Obtaining Victory Over Sin - NetBibleStudy.com

Victory Over Sin 13On the positive side – if we accept the fact that God is good – two results willfollow; (1) we can surrender to God without reservations of fear of being gypped, and(2) we will thirst for change, knowing that the watering holes of the world cannotcompare with the refreshing water that Christ promises. Are we prepared to acceptwhat we know, deep down in our self, that God’s plan is perfect? If so, we will beprepared to part with our sin, knowing that God will replace it with something better.We will have passed the first test as a candidate for radical change.THE SECOND PRINCIPLEWhat is the second essential truth we must accept? It is that we are fullyresponsible for our behavior! All of us are born with a propensity to avoid blame.Children display a remarkable ability to shift responsibility to others. Any parentcannot help but notice how children seem to be born with a nature that spontaneously,creatively, almost ingeniously invent excuses for their misbehavior.It began with our first parents in the Garden of Eden. God asked Adam, “Haveyou eaten from the three of which I commanded you not to eat?” The question wasstraightforward, and could have been answered in one word – “Yes!” But Adamresponded, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate”(Genesis3:11-12).Notice the exact words Adam answers God with. What Adam really said was,“It’s Your fault that I’m stuck with this weak-willed woman You created.” So Adam blamedboth God and his wife before he admitted that he also was party of the deed.Notice his logic – (1) God created the woman, (2) the woman ate the fruit, andthen (3) gave it to him. Adam suggests that if God had not created Eve –- or, if Evewould not have disobeyed – he would not have sinned. Therefore, he was notblameworthy. In accepting responsibility, Eve fared no better. She said, “The serpentdeceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13) She wasn’t responsible either.Someone wittingly said, “Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the serpent; and the serpentdidn’t have a leg to stand on!” – No one was responsible – they both implied that it wasGod’s fault!Is there any truth in their reason?It was true that God created the tree, the woman, the man, and even Lucifer –-who became the devil. –- It is likewise true that God could have created a gardenwithout this forbidden tree and could have barred Satan from entry. Yes, a sovereignGod could have done it all differently – But Eve made a choice and so did Adam! Thus,from the very beginning God made it plain that everyone must bear the fullresponsibility for his decisions. The serpent also got his due –- each made a choice, eachdeserved blame. In the Garden, the matter of human responsibility was settled forever –each individual must take responsibility for his choices.