Grantsdale Community Church
2026-02-08 It's Your Own Fault
  • We’ve had a responsibility problem since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. As time has progressed so has our responsibility problem.
    We blame others, point fingers, even compare our sin to others so that our sin is glossed over.
    Have you ever heard the song Margaritaville?
    If you haven’t it’s about a man drinking Margaritas to cope with life. The last line of the chorus changes as the song progresses.
    It starts, “some people claim there’s a woman to blame, but I know it’s nobody’s fault.”
    Then the last line says, “some people claim there’s a woman to blame, now I think it could be my fault.” And finally he says, “But I know it’s my own damn fault.”
    People make impulsive and bad decisions, then refuse to take responsibility for their choices. In fact they blame their bad choices on others.
    They did nothing wrong, they’re just being targeted because of their lifestyle, their political beliefs or any other excuse they can find.
    People are poor and struggling to survive, don’t graduate from high school, can’t get certain jobs, join gangs, commit crimes and so on.
    And they say it’s not because of their bad choices, rather it’s because they are systemically oppressed. They’re ancestors were oppressed and so they continue to be oppressed.
    Franklin P. Jones wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “be thankful for bad luck. Without it, you’d have to blame yourself.”
    How can people have such a lack of common sense?
    Last week we talked about how shame is just pushed aside. How people don’t feel any shame and guilt over their sin.
    Even in the church we see “Christians” who don’t feel any shame or guilt over their sin. What we’re talking about today is the direct result of having no shame or guilt over sin.
    People use circumstances and the actions of others to justify their sinful behavior. Their identity is in their group instead of individual unique identity. Instead of Identity in Christ.
    The Israelites were doing the exact same thing. We’re going to be in Ezekiel 18 today if you have your Bibles and want to follow along.
    We’re going to look at how embracing personal responsibility is not only a command, but a pathway to experiencing true freedom and redemption in Christ.
    We see how our society today misuses various racial or social groups to avoid personal accountability. When called out they even twist Scripture to justify themselves.
    Israel was using the same exact tactics. They were misusing Proverbs and blaming their ancestors to justify their behavior.

    Irresponsible Philosophy And Misused Proverbs

    Let’s start with Ezekiel 18 verses 1-4,
    Ezekiel 18:1–2 CSB
    1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel: ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
    Ezekiel 18:3–4 CSB
    3 As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“you will no longer use this proverb in Israel. 4 Look, every life belongs to me. The life of the father is like the life of the son—both belong to me. The person who sins is the one who will die.
    The Israelites were twisting a popular proverb to create a false and misleading social construct. “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
    Basically what they were claiming is that their fathers had sinned and they, the children are paying the price for it. Their own behavior had nothing to do with any of their suffering.
    Because no matter what they did they were still going to suffer for what the older generations did. That irresponsible philosophy came from misinterpreting God’s Law when He said He would visit the sins of the fathers upon the children.
    On top of misinterpreting God’s Law their philosophy was reinforced even more by their Jewish idea that there was no individual identity, but only group identity as one nation.
    We’re seeing something very similar happening in our society today. People are grouped together ideologically by race, political affiliation, religion, and social constructs like LGBTQ, Transgender or heterosexual white male just to name a few. Don’t you dare call me by the wrong pronouns.
    I love it when they quote Scripture and tell me how Jesus would condemn me not them. Then, after they get done telling me how hateful I am, just because I don’t agree with their lifestyle, they go on this tirade about how people like me should be eradicated.
    Nurses and doctors saying anyone who believes differently from them shouldn’t receive medical attention. Yet they are always the victim because of how our ancestors acted.
    That’s pretty much what the Israelites were saying and doing. God says stop it!! Enough is enough. All souls belong to God, the soul of the father and the soul of the son. They’re both God’s and the soul that sins will die.
    It’s the same today. Only the souls who sin will die. Ezekiel uses the metaphor of a family to destroy the false ideology of the Israelites.
    He says, you can’t blame your ancestors, your parents or anyone else. You alone are personally accountable, personally responsible for the choices you make.

