Reader's Version
- Scandalous Scripture: The Bible We Don't Read in Church
- Part 1: The Blame Game
- Sermon by Gene Simco | Reader's Version
- Last week, we talked about tithing. It was a difficult but very important message. Now, although we did send out an email about it, there were very few people in the room last week, so we think that someone must have sent out a warning message. Perhaps everyone who actually showed up just didn't get this:
- [Video plays: Princess Leia warning Luke, "It's a trap! It's a trap!"]
- Well, we are already implementing some of last week's ideas, like having Heather up in the café giving Stromboli only to those who tithe and offer—quite like the Soup Nazi, as we discussed last week.
- An Anniversary and an Honored Mother
- Before we begin this morning, I do want to make one note. We have talked about marriage in the past, and we have also talked about the work that the administrative council does for this church—basically everything on the back end. So I want to highlight my wife, Heather, just for a second for a couple of reasons.
- First, because today is our 24th wedding anniversary! We are celebrating 24 years of marriage today, so I want to honor her in that. The Proverbs are indeed correct:
- Proverbs 19:14 (NLT)
- "Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife."
- I am blessed to call Heather my wife, and this church is blessed by her as well. She does everything that just can't be seen—tireless hours of work—and this is in addition to the two jobs she already works to bring in our household income (and tithe it, by the way).
- This church really appreciates everything she does. I want to take a moment to thank and honor her, especially for her service over a decade of taking care of the administration of the church, handling much of the finances, dealing with the vendors, and keeping all operations and volunteer coordination going. She truly is the closest thing that we have to a mother here. If I am the father of this church, she is its mother, and we all love and appreciate everything she does.
- The Bible is Scandalous
- We've talked about Christian movies in the past. I always kind of make fun of them because the budgets are usually a bit low, and even when they aren't, they always make this massive effort to be "wholesome." Because of that, they often get the Bible completely wrong. But people always defend them and say, "I like it because it's wholesome!"
- Here is the problem: the Bible isn't wholesome. In fact, the Bible is scandalous.
- Let's look at the definition of a scandal before people get too upset:
- Scandal: A circumstance or action that offends propriety or established moral conceptions, or disgraces those associated with it.
- Indeed, if you read the Bible carefully, it is very, very scandalous by definition. Right from the get-go, you've got people murdering each other, some getting drunk and cursing their grandkids, and sleeping with their parents almost immediately.
- This is how messed up the Bible is in Genesis alone...
- The Story of Adam and Eve (and Stromboli)
- So today, we are going to look at the story of Adam and Eve. Basically, Adam and Eve were given paradise—that is, unlimited Stromboli—and they didn't tithe in response, so God kicked them out of the garden. The end.
- No, we looked at Genesis a couple of weeks ago as it relates to marriage, right? God gave Adam a helper because the animals weren't a great fit. He gets the woman. He leaves his father and mother, and the two become one flesh. This is the mystery that we looked at in Ephesians.
- Right now, when we look at Genesis, what we are often tempted to do is get involved in an argument over whether it is literal or not literal, and that misses the point. As a quick note here, we have to remember the point of Genesis is not to be a science textbook. A careful observation will indeed reveal that Genesis 1 seems to be an overview account, while Genesis 2 is a zoom-in. You will also notice that the order in which things happen is different.
- If you want to get technical, people will say, "Well, we read the Bible literally, and in Genesis 1 it says first day, second day." But there are other uses for "day" in both the Hebrew yom [יוֹם] and the Greek hēmera [ἡμέρα]. A day can be a span of time, and indeed Genesis 2 immediately tells us, "These are the generations," in the day that the Lord made the heavens and the earth. It is saying that the heavens and the earth in Genesis 2 were made in one day. This tells us immediately, between that and the plausible contradictions between chapters one and two, that it should not be read strictly literally.
- (For more on the problems with reading the Bible literally—from Genesis all the way to Jesus's suggestion that we pluck out our eyes and cut off our hands—please see related articles on BibleBelievingChristian.org).
- https://www.biblebelievingchristian.org/post/do-the-days-of-genesis-1-have-to-be-literal-24-hour-days
- The Rules of the Garden
- Now, let's look at what really got them kicked out of the garden. Right before the naming of the animals and the creation of woman, we get this:
- Genesis 2:15-17
- The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
- So right here, we get some rules. And just note: this is made to Adam specifically. He knows the rules. So when we get to Chapter 3, we see this:
- Genesis 3:1-7
- The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
- “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
- “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
- The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
- Robbing Equality and Free Will
- Note here, contrary to popular artwork, we don't actually know what kind of fruit it is. It certainly is probably not an apple.
