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The Devil Made Me Do It

SERIES: Anatomy of Sin #2 of 8

2009-05-31

PRODUCTION #: 1072

SPEAKER: Shawn Boonstra

If the devil is responsible for sin, and he spends all his time tempting us, and he uses deception to get us to do things we wouldn’t otherwise do, then why in the world does God hold us accountable for our sins? In the final analysis, didn’t the devil make me do it? So, why should I have to answer on the Day of Judgment?

Sometimes, when I catch my kids doing something they know they are not supposed to do, the question slips right out of my mouth: “What in the world were you thinking?”

And most of the time, because they know that what they did was wrong, they just kind of hang their heads sheepishly, stare at their toes, and say, “I don’t know.” And even though I don’t want them to know it, a big part of me starts smiling, because I can still remember saying the same thing to my parents when they caught me doing something wrong.

You just know you don’t have any good reason, and the only thing left to do is admit your mistake, make things right to the best of your ability, and get on with life. But somewhere along the way, as we move out of the innocent years of childhood into the hard realities of adult life, we become less and less likely to admit it when we are wrong.

I’ll never forget the rainy night I was driving across the city of Toronto, when I had to stop at a red light, where a kid with a squeegee suddenly stuck it on my windshield hoping, of course, for a donation. It didn’t seem to make any sense to wash my windshield when it had already started raining.

She started to wash the windshield anyway and that’s when my intermittent wipers kicked in and hit her squeegee. That impact broke my windshield wiper and then she yelled at me, “It’s not my fault.” And with a couple of swear words she suddenly disappeared into the night with her squeegee and bucket. and I was left to drive home with a broken wiper on a rainy night. And you know, all the way home I thought to myself, well, if it wasn’t her fault, whose fault was it?

The human tendency to place blame somewhere else is so strong that we instinctively do it, even when there’s no possible defense for what we’ve done. If we cheat on our income tax, it’s because the government is mismanaging our money and the tax rate is too high anyway. And if we are rude to a clerk in the store, it’s because they should know better than to answer the phone when there are people standing at the counter; and letting them have it is actually doing them a favor, because now they’ll do a better job and one day work their way up the corporate ladder.

You know, it seems that no matter what we do, there’s always a good reason for it, and we skillfully avoid the possibility that we are actually to blame for something.

It’s a widespread human trait that has an ancient tradition behind it. In fact, you’ll find it happening way back in the Garden of Eden, right after God comes to deal with the fact that Adam and Eve have sinned. Listen carefully to what happens as God asks our first parents a few tough questions (Genesis 3:9-11):

“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, ‘Where art thou?’ And he said, ‘I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ And He said, ‘Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?’”

Now, pay attention, carefully, to the answer that Adam gives God (Genesis 3:12):

“And the man said, ‘The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’”

Now, there’s no question that Adam gave a pretty factual account of what happened. His wife really did give him forbidden fruit, but that’s not the whole picture. Adam’s response is a whole-hearted attempt to pass off responsibility for his mistake on somebody else.

And if you read it carefully, he’s not just blaming his wife, he’s also blaming God. “Listen,” Adam says, “it’s not my fault I ate it—it’s that woman you gave me that made this happen.”

So, there you have it, the very first instance of a human being trying to pass off blame on other people, and we’ve been doing it ever since. But let me ask you, what kind of a world would we have if people stopped blaming everybody else and just took responsibility for their actions? What would happen if we stopped trying to put a positive spin on absolutely everything we do to cover up our mistakes?

You know, I came across a story the other day that did my heart a lot of good. Many of you will remember the brutal slaying of six people in New York City back in the mid-1970s. For a long time, nobody could figure out what was going on, until an unpaid parking ticket put David Berkowitz at the scene of the crime, and the “Son of Sam” killings finally came to an end.

As the story unfolded, it was actually pretty horrific. David Berkowitz told authorities that he heard voices telling him to do it, and it came out during the investigation that he had been involved in a satanic cult that urged him to commit the murders. When the courts finally convicted him, he was given enough consecutive life sentences to lock him up for at least 350 years.

