No Fault Of Mine

> “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)

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Introduction – The Medal, the Fault Line, and the Mirror

A church once gave their pastor a medal that read “Most Humble Pastor.”

They took it back the next Sabbath—he wore it to church.

That little story captures the comic truth of being human. We long to be humble, but the moment we think we’ve achieved it, pride sticks its head up and waves. The same happens with guilt and fault. We want to be right, to be blameless, to say with conviction, “No fault of mine.”

Living in California, we know about fault lines. The ground looks peaceful enough until it shifts. It’s the same with the human heart—solid on the surface, full of fractures underneath. Every time life jolts us, those hidden seams of pride and self-defense start to move, and before we know it the words slip out: “Hey, it wasn’t my fault.”

This message isn’t about blame; it’s about grace. It’s about what happens when our carefully managed innocence collides with God’s untamable mercy.

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1. It’s Not My Fault – The Oldest Sentence in History

Blame is as old as humanity.

In Genesis 3, after the forbidden fruit episode, God asks Adam, “Have you eaten of the tree?” and Adam says, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Translation: “It’s not my fault—it’s hers, and actually, Lord, if we’re tracing this properly, it’s Yours.”

Eve steps up next: “The serpent deceived me.”

And the serpent, if he could talk, would’ve said, “Well, You created me.”

There it is—the chain reaction of blame, the spiritual earthquake that cracked paradise open. Ever since, we’ve been building our little houses on the same shifting ground.

We’re masters at it:

“If they hadn’t said that to me…”

“If my boss weren’t unreasonable…”

“If traffic in L.A. weren’t designed by Pharaoh himself…”

We justify, rationalize, spiritualize. We say “no fault of mine” with polished conviction.

But here’s the truth: whenever I spend more energy proving I’m right than seeking what’s right, the fault line is moving under me. The problem isn’t that the ground shakes; it’s that I built my identity on it.

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2. When the Ground Gives Way

Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way.” (Isa 53:6)

That’s another way of saying we’ve each got our private San Andreas running through the soul.

It starts small—a tremor of defensiveness, a rumble of resentment—and then one day the surface splits. A marriage collapses, a friendship caves in, a ministry fractures. We stand in the rubble insisting, “No fault of mine,” while the seismograph of heaven records the truth.

Here’s the grace in that moment: God doesn’t point at the fault line and say, “I told you so.” He says, “Let Me build you something that won’t fall next time.”

> “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.” (Ps 40:2)

If you’ve ever stood after an earthquake—literal or emotional—you know that security doesn’t come from pretending the cracks aren’t there. It comes from letting Someone stronger than you anchor your footing.

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3. The Gospel Shock – It Really Wasn’t His Fault

If anyone ever had the right to say “No fault of mine,” it was Jesus.

Pilate himself said, “I find no fault in this man.” (Luke 23:4 KJV)

Yet that faultless One stood on the world’s ultimate fault line—the collision of divine justice and human sin—and He let it break beneath Him.

> “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)

The only innocent Man took the blame. The only sinless heart bore our fault lines like scars. The earthquake that should have swallowed us split the tomb instead.

And from that moment, the phrase “No fault of mine” changed meaning forever. It’s no longer an excuse; it’s a miracle.

Because of Christ, God looks at you and says, “I find no fault in you.”

Not because you’re stainless, but because the stain’s already been carried.

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4. From Denial to Deliverance

Romans 8:1 rings like gospel thunder:

> “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Notice: Paul doesn’t say no guilt—we still feel it sometimes. He says no condemnation.

Guilt reminds me that I did wrong; condemnation tries to convince me that I am wrong, unredeemable. The cross drove a permanent fault line between those two.

When the accuser whispers, “You failed again—some Christian you are,” grace replies, “There’s no fault on record.”