- The first sin here is trying to rob equality with God. We will talk about that a bit later, but the point is that nothing is good enough for humans. You can be given paradise, but that's not good enough. And so, we brought sin and shame in.
- God's way and intention was perfect, but we have free will. That is the issue here: God gives us free will. It's like a good relationship. No good, loving relationship is forced. As we talked about with marriage, we don't imprison our spouses. We don't force them to be with us. We want them to love us back. The problem is, from the beginning, we have always wanted more, even if God gives us paradise. Yet, He gives us the free will to make our own choices.
- Now, remember that the man knew the rules, and yet he freely ate the fruit anyway.
- The Blame Game Begins
- Let's look at Genesis 3, starting at verse 8:
- Genesis 3:8-13
- When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
- He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
- “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
- The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
- Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
- “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
- Okay, so we have a clear pattern of blame here. If we continue, there are a lot of important things happening. There is a speech to the serpent, to the woman, and then to the man. But our focus today is on this response:
- The man says, "It was the woman YOU gave me," right? So immediately, he is kind of directing it at God, like this is God's fault. It is as if to say, If you didn't give me this woman, I wouldn't have eaten the fruit. Then the woman says, "It's the serpent's fault."
- We sin, and it is always someone else's fault.
- THEOLOGY BLOCK: The Judgments in Eden While the humans deflected blame, God’s subsequent speeches to the serpent, the woman, and the man (Genesis 3:14-19) established profound theological realities for a fallen world:
- ○To the Serpent (The Protoevangelium): God curses the serpent above all animals and declares that there will be enmity between the serpent's offspring and the woman's offspring. This is the "First Gospel"—the earliest prophetic promise that a coming Savior (Jesus) would eventually crush the head of the serpent, even as His heel was struck on the cross.
- ○To the Woman: God introduces painful labor in childbirth and relational strife. The perfect harmony of marriage is broken, replaced by a struggle for control and dominance.
- ○To the Man: The ground itself is cursed because of Adam. Work, which was originally a joyous purpose in the garden, now becomes painful toil filled with thorns and thistles. Finally, mortality is introduced: "For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return."
- So, they are banished from the garden, because there is another tree: the Tree of Life. They can't eat from that now, or they will be trapped in their sinful state like God and live forever. So they are banished east of Eden, and a cherubim with a flaming sword going back and forth guards it.
- The First Murder: Cain and Abel
- Then we arrive at Chapter 4. Adam had sexual relations with his wife, she became pregnant, and she gives birth to Cain. She says, "With the Lord's help, I have produced a man!" Later, she gives birth to Abel.
- When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd while Cain cultivated the ground. At harvest time, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions from the firstborn lambs of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel's gift, but He did not accept Cain's gift. This made Cain very angry, and his face fell; he looked dejected.
- God asks him, "Why are you angry? Why do you look so dejected?" Then we get to this crucial verse:
- Genesis 4:7
- "You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master."
- Remember this on sin: We need to take responsibility.
- (For further reading on overcoming our sinful nature, please see our article, "Will Christians Always Sin?" available at BibleBelievingChristian.org).
- https://www.biblebelievingchristian.org/post/will-christians-always-sin
- Now, let's continue in Genesis 4:
- Genesis 4:8-9
- One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.
- Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”
- “I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
- There is no acknowledgment of what he did. And again, this is somehow framed as God's fault. "Am I my brother's guardian?"
- There is a lot baked in there, but essentially, he puts it back on God to know where Abel is, and insinuates that God should have been protecting him. Wow.
- The Consequences of Deflection
- But again, there are consequences.
- Genesis 4:10-16
- But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”
- Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”
- The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
- Essentially, it is the same type of punishment and banishment his parents faced.
- THEOLOGY BLOCK: Blood Crying from the Ground When God tells Cain, "Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground," it establishes a profound biblical theme: innocent blood demands justice. However, the New Testament draws an incredible contrast between the blood of Abel and the blood of Jesus.
- In Hebrews 12:24, the author writes that we have come "to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."
