Something I did not know anything about when I was a child was “plausible deniability.” I was guilty of a lot and I denied a lot . I did believe in “innocent until proven guilty,” but that concept has taken a whole new meaning in this generation. I began to notice this phenomenon several years ago when I encountered a philosophy which said, “Nobody, saw me. You can’t prove it; therefore, I am not guilty.” Everybody wants what somebody else has got and nobody wants to be accountable for how they acquire it. The unscrupulous have infected every aspect of our lives. There are pedophiles, thieves, and murderers in the ministry, politics, sports, and many other professions. Anywhere there are people there are sinners. Where there are sinners who are unregenerate, there is going to be greed and strife. Humanistic solutions to this problem are only exacerbated by the ones who exceed in their aspirations to get what they want at all costs. Society is consumed with the idea of innocence.
- Innocent by standers
- Innocent children
- Innocent victims
- Victims of terrorist attacks
- Victims of storms
- Victims of mis begotten gender identity
- Victims of skin color
- Victims of economic depravity
It seems that the world is proclaiming everybody innocent, while the Lord proclaims everybody GUILTY.
“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
– Romans 3:19
The problem is that until we see ourselves as guilty, we cannot become righteous ourselves. You see Christ Jesus came into the world to save SINNERS.
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” – 1Timothy 1:15
There are certainly some sins that in our eyes are worse than others, but every sin is an offence to our Creator God. The degree of our sin is not relevant. The degree of our innocence is not the question. We are flawed by sin and cannot fellowship with our Creator God on our terms. We may be better than some and not as bad as most. That is not the issue. The fact is that we are not perfect and cannot be. In our natural condition we are in fact hopeless.
Somehow men believe that it is possible to be in control of the world, the climate, the affairs of men. Men can control just about anything except their own lust for power, pride, and desire to acquire what they do not have. This is more ludicrous than a fairy tale.
More than anything else we are victims of ourselves. Man is his own worst enemy. He will not choose the right thing unless he is changed from his self-indulgent self to a new person in Christ. This is only possible by the new birth. It is interesting that in many parts of the world the word “Christian” is more like the designation of a political party than a reference to a follower of Jesus Christ. In some countries they use the term “believer” to identify a person who is born again because the word “Christian” has so little meaning. Many people go to church and call themselves Christians and have no connection to God through His Word.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” – John 1:1-5
Little wonder that these people are not known for their understanding of the things of God nor the evils of man. There really is no one that is in fact innocent. We have not all done the same things, nor developed the same habits. One thing is sure, from Wall Street to main Street, to church street there is no one who can rise above the results of sinful corruption without the love and grace of God.
“He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” – John 1:10-14
Robert Lewis