Falsely Fessing Up Finds Fault

“God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.” (Job 27:5-7 AV)

It appears here Job is stating that to agree with his three friends that his situation was caused by sin; past, present, or future; would be akin to reproaching himself, justifying them, and would be a failure of integrity.  When he states his righteousness he holds fast, he could be saying that he maintains that he is righteous and not suffering the chastening of God.  He also states that he will not remove his integrity for the remainder of his life, thus I believe, suggesting that copping to something of which he is not guilty, would indeed be akin to a lapse of that integrity.

There are several ways to look at this.  There is the angel of obstruction of justice.  Someone claims responsibility for a crime which he did not commit to take the heat of the one who actually stands guilty.  Confessing to a crime which one did not commit can be seen as a crime in and of itself.  Then there is confessing to a crime out of ignorance.  One thinks he is guilty, but upon further investigation, his actions were not wrong.  Then there is confession simply to relieve the pressure of interrogation.  One feels overwhelmed by the accusation and cannot escape the pressure, so he confesses to something he did not do simply because the process was too hard to bear.  Or, perhaps there is a threat to someone he cares for unless he confesses to a crime in which he did not commit.

No matter how we look at it, it is wrong to take responsibility for sin which we did not commit.  I have made this error is judgment in the past.  I have made a decision in good faith, only to have it bite me down the road.  Thinking it was punishment for a sinful choice, after meditation, realized that indeed it was actions in good faith with integrity intact, yet unforeseen circumstances made the decision look as though it was more than misguided.  Sometimes we deal with guilt that is not ours to accept.  Sometimes we are in the wrong when indeed we are not.  Sometimes we allow the devil to succeed in his objective of being the accuser of the brethren.  To accept blame for sins not committed is a sin in and of itself!