- Abel's blood cried out from the ground for vengeance and justice against his murderer. But Jesus's blood, spilled on the cross, cries out for mercy, grace, and total forgiveness for His murderers.
- The Lead-Up to the Flood
- Next, what you have is the lead-up to the flood account.
- Genesis 5 (The Curse Continues): We see a long genealogy from Adam to Noah. People live for hundreds of years, but the repeating, heavy reality for every single person is: "...and then he died." Sin is doing its job.
- Genesis 6 (The Reset Button): Humanity becomes completely corrupt and wicked. The earth is filled with violence. God is grieved that He even made mankind and decides to wipe the slate clean. The sons of God, even the angels, are not content with the heavens, and they are sleeping with the daughters of men. But one man finds favor: Noah. God gives him the blueprint to build the ark.
- Genesis 7 & 8 (The Flood): The storm comes, and every living thing outside the ark is destroyed. After over a year on the boat, the waters finally recede. Noah, his family, and the animals step out into a brand-new, freshly washed world.
- Genesis 9:1-19 (The Fresh Start): We see that God makes a covenant with Noah. He puts the rainbow in the sky, blesses them to be fruitful and multiply, and humanity is given a literal clean slate. God has Etch-a-Sketched the world, per se.
- A Clean Slate and Another Fall
- Now, Noah—the righteous hero of the faith who just saved humanity—settles down, becomes a farmer, and plants a vineyard. This leads right into the next major failure.
- Genesis 9:20-25
- After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked.
- When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham:
- “May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”
- The Blame Game Continues
- So again, we see the blame game right here. Noah is drunk. That is totally his fault. Ham, his son, sees him naked and exposes him, but Noah decides to curse his grandson. He skips right over that generation and curses Canaan.
- We have the blame game here. Whose fault really was it? I'm sure there was a protocol of respect that Ham should have followed. But hey, look, he wouldn't have had to follow it in the first place if Noah didn't get drunk!
- Genesis 9:26-27
- Then Noah said, “May the Lord, the God of Shem, be blessed, and may Canaan be his servant! May God expand the territory of Japheth! May Japheth share the prosperity of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant.”
- The Ultimate Example: Mastering Sin
- So we sin, we reject God, and somehow, it is always someone else's fault.
- But remember what God said to Cain: you must subdue sin and become its master. Some say, "Well, we're tempted, right?" But the good news is that we are not left hanging with these miserable examples. God comes in human form and gives us the ultimate example in Jesus.
- If we look at Jesus's temptation and examine the accounts (there is a little bit of detail variation in the order between, let's say, Matthew and Luke), we see that Jesus perfectly resisted this temptation. First, we have John the Baptist heralding in Jesus, and then Jesus's baptism. And then if we keep reading:
- Matthew 4:1-11
- Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.
- During that time the devil came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
- But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
- Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
- Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
- “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
- Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
- Key Observations on Temptation
- There are a few important things to remember here:
- ○Testing God: Think back to what we talked about last week with tithing. People mistakenly say that Malachi 3 is the only place in the Bible that says to "test God," and they use that to justify testing Him with money. But if we continue reading Malachi in context, it was hyperbole written to a wicked people who would cheat God. Only wicked people test God. Even if God had said that one time in the Old Testament as a rhetorical challenge, Jesus clearly defines the standard right here: "You must not test the Lord your God." Jesus's words control here. This is the conclusion. The modern teaching is a flawed teaching appealing to greedy people.
- ○The Devil Can "Bless" You: We have talked about this in the past—just because something is from the world doesn't mean it is good. The devil can bless you, too. These things are not from the Father. The world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions (1 John 2:16). The devil is the ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and we are taught throughout Scripture, including in Galatians, that the world is evil. What the devil tempts us with is not from the Father.
- Owning Our Desires
- Furthermore, God does not tempt us. If we go to the book of James, starting at verse 12:
- James 1:12-15
- God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
- This perfectly aligns with Romans 6: The wages of sin is death.
- When we look at it closely, the devil is the one who does the tempting, and he tempts with things of the world. God does not tempt. Temptation comes from our own desires, and we must subdue it. We are called on to subdue it and master it.
- Resisting the Devil and True Deliverance
- First, we must resist him.
- James 4:7
- "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
- We have to humble ourselves, remove ourselves from the trap, and actively resist the temptation.
