The Mercy of God

John 8:1-11

John 8:1–11 ESV

but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 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.”

The Pharisees had all the evidence against this woman that she was 100% guilty of adultery.

By the written Law this woman could have been stoned to death, but it was purely by the love and mercy of Christ that she didn’t.

In the same way that Christ had all the evidence to condemn this woman, He has all the evidence to condemn us as well.

We are no different than this woman.

The same Law the woman broke is the same law that we have broke. To see if we are all in the same page as the woman lets test ourselves with the a few of God’s commandments:

Have you ever lied?

Have you ever stole anything that wasn’t yours? (no matter how small)

Have you ever looked at another man or woman with lust?

Have you ever taken the name of God in vain?

If you answer is yes to any of these questions you are a sinner and in the same boat as the lady caught in adultery. Remember God is all seeing and knowing so that means that He knows you have committed all these sins, so like the woman who was caught committing her sins, God has all the evidence He needs to condemn you as well.

God wrote the Law and we broke it. Willingly.

Also like the woman who had a just penalty for her sins which was being stoned to death, we to have a penalty for our sins: when we die the Bible says that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and we will be judged by the God’s commandments, with none other than Christ as our judge.

So if you have broken any of God’s commandments ask yourself this question: What would keep me from recieving the judgement that I deserve?

There is nothing that me and you can do, the only thing that can keep us from recieving judgment is the love and mercy of Christ.

That is the center of the message tonight: That Jesus loves you and me so much that He decided to:

Not condemn us of our sins that we were already guilty of

But to actually pardon us and forgive us of the sin that we committed.

He invites us to live a new life as His child.

Sin was the trespass that entitled us to judgment.

In John 8:34-36 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, 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.”

So Jesus says that He WILL set us free from the very thing that entitled us to judgement. But understand that freedom is not just to be free from the consequence of something, but true freedom is the freedom to be able to practice or do what we should do.

So not only out of Jesus’s love has He promised to set us free from the consequence of our sin which is condemnation, but He has given us the power or freedom to overrule it!

Christ’s love was and is proven more powerful than the very thing that had power over us our whole lives.

With sin comes condemnation but Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

So when you confess your sins to Jesus, do not allow any thought of condemnation control you or make you think your are condemned, because by the Word of God, if you have confessed your sins you have been forgiven and you are not condemned.