Now, a couple of years ago, David’s name came up for parole, and of course, people became concerned that the parole board might actually let the Son of Sam back out into the streets. What a lot of people didn’t realize is that David had become a genuine Christian during his time in prison. When the time for his parole hearing came, he wrote a letter to Governor Pataki and said some pretty amazing things. Let me share just a couple of lines from that letter with you:

“Dear Governor Pataki: I am writing to you with regards to my parole hearing which is scheduled for June (2002). Sir, I am so very sorry for the pain, grief and suffering I have caused many innocent people by my criminal acts of some 25 years ago. I am haunted by my actions and I would do anything to undo this tragedy. I know that I have failed and disappointed my loving family, and I disgraced myself for the rest of my life. However, today, because of Jesus Christ and my faith in Him, I am trying my best to make amends to society in any way that I can; and I am thankful for whatever opportunities which come my way to do this.”

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Big deal. Jailhouse conversions are a dime a dozen, and people use them all the time to get early parole. But that’s where this case is different. Listen to what David says just a few words later:

“I am disappointed that there is even going to be a parole hearing. I know that the sentencing laws require a hearing to be held in June, a date which was set 25 years ago, but the fact is, I have absolutely no interest in parole.

“I have done nothing whatsoever to try to obtain parole. For example, I have never asked anyone, be they a friend or minister, to write a letter of support in my behalf. Likewise, I have never asked any prison officials to write letters to recommend me for release. I do not believe in doing such things.

“Frankly, I can give you no good reason why I should even be considered for parole. I can, however, give you many reasons why I should not be. The loss of six lives and the wounding of even more are reasons enough for the latter. In all honesty, I believe that I deserve to be in prison for the rest of my life. I have, with God’s help, long ago come to terms with my situation and I have accepted my punishment.”

Now tell me that’s not a breath of fresh air! Here’s a man who can admit that he did something wrong, and he’s not interested in trying to circumvent his punishment. He’s willing to deal with the consequences and take the full blame, even though we know there were others who were involved in what he did.

And by contrast, most of the rest of us can’t even admit it when we accidentally put a dent in someone’s car in a parking lot. A while ago, as my wife and I were leaving a shopping mall, we saw a van back into a parked car. The driver got out, looked around to see if there were any witnesses, and then quickly jumped back into his van and drove away.

And the sad thing is, that’s what most of us would do. Something has disappeared in North America, a basic sense of honesty and responsibility. We’ve become experts at passing the buck; at finding somebody else to blame when we do something wrong.

The problem has become so big that a lot of the things we used to label bad behavior have become diseases or disorders instead. Now, I’m not a doctor, and I certainly don’t have a medical degree, but it seems to me that we are coming up with a medical or a psychological reason for just about everything we do.

More and more, if you are involved in something that causes problems in society, we label it as a genetic problem, which tells the whole world there’s nothing you can do about your behavior, because it’s written into your DNA. If you are habitually doing something that’s either harmful to yourself or to the rest of society, we call it a disorder and medicate you for it. And of course, the message we are sending out—more and more—is that it’s not your fault. If your behavior stinks, it’s because of something in your genetic makeup, or it’s because of the environment you grew up in.

Now I’m not saying that your family history doesn’t have something to do with how you turn out. The Bible clearly speaks about the effects of sin being passed on from one generation to the next, but that doesn’t mean that you are forever doomed to live out a life that was programmed for you long before you were ever born.

There really is something you can do about the problems in your life, and the first step to ridding yourself of the things you’d like to be rid of is to simply own up to your responsibility in the whole matter. Not everything you do is your parents’ fault, or because of a strange disease, or because of uncontrollable outside influences. Sometimes, you just do wrong things, and there’s no good reason for it.

