Excuses don’t always free a person of responsibilities or consequences of wrong doing. If a student says to his teacher, “The dog ate my homework” the teacher won’t necessarily give the student a passing grade as if he had turned in his assignment, in fact, he can’t and shouldn’t. If a police officer issues a ticket for a moving violation, he will not cancel the ticket just because the driver says, “I have no money; I lost my job.” He will still be expected to pay that fine, job or no job. The point here is, excuses do not exempt one from fulfilling his obligations, or paying the consequences for wrong deeds..
Here are some of the excuses people make for not believing in Jesus for forgiveness of sin:
· “There is no God” – “In response to that excuse, the Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands’ (Ps 19:1). The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Ps 14:1a).
· “Jesus is not God” – To that the Bible says, At His baptism, God said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:30).
· “I am not that bad” – In response, the Bible says, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Ps 14:2-3).
· “Christians are hypocrites” – In response to this excuse, the Bible says, “The soul that sins is the one who will die” (Ezek 18:4b). Christians might not be doing everything right, but God will still hold you accountable for your sins. Christians’ mistakes and failures will not get you off the hook.
· “There is no life after death” – In response to this excuse, the Bible says, “The Lake of Fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:14b-15).
· “Jesus is not the only way to God” In response to this excuse, the Bible makes it very clear, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6).
· “I do not believe the Bible is the Word of God” – In response to this excuse, the Bible says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).
I am sure there are more excuses out there, but no matter what they are, nobody will be excused for not believing in Jesus, because the Bible clearly says “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). God does not play favoritism, come to Him today, admit you are a sinner, ask for forgiveness, and be saved!