- There is a lot of talk today about "deliverance ministry" and running around trying to cast demons out of believers. But we need to be crystal clear on a foundational biblical truth: True Christians cannot be demon-possessed. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us, and light and darkness cannot occupy the same space. Furthermore, we can't play the old "the devil made me do it" card to excuse our actions. Look closely at what the text actually instructs: God doesn't tell us to hunt for demons or wait for someone to perform a special ritual over us. He tells us to humble ourselves and resist the devil ourselves. The devil didn't force you; he only tempted you. When you take personal responsibility, humble yourself before God, and resist, the promise is clear: he will flee from you.
- Next—and right on that point—we have the ultimate backing to make that resistance possible: We have the power of the Holy Spirit!
- The True Fruit: Our Helper
- But how? That is a good question.
- We have a Helper to guide us. That is what Jesus calls the Holy Spirit when we are reading John 16—a Helper, an Advocate, a Comforter. He is the one who makes mastering sin completely possible.
- This is the fruit we should now be eating.
- Guided by the Spirit
- Let's look at Galatians 5:16 through 25:
- Galatians 5:16-18
- So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
- So let's just pause really quickly before we get into the rest of that, and I'll explain a few things.
- First of all, why is he talking about the law of Moses? Because the contextual problem here is that there are false teachers who want to tell all these people that they have to follow the law of Moses, but Christ has fulfilled that law.
- Now, regarding the sinful nature, it's important to note: we do have a sinful nature. But we are freed from the power of sin that leads to death. When we look at Romans 6 and Romans 8, that is exactly what it says. Romans 6 gives the metaphor of slavery, and Romans 8 gives us the freedom from that slavery by the Holy Spirit.
- Many mistakenly say that Romans 7 is about Paul actively struggling with sin. That is not true. He is using a literary device called prosopopoeia to mock Adam. Otherwise, it would be a major contradiction, because the text is bookended by chapters 6 and 8, which explicitly say he is not a slave to sin. So why would he be saying he is in chapter 7?
- Also, people will often mistakenly use 1 John to say that we are going to continually sin. That is not true. 1 John says that we have a sin nature, and if we say we have not sinned (past tense), we are deceiving ourselves. But when we keep reading, 1 John 2 says he is writing so that we do not sin, and 1 John 3 says we can clearly identify who are children of the devil and who are children of God. The ones who keep sinning, the ones who practice this sinful life, are children of the devil. He is not saying that we won't make mistakes ever, and he isn't saying that we don't have a sin nature, but he is saying the Holy Spirit helps us defeat it.
- The Fruit of the Spirit vs. The Desires of the Flesh
- Let's continue reading Galatians 5:
- Galatians 5:19-25
- When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
- But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
- Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
- That is the expectation for all Christians. We have crucified that sinful nature, and the Holy Spirit now gives us the power to live free from that sinful compulsion or the practice of sinning. We will not do that if we are guided by the Spirit. Again, will we make mistakes? Yes, but we will not practice them over and over again. We will not "struggle" with them indefinitely if we are saved. We now have the Holy Spirit to guide us.
- Denying the Power of the Spirit
- A lot of people deny the power of the Holy Spirit by continuing in this sinful life.
- For example, we will often try to evangelize to people while we are actively in some kind of sin or practicing sin. When we talk to some of our friends in recovery that we have here at the church who might not be Christians, and they observe us "struggling" with a sin, they are not very convinced. Many of them have stopped their main sin for an entire lifetime—20, 30, or 40 years sometimes!
- So how powerful can the Holy Spirit be if they can stop without Him? We have to be very careful about that testimony. Is it possible to stop a certain sin? Absolutely.
- Jesus's Expectation: Go and Sin No More
- Furthermore, it is Jesus's expectation that we stop sinning.
- If we look at John 5, when Jesus finds the lame man He had healed later in the temple, He says, "Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." And if we look at John 8, to the woman caught in adultery, everybody forgets the very last thing He says to her: "Go and sin no more."
- We are to follow Jesus's example. It clearly says this in 1 Peter 2: He is our example, and we are to follow in His steps. We are to try to be like Him. Now, we are not going to be perfect, but He is the shining example.
- He also takes the blame. He doesn't seem to have the problem we do. He expects us to confess it, while He pays the price. He gives the example, He reverses the sin in the garden, and He gives us the power to conquer it.