    Choices Have Consequences

    Our choices have consequences. Those consequences can either be good or bad. Ezekiel goes on to give an analogy that includes three generations in a family.
    The oldest generation who is a father and grandfather is shown to be a righteous man. God says because he was a righteous man his soul will live.
    His son, the second generation does all kinds of bad and evil things. God says he is an unrighteous man. The righteousness of his father does nothing to cover his wickedness and his soul will die.
    His son, the third generation saw the wickedness of his father and shied away from it. He followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and did all good things. God says he is a righteous man, the wickedness of his father does nothing to tarnish his righteousness and his soul will live.
    Moses never taught that fathers would die for their son’s sins or that sons would die for their father’s sins. In fact he taught just the opposite.
    Deuteronomy 24:16 CSB
    16 “Fathers are not to be put to death for their children, and children are not to be put to death for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin.
    Ezekiel paraphrases what Moses taught in verse 20,
    Ezekiel 18:20 CSB
    20 The person who sins is the one who will die. A son won’t suffer punishment for the father’s iniquity, and a father won’t suffer punishment for the son’s iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous person will be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be on him.
    No matter how much we want to put the blame on others, and no matter how much society wants to find cover within a collective group, we are still individually responsible for our own choices.
    Whatever consequences we face are due to our own actions. God demands we take responsibility for our choices, for our actions. He also makes it clear there’s only one path to eternal life.
    Even the Old Testament saints and prophets were saved by faith in Christ through God’s grace. Trusting in Jesus Christ and repenting of our sins is the only way to find true freedom.

    True Freedom in Repentance

    Before I came to Christ I had a good life. I made good money, I was able to get some time to do the things I really enjoyed, hunting, fishing, and shooting pool are few of those things.
    But there was always some weird anxiety that always hung over me. Even when I was really happy I never felt fulfilled. I never felt complete. I tried all kinds of things to feel complete and find fulfillment. Including marriage that ended in disaster twice.
    It wasn’t until I asked God to show Himself to me and recognized Christ as my Lord that I understood repentance.
    In that moment I felt the fulfillment I had been seeking for so long. I felt the most complete I had ever felt in my life.
    I recognized my sin and repented. The guilt of my past disappeared and I had, for the first time, a hope that was grounded in eternity.
    That hope is what Ezekiel points the Israelites toward, and even the most wicked have hope. All they have to do is turn from their sins. Look at verses 21 and 22.
    Ezekiel 18:21–22 CSB
    21 “But if the wicked person turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all my statutes, and does what is just and right, he will certainly live; he will not die. 22 None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. He will live because of the righteousness he has practiced.
    What does God mean when He says “keeps all my statutes, and does what is just and right?”
    Jesus gives us that answer in Matt 22:36-40
    Matthew 22:36–40 CSB
    36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
    Even in the Old Testament the way God’s people were considered righteous, the way they fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, was having faith in the Messiah, loving God and loving their neighbors.
    Look at what God says in verse 23
    Ezekiel 18:23 CSB
    23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “Instead, don’t I take pleasure when he turns from his ways and lives?
    God is saying the path to salvation is simple. Trust Christ, love Him and love your neighbors.
    But, God also warns the Israelites against having a false faith.
    Ezekiel 18:24 CSB
    24 But when a righteous person turns from his righteousness and acts unjustly, committing the same detestable acts that the wicked do, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. He will die because of the treachery he has engaged in and the sin he has committed.
    Fake it until you make it doesn’t work in God’s salvation plan. Pretending to have faith is unsustainable. Wickedness eventually shows itself.
    If we have no transformation happening in our lives we need to check our faith. And worse yet, claiming righteousness while wantonly sinning or doing wicked acts veiled as righteousness is a false faith.
    We’re seeing this happen in our society and in the church today. There are many who proclaim their faith, but live openly sinful lives. They don’t try to hide it, but they don’t repent from it either.
    We also see many places in the church where the church leaders are claiming that their wickedness is actually righteousness.
    And just like we saw in Israel, the Pharisees and the Sadducees try to claim the moral high ground. They twist Scripture and demonized Christ Himself.
    I also believe there are many people who falsely believe they have salvation. But their repentance isn’t lasting and there’s no sanctification happening in their lives. There’s no internal character transformation that begins to show on the outside.
    You see, our choices come from the heart. And God knows our hearts. Thus, we are all individually judged according to the sincerity of our repentance which comes from the heart.
    And God’s heart breaks every time He must pronounce a judgment of death upon anyone.
    Tony Campolo said,
    An old Hasidic story tells of a great celebration in heaven when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, after which the entire Egyptian army drowned in that same sea.
    The angels are cheering and dancing. Everyone in heaven is full of joy.
    Then one of the angels asks the archangel Michael, “Where is God? Why isn't God here celebrating?”
    Michael answers, “God is not here because he is off by himself weeping. You see, many thousands were drowned today”
    God wants all of us to choose life!!

