The Law of Grace

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Palm Sunday next week!

Please Continue to Pray about Eastview

INTRODUCTION:

This morning we will look at the story of the adulterous woman. Most likely we have all heard this story because in it is one of the most quoted verses in all the Bible, “He who is without sin among you, let Him be the first to throw a stone”.

This is a story about the abounding grace of God. An adulterous woman is brought before Jesus by the religious leaders, and Jesus graciously forgives her and really gives her new life.

We love this story because in it grace abounds. And if you have been forgiven of your sin, you have experienced that great grace yourself.

What is Grace? Grace is God giving us something that we do not deserve. And people are predominantly “eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth” people. We want people to get what they deserve. If someone wrongs us, we want them to receive the same treatment we did. But at the same time, we have all done wrong and we do not want what we deserve.

But Grace is saying yes you did wrong, yes you deserve judgement, but Jesus Jesus paid the price for your crime and through Christ forgiveness is offered instead of condemnation.

As time passes the great grace we received can become eclipsed by the wrong that others have done to us, and this story brings us back to the beginning of our walk with Jesus. It reminds us of His compassion, His mercy, His kindness, His open arms to save sinners like us.

And it is a story that should cause the church to fall down at the feet of Jesus and thank Him for His Law of Grace.

This story is is probably put into brackets in your Bible and may even be in the footnotes. That is because it is not found in the earliest manuscripts, and most people believe it was not part of the original gospel of John.

1) The oldest and best manuscripts before the 5th century do not have this story

2) In some manuscripts it appears in other places in the gospel and even in the gospel of Luke

B. Yet most people believe the story is true and took place

It is perfectly in line with the character of Jesus to forgive sinners

It is a very ancient story, probably began as an oral tradition of something Jesus did. It is first mentioned by a church Father who lived from AD 60-130.

It is an edifying story that the church clearly sought to preserve.

If it was likely not in the original gospel, then why are we studying it?

Because it has been widely accepted as the divine inspired Word of God by the church for over 1500 years. And it is a dangerous thing to reject 1500 years of Christian conviction and say they were all wrong.

In my opinion, that holds great weight in making a decision about something so important as this story and for that reason we will study as it was given to us, by the church.

We will break this story into three sections:

The seriousness of sin

John 8:2–6 “Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 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”

The Background:

The Religious leaders are trying to trap Jesus

Jesus is once again teaching the people. He has already silenced them once, so they find an adulterous woman, who has been caught in the very act and they bring her to Jesus.

John tells us plainly that they did this to have grounds to accuse Him.

What is this trap?

Well if Jesus DOES NOT uphold the Law of Moses and agree that she should be stoned, then they have the evidence they need to condemn Him as a Law breaker who disregards the Laws of Moses.

Yet on the other hand, if Jesus DOES agree to stone her, then the essence of what He has been teaching and preaching is not really true.

Jesus has preached CONSISTENTLY a message of hope and salvation to a lost and dying world. He has been called a light to the gentiles, bread from heaven, water for those who thirst, a friend of sinners, an offer of salvation for anyone who believes!

To stone this lady for adultery would go against right against what He said in John 3:17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him”

That is a not a message of condemnation, but a message of salvation. Jesus did not come to judge the world but to save it!

Here is a woman who is guilty of adultery, and the Law says she is to be stoned

Can you imagine having that kind of Law that people followed today? Studies say around 20% of people commit adultery today. Thank God for grace!

But there was a time in the life of God’s people when adultery was taken this seriously. And not just adultery but many other things received capitol punishment as well.

The point I am trying to make is the seriousness of sin. God takes sin very seriously, God takes adultery seriously, and this story is not given to make light of sin!

We may be tempted to think that God has relaxed some since the Law of Moses was written, but lets not forget what Jesus said, Matthew 5:27–28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

If you have committed adultery:

You have done no worse than someone who cursed their parents. (the punishment was the same).

You have done no worse those who worship other gods (the punishment is the same)

You have done no worse than those who practice witchcraft

You have done no worse than those who blaspheme the name of God

This is what I am saying to you: You do not have to shrink back and wish you were dead because this is part of your history

Just because other people may have sinned differently than you did, does not mean you are worse than them.

This woman who has been caught in the very act, is everyone of us.

She represents us

We have all been in the exact place of this woman, though it may have not been adultery for all, but some other sin that deserves death.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death”

Sin is a legal issue, just like breaking the Law today. There is a courtroom to stand in, there is a Judge to decide our case, and that is the same idea here!

“But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground”

People have all sorts of ideas and thoughts about what Jesus is writing: grace, mercy, forgiveness, so on. But the Bible doesn’t say because that is not what’s is important.

What IS important here is that it is the finger of God who wrote on the ground.

This is not the first time the finger of God has written something for man. In Exodus 31:18 it says “When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.”

When we stand back and look at the whole picture, we can see the picture John is painting:

They religious leaders brought the woman who had broken the Law into “the center of the court” in the temple of God.

Here is a woman who is placed on trial, in God’s courtroom, before the very Judge of all humanity.

There are witnesses against her. This is not a simple accusation, but “she has been caught in the very act”

The Scribes are mentioned for the first and only time in this entire gospel because the Scribes were the lawyers of the religious leaders. And their presence here means that a formal legal process is about to take place.

She has broken the Law and Law demands justice. “Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women; what do You say?”

And the Law Maker Himself who has written the Law with His finger now writes something on the ground for the entire courtroom

He who is without sin throw the first stone

John 8:7–8 . “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.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.”

Explanation:

Jesus’s response: “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her”

Now this is one of the world’s most famous verses because it is quoted so often! A simple reading without context would tell us that none of us have the right to say anything about another person’s sin.

In fact, the only one who is qualified is the Lord Jesus, and the implication is that everyone can do whatever they want and no one may ever say anything about it.