- The Carmen Christi: Reversing the Garden
- In the past, I have talked about how much I love Philippians Chapter 2. Scholars have called it the Carmen Christi—that is, a "Christ Hymn." It is known to be a very early hymn or poem about what Jesus did, and it tells us about His nature—that He is God—and what He did for us.
- Let's take a moment and break this down. This is based on the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), but I want to insert the original Greek on a few important words to show you what is really happening here.
- Philippians 2:5-6
- "Make your own attitude [φρονεῖτε] that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form [μορφῇ] of God, did not consider equality [ἴσα] with God as something to be used for His own advantage [ἁρπαγμόν]."
- Let's just pause on that word advantage [ἁρπαγμόν] and look at that reality. It is a beautiful word. When we read the Greek word harpagmon, it literally means to snatch, to grab, to grasp, or to rob.
- What Paul has in mind here is exactly what Adam and Eve did. They tried to rob equality with God. Jesus actually is God, but He doesn't try to rob or exploit that equality. Let's continue:
- Philippians 2:7-8
- "Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave [δούλου], taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient [ὑπήκοος] to the point of death—even to death on a cross."
- Here we see it changes—He takes the form of a slave [δούλου]. And it's an interesting word for obedient [ὑπήκοος], which implies to listen.
- Philippians 2:9-11
- "For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
- Through this beautiful poem, we learn exactly who Jesus is and what He did for us by reversing the sin in the garden. Our attempt was to be like God, but instead, we should be humble. Even as God, He gives us the example of what we should have done in the first place.
- The gravity here cannot be overlooked: He assumes the penalty. The very least we can do is assume the responsibility.
- As it says in James 5:16:
- "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."
- Time to End the Blame Game
- It is time to end the blame game.
- 1. Identify Where We Are Pointing the Finger First, we need to identify where we are pointing the finger. In the garden, Adam's immediate reaction was to blame the woman God gave him. Eve immediately deflected and blamed the serpent. Cain completely avoided responsibility, asking God if he was his brother's guardian. Noah blamed his son for his drunkenness.
- We need to look honestly at our own lives and relationships. Even when we are blessed with an understanding wife, like I am with Heather, our default human nature is often to deflect blame when things go wrong. We must stop blaming our spouses, our coworkers, our circumstances, or even God for our own choices. So the question we need to ask ourselves is: Where are we currently saying it's not our fault?
- 2. Own Your Temptations and Master Sin We need to own our temptations and master sin. We must recognize that temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. God warned Cain that sin was crouching at the door, but He commanded him to subdue it and be its master.
- Stop using "I was tempted" as an excuse to avoid accountability. When those internal desires arise, we have to take responsibility and master them before they give birth to sinful actions and, ultimately, sin.
- 3. Surrender to the Holy Spirit's Guidance We need to surrender to the Holy Spirit's guidance. We are instructed to let the Holy Spirit guide our lives so that we won't do what our sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, but the Spirit gives us desires that are the exact opposite. The Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives, including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
- You do not have to fight this battle alone under your own willpower. Jesus reversing the sin in the garden gave us the power to conquer it. When you feel the urge to lash out or shift blame, pause and ask the Holy Spirit to produce self-control in that exact moment.
- 4. Practice Confession and Prayer We need to practice confession and prayer. James instructs us to confess our sins to one another. We are told to pray for one another so that we might be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. There is that power again!
- So instead of hiding from God like Adam and Eve did, bring your struggles into the light. Find a trusted brother or sister in Christ this week, confess where you have been failing to take responsibility, and pray for one another. This can be a very difficult step because many people have been burned in the past and their trust violated. But here at C3 Church, we have a heart for those who want to get it right. So please feel free to connect with us.
- The Ultimate Example and Encouragement
- The incredibly good news today is that we are not left hanging with the miserable examples of Adam, Eve, Cain, and Noah. God came in human form to give us the ultimate example in Jesus. Oh my God! He took the blame that belonged to us. He paid the price for our failures, and He completely reversed the curse of the garden.
- You don't have to carry the heavy weight of your past mistakes or hide in shame anymore. Step into the grace He freely provides, nail your sinful desires to the cross, and let the Holy Spirit lead you into freedom this week!
- ________________________________________
- ©️Copyright 2026 Gene Simco Most Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scriptures in brackets reflect the original Biblical languages.