We often confess our sins falsely. We think we are confessing them to God, but we are actually asking God to excuse them. We point to the extenuating circumstances and think that they make it possible for God to forgive us.
But forgiveness is only available for that which is inexcusable. If what you did was not inexcusable, then no forgiveness is available for it. If it was not inexcusable, Jesus did not die for it. The blood of Christ does not cover those things we are attempting to cover with something else.
This is not to say that there are no legitimate excuses in this fallen world. But God is the only one who can be trusted with them. He knows the circumstances fully, and if it needs to be excused, let Him do it. But that which is inexcusable must be forgiven, and He is the only one for that as well.
This principle carries over into our forgiveness of others. We tend look with contempt on their pitiful excuses, at the same time we nourish and cherish our own. But if we want to live as Christians, we ought to reverse this. We should be ready and eager to accept what others say, whenever possible, really reluctant to charge them with making feeble excuses, and save up all our contempt for such excuse-making for those times when we try it. Then is the time for all the withering scorn we can muster.
You know that the Word of God is dealing with you when a host of qualifying buts crowd into your mind. “But I am certain that he . . .” If it cannot be brought righteously before the church – to his own master he stands or falls. Let love cover it, and the love should go all the way down.