A couple of years back a former governor of Connecticut pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing honest service, or some such. It appears he was/is being charged with misusing his office for personal gain. The Associated Press indicated that the governor told reporters, “Obviously mistakes have been made throughout the last few years, and I accept responsibility for those.” This acceptance of responsibility for wrong doing was followed by a plea of, “But I also ask the people of this state to appreciate and understand what we have tried to do over the past 25 years in public service” (Ibid.).

            It’s always interesting the way we word things when we get caught with our fingers in the cookie jar. We use phrases such as “mistakes” or “I accept responsibility for those,” after we get caught, and understand that it cannot be covered up. Webster’s, defines “mistake” as, “to blunder in the choice of,” “to misunderstand the meaning or intention of,” “to make a wrong judgment of the character or ability of,” “to identify wrongly: confuse with another.” This type of “mistake” is referred to in the scriptures as “unwittingly.” Simply, the individual did not know what they were doing, or the error involved in what they were doing. In reference to rulers, the law required, “When a ruler sinneth, and doeth unwittingly any one of all the things which Jehovah his God hath commanded not to be done, and is guilty; ²³if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, be made known to him, he shall bring for his oblation…” (Leviticus 4:22). In contrast to the commission of a sin “unwittingly,” God said, “But the soul that doeth aught with a high hand…, the same blasphemeth Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of Jehovah, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him” (Numbers 15:30-31). Law, as well as society, measures penalty, in some regard, based upon the transgressor’s knowledge during the commission of the act. And to “accept responsibility for” something, after all avenues of covering it up have failed, sounds noble but is, in most cases, an endeavor to present ourselves in a better light. It’s not my intention to make a judgment in regard to the guilt or innocence of the violator. My intention is to shine some light on the thought processes of man, in regard to sin. When an individual is incarcerated for crimes committed, they are not accepting responsibility: they are being forced to suffer the consequences of their actions: big difference! The ex-governor also asked “the people of the state to appreciate and understand what we have tried to do over the past 25 years in public service.” No one wants to be branded with being no good at all. Sure, we say, “I did this or that, but I’m not a bad person.” Even in one notorious crime of the year, and appeal was apparently made to a jury that was considering the death penalty, that the individual convicted of the crime was fun-loving, innocent, compassionate, and all sorts of descriptive terms that revealed his good characteristics. In addition, the media and the police department were accused of twisting and turning things to portray the defendant as a devil. The maxim, “there are no guilty people in prison” is true, as far as the guilty and their families are concerned. There are probably very few that escape the reality of trials, a family member being charged with a crime, even if it’s on some court TV show. The fact is, there’s not one of us that hasn’t violated the law in some fashion: whether we get caught or not. The fact is, we’re not real good people. We have our good sides and our bad. We want to be remembered for what we do well (as in the case of the ex-governor), and we do not want to be remembered by what we did badly. With both of these factors in mind, let’s see what the scriptures tell us about the reality of sin, and how God and man view it. In reference to the nation of Israel, God said, “When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth therein; in his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die… Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah: wherefore turn yourselves, and live.” (Ezekiel 18:26-32). Once an individual has been “caught,” any avenues to turn so as not to die are exhausted. God would have us to turn from our iniquities before they get to that point. In essence, penitence shall be rewarded. On the other hand, “when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” (Ezekiel 18:24). Man is indeed remembered for his last bad decision, deed, action or sin. Out of all the good that king David did, from the slaying of Goliath of Gath, to God’s statement concerning him, “a man after my heart, who shall do all my will” (Acts 13:22), David is equally, if not more so, remembered for taking another man’s wife and ultimately having him put to death. The only way to avoid such is to “accept the responsibility” and turn from transgression. Otherwise, we stand in danger of “enduring the consequences” resulting from the sin.