Sam sat in a prison cell. His life of drugs and crime had caught up with him. A counselor came to see him and asked to hear his story. Sam shared his story of past abuses and hardships. The counselor told Sam he was a victim of his past circumstances and offered a good rehabilitation program to help his self-worth. Sam did the program, finished his time, but later reconnected with old friends and ended up back in prison for the same crimes.
This time, a Chaplain came to see Sam and heard the same story. But he explained to Sam that his crimes were symptoms of a sinful heart and that “the wages of sin is death.” He shared the Ten Commandments, showing Sam how he had fallen short of God’s standards, and therefore was headed for hell, but how Jesus came to earth to pay the death penalty our sin deserves, providing forgiveness, righteous power by His Spirit, and eternal life, to all who will repent. Sam came to understand that he wasn’t a victim of circumstances but a sinner in need of a Savior. Sam trusted Christ and continues to walk with God today.
Can you see the danger? The “victim” mentality is the devil’s smokescreen to keep a sinner headed for hell by refusing to call sin what it is. Logic demands that if bad circumstances are the cause of sinful behavior, shouldn’t all those who had good upbringings be model citizens? Yet that’s not the case. We are all born with a sin nature that manifests in self-serving, sin-loving behaviors, regardless of outward circumstances… “If we say we have no sin (nature) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8,9).
Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). The Cross demands that we own up to our sin nature, evidenced by our sinful choices, and take God’s side against it before we can be truly healed from it. The promise of genuine repentance is genuine salvation… “sin shall not have dominion over you.”
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