I technically was speeding. I was driving up I-5 and entered a construction zone, so the speed changed. Slowing down for a construction zone may be the law, but it is not the reality of the world (no one actually slows down in a construction zone). The lights came on behind me and I got cited for going 69 in a 55 (usually it is a 65).
I am guilty, but there is something inside of me that wants to justify myself (in this instance I fully believe that I did not deserve a ticket for my speed, but that is besides the point). *
Our fallen nature leads us to excuse ourselves in our wrongdoing.
It wasn't that bad. Whoever says it is bad is mistaken. Okay, technically it was bad, but not the way I was doing it.
While my example is my speeding ticket, the same concept is true when we sin. Just as I thought I knew better than the sheriff that pulled me over, when we justify our sin, we are believing that we know better than God.
This sin isn't actually as bad as God says it is. God doesn't know what is actually righteous or not. Well maybe when other people do this it is sin, but I am more righteous than those people.
Friends, thinking these things turns into dangerous territory very quickly.
Excusing sin is believing that we know better than God. It is believing that God is wrong. That we can be our own God. This exactly what happened at the fall of mankind. Eve doubted the character of God by believing that He was withholding something from her, and so we all sin (Rom 3:23). Sin has been passed on for generations and sin brings death. Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned."
Our reality is that in our sin, we are dead (Eph 2:1-3). Our bodies may be alive, but in our sin we experience spiritual death.
We can try to justify our sin. We can live as if we know better than God (not believing He is who He says He is), but that is like looking at a moldy piece of fruit and pretending like it is fresh.
We can say that the fruit isn't moldy. We can say that is isn't bad mold. We can say that the mold doesn't affect us.
But it doesn't change the state of the fruit, rotting and dead.
Praise God that our story does not end with death.
God is gracious and merciful. Ephesians 2:4-5 says, "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."
When we accepted Christ we were resurrected with Christ. We are not defined as our sins (dead) but we are defined as the righteousness of Christ (ALIVE).
"For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."
1 Corinthians 15:21-22
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20
We are alive. The fruit is fresh. But to live this way, we have to crucify the desires of our flesh. And as a part of that, we have to recognize what are the desires of our flesh (sin). We can't excuse away that speeding ticket. We can't live resurrected lives and pretend that our sin is okay (or pretend it isn't even sin).
"But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
2 Corinthians 12:9
"We can’t receive the sufficiency of God’s grace until we know our own insufficiency." - Unknown Commentator
So yes, I got a speeding ticket.
And yes, I don't completely agree that I deserved a ticket.
While I have learned a lot, more about my spiritual reality than about speeding, I do not want another ticket.
I am so grateful to be loved by a God who is holy and righteous yet chooses to accept me despite my sin. I am so grateful for Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross that allows me to be seen with His righteousness rather than my sin. And I am so grateful for Holy Spirit and the ways that He convicts me in my sin and grows me as I am sanctified.
*I have paid my ticket and applied for the diversion program which hopefully will take the ticket off my record. I try to go the speed limit when I drive and consider myself a safe driver. I will for sure pay more attention to construction zone speed changes.
