The Devil Made Me Do It

"Sir, I did it"

From the very start we are on the wrong side of God and after the initial fall the devil has very little to do with it but rather it is our own sinful nature causing all the problems: Psa 51:5 "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Throughout life man can find it difficult to take responsibility for his/her sinful condition; man generally (with rare exception) will try and move responsibility from themselves to another and try and convince others why it is plausible to blame another. What we frequently hear people say is: "It’s not my fault". I have gathered a few examples of how men and women try and shift the blame from themselves to others. It’s not so much that we are trying to make anyone to look bad, it’s more that unless we are intellectually honest about the truth of our condition there cannot be any remedy. Topping the list is "The Devil made me do it"

The Devil made me do it - Eve started this one:

Gen 3:13 "And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Let me put this in a different perspective. Eve desired something God forbade and she reached out her own hand and took the fruit and with her own mouth she ate it and disobeyed the Lord. The devil and the fruit were not the problem. The Devil did not force her at gunpoint to eat nor did the fruit attack her forcing her to swallow it, no Eve sinned and broke Gods commandment because she desired to do something wrong. Nobody is to blame here but Eve, the Devil did not make her do it.  

It’s My Spouses Fault - Adam started this one:

(Any other person to blame will do)

Gen 3:12 "And the man said [to God], The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Adam blamed his spouse. Adam is faced with a choice, it is his to make. He looked at Eve, considered the commandment of God and still ate the fruit. Eve did not force Adam, Adam sinned of his own free will because if he had a heart to do right he would have refused, presented his wife to the Lord and interceded for her. Instead, he just went along with it and disobeyed.

My ancestry made me do it

"This is the just the way I was born, it's not my fault". My father was a thief, my mother was a drunk, my family line gave me this propensity and it’s not my fault. I doubt in the light of eternity this will carry much weight because we have the power of prayer and the throne of grace.

Peer pressure made me do it

Saul's sin greatly when he offered a sacrifice in 1 Samuel but it is interesting what he says to justify his actions. He said, he forced himself to sin because of the people and because Samuel himself did not come when he was supposed to: 1 Samuel 13:10-13  “And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.  (11)  And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;  (12)  Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.  (13)  And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever." Saul forced himself to sin because of peer pressure; again, no gun to the head Saul did this of his own free will and nobody was at fault but Saul. People do all kinds of horrid things today and justify it because of peer pressure. They violate their own conscience and do things that will haunt them the rest of their lives. The secret to being set free is not to blame others but to take responsibility.

Society made me do it

“It is not your fault, society drove you to it.” This is the famous line used by defense attorneys and mothers. “Johnny is a good boy, he just got in with a bad crowd” The cards were stacked against me from the beginning and I didn’t have a chance. This is where we are at in America right now. We are playing a game of identity politics where everybody is a victim. Nobody is responsible for their own character, if they steal it is because society owes them anyway. If they commit rape or murder it’s not their fault, they were forced down this route by society. This is a falsehood and does not help anyone in the long run. The reality is everyone one has the ability to decide who they will be, they have a choice and when they make their choice to serve their own selfish desires then no one is to blame but themselves. Blaming society never fixed any problem. I am not saying society cannot be cruel, nothing of the kind, what I am saying is what we do in society is all on us. 

What is the honest to goodness answer? George Washington (allegedly) said; "I did it, I cut down the cherry tree". It wasn’t the devil, it wasn’t my spouse or another, it wasn’t my ancestry not peer pressure, it wasn't society that forced me down this road nor was it the environment. I picked up the ax and with my two little hands I did the naughty deed. "I did it and I take full responsibility for my own actions".

Let’s return to our sinful condition for a moment, considering the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, it was as if collectively we said, "Punish Him for me". Trust me, Christ did no sin and He committed no crime, we are all the guilty ones. He was punished for me, that is the cold hard fact and any other confession will not bring remedy to my fallen, wrath stricken condition. Simple honesty and simple confession will bring remedy. There has only been one who was never guilty of sin and He was punished for us all. He was whipped, beaten, humiliated and murdered for our sin, the least we can do is acknowledge it (our sin and His atonement for it). God has required of me personally to acknowledge this, not when I said the sinner prayer at the beginning of my conversion but decades after my salvation and not in the privacy of my prayer closet but I wept secretly in a public place turning my head towards the window while my heart was pricked and tears streamed down my face. Making excuses isn't the secret to true forgiveness and true repentance. It is not the foundation to real healing of our wrong ways and complete deliverance.

This is what God said to His people (paraphrased), “Stop trying to shift the blame and find loopholes, I am merciful God who pardons sins and bring deliverance”. Jeremiah 3:12-13 v 12 “Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. v 13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.”

Consider that all God wants to do is restore and put us back into right standing with Him. Psa 32:1 "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. v 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile [deceit]."

But here is the problem: Psalm 32:3 "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long." There was a period when David was in denial of His sin, perhaps blaming others, and God dealt with him to get an honest confession from him. Some conjecture it was a physical ailment as he talks about his bones being afflicted.

In Prov 28:13 we read "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Psalm 32:4 "For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer." Gods hand was heavy upon this man to get him to confess and confess David did. What is the mind of the Spirit, is it not to bring everyone to a confession of repentance? We are not told of the wrath of God to bring us to repentance but it is the goodness of God that brings true acknowledgment and repentance. Rom 2:4 “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”

Psalm 32:5 "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." Listen, it is really quite simple. 1 John 1:9 "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The idea of this little essay is not to make people feel bad but rather to help them get free; the moment we come to the place of honest confession and say, "It was me, I got angry and lost my temper" or "it was me, I committed that sin" the sooner we will find true mercy and forgiveness.