You know, we’ve taken the art of passing the buck to new heights in 21st century North America. For example, when someone is caught cheating on his or her spouse in today’s world, very few people will actually own up to what they’ve done. Even if they’re caught red-handed, an alarming number of people will come up with some reason that their spouse drove them to adultery, And the message we are sending is that nothing is actually our fault. But let’s be honest about it: nobody made you turn to adultery. Even if there are problems in your marriage, adultery is not your only option. You made a deliberate choice to cheat on your spouse—and the sooner you can admit it, the sooner you have a chance of putting things back together, and working on the real issues.

Listen, we’ve become so hesitant to just own up to our sinful natures that we are resorting to one of the oldest excuses in the book. When Adam and Eve were confronted by God, Adam tried to pass the blame off on both God and his wife, but take a close look at the way God responded to Adam’s excuse.

First of all, let’s be clear that there was some truth to Adam’s claim. His wife really was a negative influence, and she was the one who brought him the fruit, but in spite of that, God still holds Adam accountable

Listen to what He says in verse 17 of chapter three. It is written (Genesis 3:17):

“And unto Adam He said, ‘Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, ‘Thou shalt not eat of it”: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.’”

“Listen,” says God, “I know exactly what happened. I saw your wife bring you that fruit, and I heard the words she spoke to you, but that doesn’t change the fact that you disobeyed a clear order, and I’m going to hold you accountable for it.”

Let’s not kid ourselves. In the kingdom of heaven, there are no buck-passers.

In the books where God records the actions of men, the blame always falls exactly where it’s supposed to fall; and believe me, it’s much better to own up to your mistakes now than to wait until the moment when it’s too late to do anything about it.

Now, a moment ago I said that the human race is resorting to one of the oldest excuses in the book, and you’ll find it right here in Genesis, chapter three. After God speaks to Adam, he turns to his wife, and she tries to pass the buck, too (Genesis 3:13):

“And the Lord God said unto the woman, ‘What is this that thou hast done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.’”

You know what Eve’s excuse was? 

“The devil made me do it.”

And that, I’m afraid, is the oldest excuse in the book. There are some people who think Flip Wilson invented that saying, but it dates back thousands of years before his TV show hit the airwaves. And if you think about it, it’s a pretty convincing argument, because the devil really is the one who started it all.

If he hadn’t approached Eve in the garden, it’s doubtful that she would have ever eaten from that tree. So to a large extent, Eve was telling the truth—but it wasn’t the whole picture. Notice how God responds to her, in verse 16 (Genesis 3:16):

“Unto the woman He said, ‘I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.’”

“Listen, Eve,” He says, “I know that the devil worked you over, and I know that you were deceived into doing something you weren’t supposed to do, but the fact remains that you knew you weren’t supposed to do it, and I’m still holding you accountable.”

Again, there is no buck-passing in the kingdom of heaven!

You see, if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that God works in a perfectly fair way every time. He didn’t let Adam and Eve off the hook, because they still had a choice when they were faced with temptation. Someone else had deceived them, but in their hearts they knew the difference between right and wrong, and so they were responsible for their actions.

Let’s take another look at the remarkable case of David Berkowitz. If anyone had the excuse that the devil made him do it, he did. Today, he tells the chilling story of becoming involved in a satanic cult that took him down the path to becoming the Son of Sam. His involvement in the occult became so strong that he actually started to hear demonic voices, and he gave up control over his mind to forces of darkness.

In today’s world, you might expect somebody like that to plead insanity, or to tell the world that he had no control whatsoever over the situation, but since he found a meaningful relationship with Christ, he’s willing to accept his share of the blame. He knows full well that he didn’t have to make a pact with the devil.

And that’s the attitude that we should take, too. Of course there are a lot of circumstances in life that tempt us to do the wrong thing. Of course we’re thrust into difficult situations from time to time. But in every circumstance, we still have the power of choice.

The Bible says (1 Corinthians 10:13):

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

God’s promise is this, in every circumstance, no matter how difficult, you will always have the option of doing the right thing, and that only serves to reinforce the idea that you really are responsible for the decisions you make. When you have the promise of God that He will help you make the right decision, what possible excuse could you possibly have for making the wrong one! When it comes right down to it, there’s just no good excuse for sin, and if there was such a thing as a good excuse for sin, I don’t think it would be sin any more!

