Chapter 9: Rationalization of Mankind

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4 Maccabees is not the only good book in the Apocryphal collection.

Consider the following verses from the Book of Sirach.

“If you fear the Lord, you will accept his correction.” Sirach 32:14

“Study his Law, and you will master it, unless you are insincere about it, in which case you will fail.” Sirach 32:15

“If you fear the Lord, you will know what is right …”

Sirach 32:16

“Sinners have no use for correction, and will interpret the Law to suit themselves.” Sirach 32:17 GNB

Do you remember that President Clinton stated he studied the Bible and couldn’t find any oral sex in it? And that is why he concluded that he wasn’t really having “a sexual relationship” with the White House intern

Monica Lewinsky? He was rationalizing his sexual sin, wasn’t he? There is no limit to the rationalization of mankind. God knows that “sinners have no use for correction, and will interpret the Law to suit themselves.” And God knows that lawyers like to parse words and twist the common meaning of

the language. Clinton said in his testimony that whether or not he was lying depended on whether the word “IS” — is in the past or the present tense. Would Jesus think or talk that way? The answer is in the next chapter.

Is mankind dumb? We think we are being cute and that no one will find out about our sins because we sin in the privacy of our Oval office. But mankind has always engaged in the same sins and sexual immorality is well addressed in the Bible. Indeed, it is Jesus who said, “There are no excuses.”

Jesus means that there will be no rationalization [excuses] for your sin with God. Remember what God said in Isaiah 1:18 about reasoning?

“Come Let Us Reason Together,” Says the Lord!