I met a man some time ago who told me he had never sinned in his life. He was the first perfect man I had ever met. I thought I would question him, and began to measure him by the Law. I asked him, “Do you ever get angry?”
“Well,” he said, “sometimes I do, but I have a right to do so. It is righteous indignation.”
“Do you swear when you get angry?”
He admitted he did sometimes.
“Then,” I asked, “are you ready to meet God?”
“Yes,” he replied, “because I never mean anything when I swear.”
Suppose I steal a man’s watch and he comes after me. “Yes,” I say, “I stole your watch and pawned it, but I did not mean anything by it. I pawned it and spent the money, but I did not mean anything by it.” You would smile at and deride such a statement.
Ah, friends! You cannot trifle with God in that way.