Sin, Grace and Trying Hard

This blog is taken from Chris Davis’ message Where Are Your Accusers at a recent Destiny Church gathering. Listen to the complete message here.

John 8:1-11 contains one of the more scandalous stories of the Bible: The woman caught in adultery. Essentially, the religious leaders dragged a woman out of bed and brought her to Jesus for judgment, figuring they could make him look like the bad guy, no matter what He decided. Jesus exposed the evil in their own hearts by a simple statement, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

His poignant words cleared the room, leaving Him face to face with the woman. Their conversation has brought hope to countless sin-smeared people ever since:

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:10-11)

This is beautiful grace. Though guilty, she was given favor with God. She was extended mercy she did not deserve.

And she was told, “Go and sin no more.”

We tend to take one of two directions with that last line, when we apply this story to our own guilt which has been nullified by grace.

Some of us look at it almost as if Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you… have a nice day!” We view it through a lens that implies God doesn’t really care about sin. As if He really just want everyone to get along and not make a big deal out of nothing.

Others of us view Jesus’ last statement as a heavy command. We envision Him sternly replying, “I’ve been nice to you, but you’d better not do it again.”

Neither of these extremes are accurate. God isn’t neutral about sin. He hates it. (Psalm 45:7) But He also doesn’t demand sinlessness by our own sheer willpower. All our trying to be good will never be enough to win God’s favor. (Ephesians 2:8)

Jesus wasn’t saying, “Don’t worry about it,” nor was he saying “try hard.” What Jesus was offering the woman was freedom from the hold that sin had on her. He was showing her a grace that liberated her from bondage and empowered her to sin no more.

That’s what grace does for us as well: It enables us to live free from sin. Grace is never an excuse to sin. No, it is a rescue and the ability to walk away from the sin.

Romans 8:1-4 explains it like this:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.