“I Do Not Condemn You"
1. What is grace?
Our series is about Living In Grace, Living Out Grace, but what is grace?
According to the world, society, and culture today, grace is, “You’re okay, and I’m okay. You do what you want to do, and I’m not going to judge you. Who am I to say you are wrong?” Grace is permission to do what you want, what feels good and right for you. This is permissive, cheap grace that says, “God is merciful so I can do as I please.”
There is also the religious understanding of grace that we find in all religions, including Christianity. This view of grace says, “I’m okay because I follow the rules. You are not okay because you don’t follow the rules. I’m okay because I follow these really important rules. Don’t pay attention to all these other rules that I’m not following. But you see, the important ones, I’m following those and you are not. So I can judge you and say you’re not okay, but I am okay.” Grace is offered to anyone who looks, sounds and acts as I do. This is hypocritical, selective, performance-based grace. It is grace that leads to despair and says, “There is no forgiveness for the sin I have committed.”
And then there is Jesus’ view of grace that we find in this passage. He says, “None are okay, but I can make you okay. I do not condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”
2. God’s Law
So each one went to his house. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn He went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. “Teacher,” they said to Him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?” They asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger. (Vv. 7:53-8:6)
This is a bad situation. The Jewish leaders had no compassion for this woman and no concern for her soul. However guilty she might be of sin, they were using her as a tool to attack and trap Jesus. According to the Law (Dt 19:15), they needed at least two or more witnesses in order to accuse her. How did they manage to catch her in the act with sufficient witnesses? And where is the man? According to the Law, both the man and the woman must die (Lev 20:10; Dt 22:22). They disregarded and twisted the law. Their zeal for the law and righteousness is selective and hypocritical.
This seems like a Catch-22 situation for Jesus. They thought they had Him in a corner. If he practices compassion, forgives her sin as they thought he would want to do, and tells them not to stone her, then they have reason to accuse him of disobeying the law. If he upholds the law and says, “Yes, stone her” then He will lose the crowd. They are following him because of his teachings and actions of compassion, love, forgiveness. Also, they would then have reason to accuse him to the Roman authorities because the Jews were not allowed to carry out their own executions. What will he do?
3. No One Is Okay
When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center. (Vv. 7-9)
All human beings are created in God’s image. Therefore, the heart of God, God’s law, and God’s Word is written on our hearts, whether we believe in God or not. Every person has a sense of right and wrong. Everyone has some kind of law, whether it’s God’s law, the Bible, the law of the land, the laws of their culture, or some kind of personal law. We all have rules, ideals, standards, and norms that we are trying to live up to.
And here is the thing. We all break that law. We all fail to live up to those ideals or standards. We miss the mark. We sin. And we know that we have done wrong because God created all humans with a conscience. We feel bad. We feel guilty, and we don’t like that feeling. Therefore, we work very hard to avoid or remove our guilt. How?
We hide our guilt, sins, and issues. Everyone acts as if they are okay. We put on smiley faces and just go on. Or we do something to suppress, avoid, and ignore the guilt. We work harder, become busier, go on a shopping spree, buy a bigger car. Some try to smooth the guilt away with alcohol and drugs, or other kinds of addictive and destructive behaviors, all of which give only temporary relief.
We justify it. We rationalize. We make excuses. We find a reason for why we did what we did. We can talk ourselves into or out of just about anything. And the more we do this, eventually, we reach a point where we convince ourselves that it’s really not wrong at all. “I am okay.”
We blame it on something or someone else. We do not take responsibility for what we have done. We say, “I am just human.” We project our guilt on others. We see in others and judge others for the same sin or wrong we are doing. And so we shift the focus from ourselves.
The problem is that all these responses deal with the feeling of guilt but not with the root cause of the feeling. They do not solve the problem, namely our sin and disobedience. All of us are sinners. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Ro 3:10-12) No one is okay. And so they slipped away one by one. Jesus comes and says, “None are okay, but I can make you okay.”
4. I Do Not Condemn You. Sin No More
When Jesus stood up, He said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” (Vv. 10-11)
I do not condemn you. From now on do not sin anymore. When we have sinned the best way, the biblical way, to deal with the sin and the guilt of that sin, is to face the truth. Only in facing the truth, in facing Jesus can we find and experience real grace and forgiveness. Grace and truth always go together. When we are always hiding, ignoring, justifying, and blaming away our guilt and sin, then we are saying, “I am OK.” Then there is nothing to be forgiven, and we cannot experience grace.
But when we face the truth, when we face the real issues in our lives, when we allow God and others to speak truth into our lives, then the truth sets us free. “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. … everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” (Jn 8:31-32,34-36)
When we face the truth with Jesus, there is no more hiding, ignoring, escaping, justifying, blaming, no more lying, no more wearing masks. So no matter what we have done or where we have been, when we become vulnerable, step into God’s light, face the truth in openness and humility, confess and repent from a sincere heart, God says, “I don’t condemn you. I forgive you.” “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:17) Grace is facing the truth before God and others, and receiving His forgiveness.
Please note, we must face the truth before God and others. When we face the truth only with God the problem is that we can still hide, ignore, justify, and blame. But when we face the truth before God and others in a safe grace-filled community, we cannot hide anymore. Bonhoeffer said, “Our brother breaks the circle of self-deception.” When I am honest with you, I cannot deceive myself any longer. Friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ, speak grace and forgiveness into my life. The truth sets me free, and I can be myself and become my new self in Christ. We experience grace and live in grace.
Now see Jesus’ last words to her. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” The grace, the acceptance, and forgiveness we receive from God and others are not a cover-up, an excuse or permission to continue in evil and sin. Sin no more. Jesus calls us to be holy, to live the kingdom life.
How can we live in truth so that we can experience and live in grace? We must ask ourselves the following questions. Where in our lives are we hiding, ignoring, justifying, and blaming? We all do it, but if we acknowledge when we do it, then we can step into the light of God’s truth and grace.
What would we need to do to face the truth? The truth will be revealed (Lk 8:17). Decide now, “I want to face the truth. I don’t want to live like this anymore.” Take it to God. And then, Do you have someone you can talk with? A trusted friend, a mentor, a counselor, or pastor. A small group of spiritual friends where we can be honest about our struggles, where we can confess and repent. And God speaks his grace and forgiveness to us through our brothers and sisters in Christ.
What is stopping, holding us back? Fear? Fear of what others will think of us? Fear of what will happen if the truth is known? Or perhaps we enjoy what we are doing, and we don’t want to change. Embarrassment? Yes, it is uncomfortable and inconvenient. It is painful, but it is liberating. In confession and repentance, we experience grace, amazing grace that sets us free. Grace that enables us to understand and receive God’s forgiveness at the deepest level of our hearts. Grace that empowers us to go and sin no more. Grace and love so amazing that it enables us to live in grace, walk in freedom, and live out grace to others.
Jesus says to us, “I do not condemn you. Sin no more.” When we experience grace we learn and accept the truth that I am a child of God. I am loved. I am forgiven. I have value. I have a God-given purpose in this life and world. I am set free to live for God’s glory.