The Revelation of Jesus with Rick Sterling

Honest Mistake~

. . . and he *said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless.

"Don't worry, it was an honest mistake" is an expression in common use in our society today. We will screw up somehow, and we will use this expression as a way of making ourselves feel a little better, or easing the pain of someone who is with us a the time. And for the most part it works. No one likes to feel guilty when they have hurt a friend or loved one. Telling them that what they did "was an honest mistake" gives them some wiggle room to lay aside the pain of the guilt by deflecting the 'mistake' outside of themselves. We all do this from time to time.

The term 'honest mistake' would seem on the surface to be an oxymoron. Recognizing that you have made a mistake and owning up to it is a process that is integral to the process of Sanctification. You recognize the error, own it, release it by asking for specific forgiveness, and (here is the kicker) never make that same mistake again. This is the prime definition of 'honest mistake', where the operative word is 'honest'. 

The issue with the man in the parable of the Wedding Feast recorded in Matthew 22: 1-14 is that he had NOT made an honest mistake in coming to the Wedding Feast without having put on the proper garment. He was expecting the King to say to him, "Friend, what you have done is an honest mistake, so come into the wedding feast by my grace". When the King called him on the fact of his perfidy (lying) the man was speechless.

"When a person who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, they will either quit being mistaken or cease being honest".

~Richard Humpal, J.D.

Making the same mistake over and over, and expecting forgivenss and salvation in self-delusion, believing a lie as if it is true.