NO EXCUSES ACCEPTED

PART III 

ROMANS 1:18-23 

          This is the final message in this series.  So far we have talked about the excuse of the atheist, the agnostic, the one who is ignorant and the one who is deceived.  Today if time permits I would like to talk about the excuses of the one who is unconvicted, the one who is careless, the procrastinator, and the one who is heart broken.

1.     The Excuse of the Unconvicted

          The one who is unconvicted does not believe that man is by nature sinful and thus in need of a savior.  He says things like, “I am not lost”.  I don’t have to believe God and I don’t feel that there is anything wrong with me and so I don’t need a savior”.  I am okay like I am.  God’s response to this person is:

ROMANS 3:23

          This person must be brought face to face with their own sin and the consequences of sin.  Ask this person a simple question like “do you think that a man can live forever”?  Of course he will so no. Then ask why not.  He will probably give some biological reason but Ezekiel 18:20 says, “the soul that sins, it shall die.

ROMANS 6:23

          What man earns for his continuing to live in sin is death; not just physical death, but also eternal death or eternal separation from God.  This is the payment for sin.  However, realizing that death will surely come, the unconvicted will not feel that he is a sinner and may even deny that he or she has sinned.  This person may not understand the Bible concept of sin.  They may say things like I don’t hurt any one.  Man has varied definitions for sin. Normally man's definition will vary based on the laws of the land and on societal views and standards. However, The Bible gives several scriptures that will help in clarifying God's definition of sin. Since God is the one to who we must give an account, it is to our advantage to understand His definition of sin and His requirements for forgiveness. Sin is  

A. the transgression of God's law (the Word) - I John 3:4 –Sin is going against the will of God

B. all unrighteousness - I John 5:17 Sin is any act on our parts that does not represent God

C. not seeking God - 2 Chronicles 12:14 Even not living in such a fashion as to prepare oneself to meet God is a sin

D. not doing what you know to be good - James 4:17 

E. not accepting Christ - John 17:7-9 (This sin of not accepting Christ is what condemns a man to eternal damnation. It is not the list of wrongs we have done, but rather refusing to come to Christ and have our sinful nature changed to that of a Godlike nature that causes one to earn eternal separation from God.). 

     It does not matter how the person views sin.  All that matters is that  this is how God views sin.  Whether one feels like a sinner or not is not relevant.  If the definition applies then God says you are a sinner.  There is not one person other than Jesus, who can not find himself in one of these definitions for sin and thus we can agree that we have all sinned and come short of God’s expectation for man.  But God has an answer for our sin and that answer is Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world.

JOHN 3:18

     When a person refuses to accept God’s payment plan for their sin they are saying to God that they would like to come up with their own plan.  Sin requires death as a payment, but Christ, the son of God, died so that God could offer us life instead.  It is not life in prison as man’s law might offer as a plea bargin, but life in freedom.

2.        The Excuses of the Careless

                   The one who is careless says thing like “I am not living good enough to be saved”. 

MATTHEW 9:10-13 – The truth of the matter is that if we could live good enough to be saved on our own we would have no need for a savior.  God is not expecting us to do this on our own.  What he is expecting from us is our cooperation with Him so that He can live through us.  We are to yield to him as He directs us in how to live for him.

GALATIANS 2:20 – I am dead. Yet I am alive.  As Christians we are dead to our own desires and alive to do the will of God.  It is not always easy because my own desire wants to overwhelm me and inflict its urges on me.  But God through His spirit daily helps me to overcome my own selfish, fleshly desires and gives me righteous and holy desires.  And when I falter, God through His unlimited mercy and graces forgives me, picks me up, sometimes spanks me and then starts me back on the right track.  I am not living good enough to be saved either.  No man can.  Ephes. 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are we saved through faith; and that not of ourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of our works, lest we man should boast.

II TIMOTHY 1:12 – This person might also say something like “I don’t think that I can hold out”, meaning I don’t think that I can live right.  We must help this person understand that there are many times when we as Christians feel as if we can not do it also.  It is at these times that we turn even harder to God.  For we know that He is able to keep us even when we ourselves are resisting being kept.  It is particularly during these times that we truly experience the strength of God.  When we are at our weakest moment we like Paul see that God’s strength is made perfect and mature in us.

II PETER 2:9 – God knows how to deliver us.  He knows how to keep us from falling into sin.  We could live sinless lives if we could just learn to stay in constant fellowship with God and obey his every prompting no matter how great or small.  The key to living saved is HOT; hearing God, Obeying God and Trusting God. 

3.        The Excuse of the Procrastinator

      The procrastinator will give excuses like I will become a Christian later.  There is plenty of time.  But Proverbs 27:1 issues the following warning to man: Boast not thyself of to morrow; for you know not what a day may bring forth.

MATTHEW 24:43-44 – The procrastinator would be okay with his train of thought if we could know exactly what was going to happen in each moment of our lives, because then he would able to plan in time to repent right before he had to meet God.  However, most times death, like a thief, does not announce itself.  It comes quietly, sneaking up on those who are unprepared and after death there is judgment.

      Another excuse the procrastinator uses is there are things I want to do before I get save.  I want to get married first, or I want to sow my wild oats.  I want to hang out with my friends, or I’m waiting on the rest of my family.  But Matthew 16:26 says “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

MARK 10:29-30

      We should not allow anyone to stand in the way of us coming to Christ.  If we will choose Christ over others then he promises to give us friends, family, and possessions in this world as well as eternal life in the world to come.  I have seen those who had had to deny family and friends in order to stay saved and I have seen God save those very family and friends.  Rather than use family and friends as excuses the procrastinator can become the initiator, leading family and friends to Christ.

4.        The Excuse of the Heartbroken

      This group includes those people who ask the question “What has God done for me”.  This is an angry question posed by those who feel that life for them has been too hard.  This person believes that God is responsible for all of their troubles.

JOHN 10:10

      This person must see that the destruction, discomfort and death of spirit that has occurred in their life is not a result of God’s action but is the action of a thief who is the devil himself.  1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.  The one who is heartbroken must see that man’s enemy is the devil and that God’s actions in the affairs of mankind are designed to bring man a rich and fulfilling life.  James 1:17 says, “ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”  In response to the question, “What has God done for me.”

ROMANS 5:6-8

        This person needs to understand the tremendous agony and pain that Christ suffered so that he could experience death for us giving us the opportunity not to experience eternal separation from God.  This person needs to understand that John 10:18 declares that no man took Jesus’ life.  He chose to lay it down and Jesus himself declares in John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  What has God done for you?  How about he just loved you enough to die for you; something that no other would do.

HEBREWS 10:28-29

Just as the Romans in beginning scripture were told that they were without excuse because the glory of God can be seen in what God has created and the Children of Israel were not excused when they refused to abide by the rules of God given to them by Moses, no man will be excused when he has rejected Jesus and the great sacrifice given by God to give him an opportunity for a better life here and in eternity.  No excuse will be acceptable when the sinner stands before God.  Whatever excuses a man offers today, Christians when we study the scriptures can offer a response.  We must respond today because God’s response when those who have rejected Jesus stand before Him in judgment will be No Excuse is Acceptable.