You were created for a relationship with God. Sin was never a part of your initial make up and to this day it is not where your identity lies.

The reason we have experience with sin at all is that Adam and Eve made a choice that contradicted their identity in Christ. They aligned themselves with a lie from the enemy instead of the truth of God. That choice gave the devil authority in our world and sin has run rampant here ever since.

Knowing that sin leads to death (James 1:5, Romans 6:23) and Jesus came to give us life (John 10:10) it only makes sense that sin should have no part in our lives. Our choices should reflect the new nature we have in Christ.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

God has made you new. When we choose to sin, we are mirroring Adam and Eve’s choice to align themselves with behavior that contradicts our identity in Christ. We are not who we once were. Our identity has changed and sin is no longer associated with it.

Learn more about your identity in Christ here. 

2. Cheap Grace.

God’s grace is really a beautiful thing. Because of His great sacrifice, we have the opportunity to live forever with Him, free of the condemnation that comes with our imperfections. What love!

It’s incredible to know that when I make mistakes I can come to God, confess it to Him, ask forgiveness, and it is over like that; a clean slate, white robe.

Unfortunately, some of us misconstrue this beautiful gift of grace and take it to mean, “I can do what I want, even if I know it’s wrong because God will just forgive me.”

Paul addresses this faulty mindset in the book of Romans. He writes,

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? Romans 6:14-16

God’s grace is not permission for you to go sin extravagantly. Or even in-extravagantly.

Repentance is a heart issue. We are in no way worthy of God’s forgiveness, nor have we ever deserved it, but we are grateful for it. God’s grace covers our imperfections when we fall short. It is not a “get out of jail free” card.

3. Sin seems entertaining.

Look, I get it. I get not being able to escape from sin when it comes to entertainment. It’s everywhere. It’s in movies, music, recreation, it’s online, on TV. So much of our entertainment is centered around sin and the conflicts that follow it. Yet we enjoy watching them.

Instead of loving what God loves and hating what He hates, we love what He loves and are entertained by what He hates. Am I the only one who sees a problem with that?

Maybe it’s a temptation issue. If that’s the case 1 Corinthians 10:13 has the remedy,

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

4. “Everybody else is doing it.”

Well hon, you are not everybody else. You are a child of God, and that truth alone drastically changes EVERYTHING. It should change your heart, your intentions, your goals, your standard of living. EVERYTHING.

In Romans 12:2 Paul teaches,

…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The word “conform” means to act in accordance with the prevailing standards, attitudes, practices, etc., of society or a group.

When we conform to the ways of the world we are agreeing with their standards, attitudes, and practices; most of which are in opposition to God. This is why Paul so wisely tells us not to comply with those patterns but instead to allow God to renew our minds according to His Word; so that we can take on the character expected of us as Christ’s redeemed.

As disciples of Jesus, we are no longer living a life that is all about us. We are choosing a life that is all about God. Our actions need to align with our choice.

New to Christianity? Learn more about what it means to live for Jesus and be “set apart” in these books: Learning to Follow Jesus by Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch (Author) 
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonheoffer.

5. It hasn’t hurt me yet.

Have you ever been given a piece of sound advice and opted not to take it because “You’d rather learn the hard way;” which typically implies that we would rather go through the hurt and pain that comes as a result of a poor choice (or series of poor choices) simply because.

Because we want to be right.

Because you want to be in charge.

Because you think it’s worth the risk…

It never is.

You may not feel the hurt now, but living in intentional sin will hurt you. The more sin you allow in your life the more distance you put between you and God. And that hurts. An eternity away from God WILL HURT. You have more than this life to think of. Make your decisions in light of eternity.

6. “It’s my right.”

Sure it is. I guess you can choose whether or not you want to live in intentional sin, but the fact that is even an argument makes me really question whether or not we take what we believe seriously.

Do you; take God seriously?

I had a blogging buddy who asked a group of us, “What are some things that are hindering your relationship with God?”

It took some time and reflection but after thinking about it this was my frighteningly honest response:

“It sounds bad but just not taking Him seriously. Not hearing “no” as no. Allowing myself to be entertained by things that I know God doesn’t approve of (TV shows, movies, music, certain types of conversation and recreation). It’s easy to love what God loves, it’s less easy to turn from what He hates..”

The inability to do both of those things (love what God loves and hate what He hates) is called being double-minded. Another term for it that you might recognize is “lukewarm.” God speaks very strongly about being lukewarm and is pretty upfront about protecting His kingdom from that behavior. He will not accept a lukewarm church (Revelation 3:15-1).

So sure, it’s your right. But to those who take God seriously, it’s a right they are willing to surrender.

What Are Ways to Avoid Falling Into Sin?

These red letters in John 14:21 say it all:

For those who may not know, red-letter words in the Bible are words that Jesus himself actually spoke.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

John 14:21

In short, if we love God, we will keep His commandments. Most of us are quick to say that we love God, but do our actions reflect our love for Him like Jesus teaches they should?

We all sin. Some of us by accident and others more by intentional choice. Some of us recognize our wrongdoing and turn away from it (that’s called repentance) while others choose to stay in it.

Sin is sin. And if we are going to proclaim to be followers of Christ we need to get away from it. If we love God like we say we do we need to start ridding ourselves of the excuses that keep us trapped in sin. 

6 Steps You Can Take To Keep From Falling Into Sin

1. Set boundaries that help you honor your relationship with God. 
2. Learn to love what God loves.
3. Treasure grace. Remember the sacrifice
4. Add prayer to your list of practical ways to avoid temptation. It’s hard to sin when you’re talking to God.
5. Ask God to help you adopt His definition of fun, righteous, set apart, and holy. 
6. Think, “would God be honored by how I am representing Him?”

Questions like this help us remember who we are in Christ and who we are living for. They guide us in making wise choices and keep us from stumbling over ourselves and truly grasp what it means to live set apart.

What tips would you give someone who is trying to break free of mess excuses make in the relationship with God? Drop your answer in the comments; let’s chat!

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