But is that really what Jesus means?

If that were true, then we’d have to take every judge out of the court room who makes a decision upon convicted criminals.

And if that were true we’d have to throw out Jesus’ statement in chapter 7 that we are to “judge with righteous judgement”.

And if that were true then we’d have to throw out all of the teaching in Matt 18 about church discipline and making judgements upon another persons’s sin

No, that cannot be what Jesus means, or He would be contradicting Himself in so many other passages.

So what does Jesus mean?

“He who is without sin, throw the first stone” was a reference to their own lives. What Jesus was saying to this mob was they had every right to throw the stone according to the Law, so long as they did not have sin in their own hearts.

Is Jesus calling for sinless perfection? No. He is calling for innocence in this situation

Remember that they brought this woman to Him with an intent to trap Jesus and condemn Jesus! They were not really interested in her adultery, they wanted Jesus and Jesus knew it!

Secondly, where was the man? Adultery takes two! This is a classic case of make chauvinism. And that in itself is a sin. It is often the woman who is made the public example and the man go on to live a decent life.

Jesus is not denying the Law. Nor is Jesus saying no one has any right to say anything to anyone else. He’s simply saying, “do not throw stones when you deserve a stone yourself”.

Two things about judging before we move on

Judgement is reserved for inside the church.

1 Corinthians 5:12 “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?”

No one outside the church should receive any kind of judgement from those inside the church. Why? Because how can we hold them accountable for something they have no commitment to keeping? The lost are not called to be faithful to Christ. They’re sinners! They sin! That was all of us at one time! And none of us should look down upon them for that. Its all they know.

Jesus never spoke critically to the lost, He welcomed them to have new life and so should we!

Jesus criticized the self-righteous who claimed to be godly yet had hearts full of vial sin and darkness

Biblical judgement is about helping someone not condemning them

We learn this from Matthew 7

Take the log out of your own eye before you remove the spec from another’s

We learn this from Matt 18

If your brother sins go tell him his fail, if he listens to you, you have won your bro

learn this from James 5.

“let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20, NASB95)

Let us make sure that our motives are right when we make judgements about someone else. If our observations do not come from a desire to help that person, we must keep silent.

If we make judgements about another, it must be to help them out of sin, not condemn them for their sin

The Law of Grace

John 8:9–11 “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. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.””

Explanation:

“I do not condemn you, either”

This is a significant statement that we must think about. Here were the religious, ready to stone this woman. Not just judge her, but condemn her. Jesus points out that none of them had any right to judge her, unless they too were not guilty of any sin, in which they realize they are and put the stones down.

The only One who has justification to throw stones, and even wrote the Law in which calls fro stoning refuses to condemn her as well.

Now how can He do that? How can Jesus make a Law against sin and then when someone breaks His Law, He lets them go! And not just a tiny sin, but a serious sin!?

Because Jesus is looking at this woman through the cross. That’s the wonderful things about Christianity is that Jesus is both the One who justifies the ungodly and can still be just at the same time. Only Jesus can make a sinner legally right with God, while at the same time not doing anything wrong Himself.

How does He do that? Because the judgement, the stoning, the condemnation, the death that this woman deserved for her sin, and she deserved it, would be placed upon the sentence of Jesus juts a short time from then. Her death, her punishment for that sin Jesus would cover with His righteousness and He would give her what she did not deserve: GRACE

And the same is true for us. I am telling you it does not get any better than that. And if Jesus Christ has done that for you, then you know how wonderfully glorious that is.

What did she do to deserve this?! NOTHING

Yet that is what grace is. It is receiving what we do not deserve.

Only Jesus has the right to condemn someone, yet no has to be condemned for Jesus died for the sins of the whole world

1 John 2:2 NASB95

and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

“From now on sin no more” [NIV “Go now, and leave your life of sin”]

This is such an important detail that is often left out of this entire story. The Grace is God is so magnified against the sin of this woman and these religious leaders that we almost glance right over these little six words that carry so much meaning.

I like the NIV’s translation because it brings out the true meaning with a little more clarity than the NASB. Jesus is not telling her to never sin again, but to leave her life of sin. To no longer live in a pattern of sinfulness, and begin living in a pattern of righteousness.

For this is the essence of Christianity that we must not miss. Christianity is not simply receiving God’s forgiveness, and then continuing to live our lives as sinners. Christianity is receiving Christ’s forgiveness and then living the rest of our lives in faithfulness to Him.

It is impossible to truly be forgiven and continue to live in sin. For the woman who committed adultery, and continue on it it is only evidenced that she never really received forgiveness in the first place

The drunkard or drug attic who is truly forgiven of his sin will turn from that life and stop sinning.

The author of Hebrews puts it like this: Hebrews 10:26–27

Hebrews 10:26–27 NASB95

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

CONCLUSION

Maybe you are here and you are that woman. You life contrary to God’s Law. You live a life of sin and you know it. No one else may know it and it doesn’t matter one way or the other because you know it and God knows it.

Only Jesus can forgive your sin. And I want you to now He is absolutely willing if you will come to Him and throw yourself upon the mercies of God. He is kind, He is compassionate, He is good, and He can save you no matter how impossible you think it is.

You do not need to do nothing, just like this woman, you can be caught in the act and God can save you out of it all if you turn to Him.

Maybe you have come to Christ, yet sin is still present in your life. Maybe you have never gotten the sin all the way out, or maybe you have, and then found your way back into it.

Leave that life of sin today. Do not buy the lie that there remains a sacrifice for your sins if you continue to live in them. As the writer of Hebrew says, there is a terrifying expectation of judgement waiting for all those who go on sinning.

Let this be the call for you today to turn from that sin, no matter what the cost, and save your soul from hell.

~PRAYER~