    God Wants Us to Choose Life

    We will all be responsible for our own choices. God wants all of us to choose life. Look at verses 30-32
    Ezekiel 18:30 CSB
    30 “Therefore, house of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to his ways.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “Repent and turn from all your rebellious acts, so they will not become a sinful stumbling block to you.
    Ezekiel 18:31–32 CSB
    31 Throw off all the transgressions you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “So repent and live!
    Throw off all your transgressions and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. God hasn’t changed His salvation plan and He hasn’t changed how we come to salvation.
    He’s telling the Israelites 600 years before Christ to repent and receive a new heart and a new Spirit. He replaces their heart of stone with a heart of flesh and He replaces their spirit with the Holy Spirit.
    Just as our faith is in Christ, their faith was in the coming Messiah. If they trusted in the coming Messiah they received the Holy Spirit to seal their eternal salvation.
    The only difference between OT and NT salvation is that Jesus hadn’t died on the cross yet. So, they were required to give animal sacrifices as a temporary sacrifice until the Messiah provided the perfect sacrifice.
    God is pleading with the world to repent, turn from their sin, receive a new heart and the Holy Spirit. To repent and live!!
    God says He takes no pleasure in anyone’s death, but He requires perfect Justice. And we are each, individually responsible for God’s perfect justice in our own lives.
    Dorothy Sayer writes in “A Rage for Life,”
    The divine "scheme of things," as Christianity understands it, is at once extremely elastic and extremely rigid. It is elastic, in that it includes a large measure of liberty for the creature; it is rigid in that it includes the proviso that, however created beings choose to behave, they must accept responsibility of their own actions and endure the consequences.
    We all have the freedom to choose. We can reject Christ and die or we can accept Christ, repent and live.
    If we accept Christ, then we must continually seek God, repent of our sins, and let the Holy Spirit transform our character. We must give our soul to Jesus Christ.
    Howard Hendricks used to tell the story of a brilliant young doctor who was invited into the office of an internationally known heart surgeon in Houston, Texas.
    The senior doctor said, “I've done my homework on you, son, and I understand you have the potential for being the greatest heart surgeon in the next generation.
    I would like to guarantee that. In fact, I have handpicked you as my protege. If you will commit yourself to me, I promise to pour all of my skills into your life, and I will develop you into the greatest heart surgeon of the next generation.
    There's only one condition.
    You've got to sell your soul to me.”
    The young man paused for a moment and then said, “Doctor, I am so honored you would choose me.
    But you need to understand: my soul is already sold.”
    Thinking that another doctor had beaten him to the draw, the surgeon said, “To whom have you sold your soul?”
    The young man replied, “To Jesus Christ”
    In the highest court, standing before God’s throne we are all guilty sinners. Jesus didn’t just bear our sin, He BECAME our sin. Your sin, my sin, the entire world’s sin.
    Jesus took the consequences of our sin so we may live.
    It’s up to us to take responsibility. Acknowledge it’s our sin that convicted Jesus to a death sentence. Be grateful Jesus took the punishment on our behalf.
    It’s only in Christ that we are considered righteous in God’s eyes. So, make the choice to surrender our souls to Christ today and everyday.
    That’s what God means when He pleads with us to “repent and live!”

      • Ezekiel 18:1–2ESV

      • Ezekiel 18:3–4ESV

      • Deuteronomy 24:16ESV

      • Ezekiel 18:20ESV

      • Ezekiel 18:21–22ESV

      • Matthew 22:36–40ESV

      • Ezekiel 18:23ESV

      • Ezekiel 18:24ESV

      • Ezekiel 18:30ESV

      • Ezekiel 18:31–32ESV

Grantsdale Community Church
bklapwyk@grantsdaleccmt.org
4063666883
https://grantsdaleccmt.org/
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