There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We all must be gripped by this truth. God gives a conviction of our sins and we can come to Him and experience the abundant life – This is the message throughout the Bible. We need to work out our Salvation.
John 8:11, ‘She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”’
Jesus said this, to the adulterous woman, whom the scribes and Pharisees brought. They were looking for the ground to accuse Jesus.
V6, ‘They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”’
V9, ‘When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.’
We see the mercy of God towards this adulterous woman. We also remember that how wretched we are! Yet how loving and kind He is toward us! God loved us while we were still sinners.
NKJV, V9, ‘Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.’
They were convicted by their conscience, went away one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last! The scribes and Pharisees had the conviction of their sins but they were not willing to come to Jesus, but left; went out one by one!
Let us examine ourselves. When we are convicted of our sins, let us come to the Lord, let us not be like Pharisees. Let us confess our sins and ask forgiveness. If we are doing this, we are little better than Pharisees. Jesus came not only to forgive our sins but deliver us from the power of sin.
Matthew 1:21, ‘She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’
When Jesus said to the adulterous woman, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”;‘Go’ means ‘I have forgiven all your sins’ – Jesus set her free from all her sin, Jesus forgave all her sins and we see His mercy here. She experienced the salvation from the penalty of sin and the condemnation. She experienced this salvation, right there! It does not stop here, but Jesus, further says, ‘sin, no more’! This is the deliverance from the power of sin. His grace – salvation from the power of sin.
Romans 5:8, ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’
Romans 6:14, ‘For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.’
This is the balance of the Gospel – ‘Go and sin no more’. The deliverance from the penalty of sin, forgiveness of sin and also deliverance from the power of sin. This is the mercy and grace of our God. This is the full Gospel. ‘Go and sin no more’ – It is possible in her life, she believed it and she went.
Hebrews 4:16, ‘Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’
Let us come to the throne of God, not only to receive mercy but also grace – ‘to overcome the power of sin’. Are we only satisfied with God’s mercy? The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins. We need to take sin seriously! We need to have an inner cry in our hearts for the deliverance from the power of sin. Like a toddler, when he falls down, he will cry out; let us be like this child in crying out to God, for the deliverance from the power of sin, when we fall into sin! The message of the Gospel is not only to experience the forgiveness for our sins – ‘mercy’ but also to receive the abundant grace to overcome the power of sin and also experience the abundant life in Christ Jesus. Go and sin no more! It is possible.
Hebrews 12:4, ‘You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;’
It is true! Let us examine ourselves. Are we taking sin seriously? Are we striving against sin? Or just doing it occasionally? Let us take it seriously!
Hebrews 5:7, ‘In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.’
V8, ‘Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation’.
We see the inner cry of Jesus. Are we having this cry in our heart? ‘Lord, I am getting defeated by this sin repeatedly, I need the deliverance from the power of this sin’. May God help us.
Romans 7:24, ‘Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.’
Romans 8:1, ‘Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’
V2, ‘For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.’
There is no condemnation and God wants to set us free from the power of sin. When we see the wretchedness in our lives, let us have this cry to the Lord. Let us take sin, seriously!
1 Samuel 15:3, ‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
God wanted to destroy Amalek, thoroughly! Everything!
V9, ‘But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.’
King Saul was not willing to destroy, utterly! We see the spirit of disobedience!
V11, ‘“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.’
God was sad, regarding Saul. Saul was compromising. We need to be serious about sin. Jesus loves sinners but hates sin!
Jude 1:14, ‘It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.’
There is a judgement for all those who do these sins.
V18, ‘that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”
MSG, ‘“In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore.’
Do we take these sins seriously in our lives? God’s judgement is coming to these who are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.
Grumbling and murmuring – do we have this spirit of grumbling? Let us examine ourselves.
1 Corinthians 10:10, ‘Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.’
God was not pleased with them, as they were grumbling and murmuring. It is a serous sin, as it says that there is a judgement for these people!
Philippians 2:14, ‘Do all things without grumbling or disputing;’
Do all things without grumbling or murmuring! The other sins are – finding faults, judging others. Do we have this sin of finding faults in our brothers and sisters? At workplace? Do we find faults and also tell others about their faults?
The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life – are we walking according to the flesh? Let us walk according to the Spirit.
Speaking Arrogantly – How are we talking to others? Do we have pride? High self- thought, thinking we are somebody? Are we speaking arrogantly? Bible says, we have to speak with grace and carefully.
‘In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore.’ God wants us to be serious about sin. When God is convicting of our sins, it is by His love and mercy. God wants us to come to Him, to deliver us from the power of sin. Go and sin no more! This is possible.
1 John 2:1, ‘My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;’
God’s will for us is that we might not sin but if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus; He forgives and delivers us from sin, believe it and experience the level of His grace, where we can overcome the power of sin in our lives.
1 John 3:9, ‘No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.’
Practicing the sin, is a very serious sin!
1 John 5:18, ‘We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.’
Let us not live in old covenant, experiencing only His mercy but God wants us to experience the new covenant life, where sin shall not master over us!
Matthew 14:28, ‘Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.’
We see the two miracles here. God is encouraging us. The first miracle was that Jesus walked on the water and the second miracle is that Peter also walked on water! This passage is showing us an overcoming life. The heavy wind and the gravitational pull, both are pulling Peter downwards but Peter overcame these forces by looking unto Jesus. by faith in God, he is walking on the water! When Jesus asked Peter to ‘Come’, Peter believed that it is possible with the Lord that he can walk on the water. Jesus is commanding us to ‘come, you can also walk, as I have walked’. The one who calls us is faithful. If Jesus said to an adulterous woman to ‘sin no more’, then it is possible to ‘sin no more’. When Jesus asked Peter to ‘come’, then it is possible to walk on water. This is the power of God and we need to experience this power in our lives. The other disciples might have told Peter, ‘Peter, what a foolish thing it is that you are asking to walk on water! It is not possible to walk on water; Jesus can walk but not you!’ Peter didn’t bother about what others might have told! He believed in Jesus and what He said. He had faith in God, looked at Jesus and went out of the boat and walked on the water! It is possible for us, to live a victorious life, being an overcomer! Look at Jesus, have faith in Him, like Peter did and walked on water!
Satan always tells us not to take sin seriously! But God says to take sin seriously! God wants us to be an overcomer! We can see in the beginning how Satan deceived Eve!
Genesis 3:4, ‘The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!’
Satan is telling lies! Whoever puts the mind on the flesh will die!
Romans 8:6, ‘For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace’
If we are walking according to the flesh, we will die!
The adulterous woman, when she heard Jesus saying to her, ‘Go and sin no more’, she, out of her love for Jesus, will not sin anymore! Jesus’ love compelled her, not to continue in sin anymore! Our love for Jesus should compel us not to sin. The fear of God should lead us to an overcoming life. Let us have that reverential fear of God.
Genesis 4:7, ‘If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.’
This is a warning that ‘sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.’ It is possible in our lives. Let us take this Word seriously in our lives, have faith in God. He will help us to live an overcoming life!
May God bless us.
