The Blame Game: Take Responsibility for Sin

America’s favorite pastime is not baseball, soccer, basketball, or football. The blame game fills more lives than any sport because people would rather point somewhere else than take responsibility for sin. Sin may not be a popular word in the world, and it may not even be popular in some churches, but God still calls wrong actions sin. God cares about sin so much that He sent Jesus to die for sins, not so people could explain them away.

Adam and Eve show that the blame game has been around since the garden. Adam blamed God and then blamed Eve, while Eve blamed the snake. James 1:13 sets the record straight: God cannot be tempted with evil, and God does not tempt anybody with evil. Tests may come into life to grow faith and bring blessing, but temptation has a different purpose. Temptation seeks to bring out the worst, pull people away from God, wreck their witness, and destroy what God desires for life.

God’s holiness means that evil has nothing to offer Him. Jesus was tempted in His humanity just as people are tempted, yet He never fell. Temptation itself is not sin. The sin comes when a person holds onto it, plays it out, and acts on it. God does not make anybody sin, and nobody gets to say, “God made me this way,” as an excuse for stepping outside God’s will.

James says every person is tempted when drawn away by personal lust and enticed. Desire itself is not always wrong. Hunger, sleep, and sex are God-given desires that can bless life when kept in God’s plan. Sin happens when somebody tries to fulfill a right desire in an ungodly way. The desire gets perverted, the ungodly gets pursued, and before long God seems far away because the person has moved further and further from Him.

The bait-and-hook picture makes the process plain. The devil, a bartender, a boy, a girl, a man, or a woman does not make anybody sin. Like a trout that sees the bait, wants the bait, bites the bait, and gets hooked, a person chooses to take what is before him. Lust conceives, brings forth sin, and sin brings forth death. Yet Jesus gives hope where the fish has none. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again so sinners can turn from sin, come to Him, and receive forgiveness. Believers do not lose salvation through sin, but sin damages purpose, witness, prayer, and usefulness. The only way out of the blame game is to fess up to the mess up and run to Jesus.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The blame game hides personal sin. Sin always looks for somebody else to blame because admitting guilt cuts against pride. Adam blamed God and Eve before Eve blamed the snake, and that same pattern still shows up in homes, churches, and public life. Honest repentance begins when excuses stop and the person in the mirror is faced. [49:18]
• 2. God tests, but never tempts. God may allow hard times that grow faith, strengthen endurance, and bring blessing. Temptation, however, seeks to pull a heart away from God and bring out what is evil. God is holy, truthful, and light, so He never leads anybody down a dark path. [58:24]
• 3. Desire becomes dangerous outside God’s will. God-given desires are not the enemy, because hunger, rest, and sexual union each have a proper place in God’s design. Sin twists good desires by demanding fulfillment on ungodly terms. A person must not merely ask what is wanted, but whether that desire is being pursued God’s way. [67:07]
• 4. Nobody makes anybody take the bait. Temptation puts bait before the eyes, but the heart chooses whether to move toward it. The trout is hooked because it bites what looks good, and sin works the same way when lust reaches out and takes hold. Freedom begins with refusing the lie that another person, the devil, or circumstances forced the choice. [72:37]
• 5. Jesus forgives those who turn back. Sin damages the soul and, apart from Christ, leads to death. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again so that sinners can be forgiven rather than remain hooked by what they chose. Believers who have stepped out of God’s will find restoration by turning again to Jesus rather than defending the sin.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [46:29] - America’s Favorite Pastime
• [49:18] - The Blame Game
• [49:54] - Sin Must Be Named
• [55:13] - Blaming Others in Every Setting
• [56:16] - Adam and Eve Start Blaming
• [58:03] - God Does Not Tempt Anyone
• [60:34] - Jesus Was Tempted Yet Sinless
• [62:06] - Temptation Is Not Sin
• [65:10] - Temptation Is Inevitable
• [66:12] - Lust and Ungodly Desire
• [70:11] - The Bait and the Hook
• [73:51] - Sin Brings Forth Death
• [75:41] - Hope and Forgiveness in Jesus
• [78:24] - Fess Up and Run to Jesus

Bible Reading

James 1:13-15
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” [58:17] [58:24] [01:05:14] [01:13:51]

Genesis 3:1-13
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’ He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.’ Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” [56:16] [56:58] [57:07] [57:34]

Hebrews 4:15
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” [01:01:09]

Observation questions

1. In Genesis 3, what does Adam say when God asks whether he ate from the forbidden tree? Who does Adam’s answer place blame on? [57:01]
2. What does Eve say happened when God asks her, “What is this that you have done?” How is her response similar to Adam’s? [57:34]
3. According to James 1:13-15, what are the steps that lead from desire to sin and then to death? [01:13:51]
4. Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus was tempted in every respect as people are, yet without sin. What difference is made between facing temptation and acting on temptation? [01:01:43]

Interpretation questions

1. James says that God tempts no one, while difficult tests can still come into a believer’s life. How can a believer tell the difference between a trial that can grow faith and a temptation that seeks to pull the heart away from God? [58:45]
2. Adam’s words, “The woman whom you gave to be with me,” blame both Eve and God. Why is blaming others such a powerful way to avoid repentance, and what does it reveal about the human heart? [57:07]
3. James says each person is lured and enticed by his own desire. How can a good desire—such as food, rest, acceptance, success, or sexual desire—become sinful when pursued outside God’s will? [01:07:19]
4. The bait may be placed before a person without being sin, but taking hold of it leads to sin. What practical choices help a believer turn away before desire grows into action? [01:14:21]

Application questions

1. When something goes wrong, who are you most tempted to blame—family, circumstances, church people, leaders, the devil, or even God? What would it look like to honestly face your own part in the matter? [55:13]
2. Is there a sin that you have been calling by a softer name, such as a weakness, habit, personality trait, or “just the way I am”? What would it mean to call it sin honestly and bring it before Jesus? [49:54]
3. What kind of “bait” most often catches your attention right now—anger, comfort, food, laziness, lust, pride, resentment, or something else? What specific change of focus could help you turn away from it? [01:13:11]
4. Think of a good desire in your life. Are you seeking to meet that desire in God’s way, or are you tempted to take a shortcut outside His will? What is one faithful step you can take this week? [01:07:07]
5. When temptation comes, do you treat the first unwanted thought as though you have already failed, or do you recognize that temptation itself is not sin? How can Jesus’ sinless life give you both help and hope in that moment? [01:01:47]
6. Is there a relationship, witness, prayer life, or area of service that has been damaged by unconfessed sin? What would “fessing up to the mess up” and turning back to Jesus look like in that situation? [01:17:20]
7. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again so that sinners can be forgiven. Where do you need to stop defending yourself and receive His forgiveness with a repentant heart? [01:15:41]