The truth is that most of us have become so accustomed to caving into temptation that we’ve made a habit out of it. We’ve buckled so many times that we’ve started to believe the lie that there’s nothing we can do about it. But the Bible says you have a choice, and it’s in the power of choice where we have the primary responsibility for the sins we commit.

You see, the Bible says, in plain language, that the devil will pay for his role in deceiving you. In Ezekiel 28, it tells us that God is actually going to destroy him for all the heartache and suffering he’s caused.

Listen to this. Speaking to Satan, God says (Ezekiel 28:18, 19):

“Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.”

In the Garden of Eden, God turned to the serpent and told him it was coming. “One day,” He said, “the Messiah is going to come, and you will be destroyed.” That’s a promise you can take to the bank.

In the end, you don’t have to worry about the devil’s responsibility for your actions. You only have to worry about yours. I know it’s become popular to suggest that for every wrong habit you have, there’s a specific demon that is forcing you to do it. But it’s time to stop passing the buck and accept responsibility for your actions. God will deal with the devil, but He wants to deal with you, too.

And the Bible says the moment you do that, God suddenly becomes the ultimate buck-passer: He takes all the responsibility for your sins on Himself.

This amazing arrangement is found in Second Corinthians 5:21 where it is written (2 Corinthians 5:21):

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

I hope you caught that. In the ultimate blame game, God takes all your sins and heaps them on Himself, and then the Son of God carries them up a hill called Golgotha, and He pays for them with His life.

Maybe you noticed that when Adam accused God of being part of the sin problem, God didn’t say a word in His own defense, even though He was completely innocent, and when Jesus was dragged before human courts and told to defend Himself, He didn’t say a thing. Now often, I’ve assumed that Jesus was silent because He was determined to die for you, and I think that’s absolutely true, but is it also possible that He didn’t say a word because He was carrying your sins, and there’s not a single good excuse for any of them?

A lot of you watching today are tired of living the way you do. You keep living life your own way, but it’s not working, and the more you blame others, the more miserable you feel. All it takes is to come clean with God.

The Bible says, in First John 1:9, that if you would just confess your sins to God, not making excuses for them, but actually admitting to them—He wipes them away completely. And that sound like a pretty good deal to me.

“Come,” says God in Isaiah chapter one, “let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.”

You can spend the rest of your life blaming everybody and everything for the way your life is, but you will never enjoy the utter freedom that comes from admitting your sins to God. If you would only take ownership for your mistakes, then God would be willing to take over responsibility for them Himself.

So, let me ask you, what’s keeping you from starting your new life? You know, we really have a choice to make in life. We can spend our life passing blame on everybody else, but I have yet to meet somebody that that made any happier. What works is to admit when we’ve done something wrong and come clean with God. That brings real peace and joy. Why don’t we pray together?

PRAYER:
Father in heaven, we can admit today that we’ve made mistakes, that we are responsible for our own sins. But today, we claim the promise you’ve made in the Bible that if we confess our sins you wipe them away completely. You forgive us and give us a new life in Jesus Christ. We want to claim that new life. We want that peace of mind and that clean, pure heart that you offer us through the gift of Jesus at the cross. Forgive us, we ask, and set us on a path where we are walking with Christ. We ask in His precious name, Amen.

If you are interested in learning more about the Anatomy of Sin DVD series, please click here.

Scriptures Used in “The Devil Made Me Do It”

“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, ‘Where art thou?’ And he said, ‘I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ And He said, ‘Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?’”
—Genesis 3:9-11

“And the Lord God said unto the woman, ‘What is this that thou hast done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.’”
—Genesis 3:13

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
—Genesis 3:16

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
—1 Corinthians 10:13

“Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.”
—Ezekiel 28:18, 19

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
—2 Corinthians 5:21