Grace & Truth

Introduction

Relationships can be complicated, am I right?

at work - those you work for - those who work for you

at church - none of us have ever experienced drama or a strained relationship at church, right?

marriage - how many have ever had an argument with a spouse?

kids - every season of your child’s life can create challenges with how you relate to them

parents - What does it look like to honor your parents when you are an adult?

extended family - estranged, distant, or close, families can be a source or strength and joy or can inflict some of the deepest pain imaginable

Can you relate?

This is what is leading to our new series:

Can You Relate? Navigating Real Relationships With Biblical Principles

Over the next five weeks we will explore Jesus’ approach to various relationships and learn biblical principles which will help us navigate the relationships we have in our own lives.

Jesus is our prime example of how to live and love as a human

Full of Grace and Truth

John 1:14–17 (ESV) 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John is saying the Word (which he states earlier is God and will later identify as Jesus) here states is found in at least two Persons who share a relationship that can be described as Father and Son.

Glory of God is displayed as Jesus is full of grace and truth.

grace = unmerited favor that results in blessing and joy

truth = reality that exists regardless of one’s perspective or beliefs.

grace = hesed

truth = emet

Exodus 34:6 ESV

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

To illustrate how Jesus related to people with both grace and truth we’ll take a look at a famous story in John 8:1-11

Before we understand what is placed in this passage, we need to understand this passage’s place in Scripture.

notice the brackets

Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) Neither Do I Condemn You

The reason for this is that most New Testament scholars do not think it was part of the Gospel of John when it was first written, but was added centuries later.

For example …

• Don Carson,“Despite the best efforts … to prove that this narrative was originally part of John’s Gospel, the evidence is against [them], and modern English versions are right to rule it off from the rest of the text (NIV) or to relegate it to a footnote (RSV).” (The Gospel According to John, 1991, p. 333)

• Leon Morris: “The textual evidence makes it impossible to hold that this section is an authentic part of the Gospel.” (The Gospel According to John, 1971, p. 882)

• Andreas Köstenberger: “This represents overwhelming evidence that the section is non-Johannine.” (John, 2004, p. 246)

There are several reasons scholars think this way:

Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) Neither Do I Condemn You

Reasons This Section Isn’t Original to John’s Gospel

The evidence goes something like this:

1. The words used and the literary style of section are different from the rest of John’s Gospel.

2. The story is missing from all the Greek manuscripts of John before the fifth century.

3. All the earliest church fathers omit this passage in commenting on John and pass directly from

Important: No doctrine in John’s Gospel is affected if the story is removed and this section does not teach a doctrine that is not confirmed elsewhere in John’s Gospel

While many scholars agree that this passage was not in John’s Gospel when originally written, most scholars believe the events described actually did happen. (perhaps they circulated later and were written in?)

Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) Neither Do I Condemn You

Carson says, “There is little reason for doubting that the event here described occurred” (The Gospel According to John, p. 333).

When we come across a passage such as this (and there are really only two such passages — this one and the end of Mark 16 — we must be careful not to use it as an authority for any doctrine; rather, we can use it to illustrate doctrine we find in other places of Scripture.

This is why we opened with John 1:14

From that passage we learn the glory of God is revealed in Jesus who is full of grace and truth.

In John 8 we see a illustration of Jesus relating to someone with grace and truth.

From this we can learn some truths on how we can relate to people in our lives with grace and truth as we imitate Jesus and so display God’s glory to the world around us.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

John 8:2–11 (ESV) 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

In sitting down Jesus is taking the position of a religious leader speaking with authority and teaching from the OT

3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.

They brought this woman caught in adultery to Jesus at “church!”

The understanding here is that she was likely caught in the very act of adultery.

Deuteronomy 22:22 ESV

22 “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

Last time I checked, TWO were required to commit adultery!

Where is the man? Just shows how the religious leaders did not really care about what is right, they were only focused on what one person had done wrong.

They were using God’s law of purity as a weapon.

(LGBTQ and porn? Abortion and lack of evangelism?)

Too often we are as guilty of hypocrisy as the Pharisees!

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 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.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

9 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 exposed the religious leaders’ misuse of the law by calling them to the strictest interpretation.

Jesus is not abolishing the law - he will ultimately fulfill the law when he offers himself as the ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus is going to show the crowd around this woman, and remind us, that the basis of God’s law was not judgment but grace and the purpose of the law is love.

Matthew 9:13 ESV

13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus sums the law by saying love God with heart, mind, soul, and strength and neighbor as yourself. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Jesus is NOT saying “I don’t condemn you because adultery is no big deal”

Jesus IS saying “I am offering you something you cannot attain yourself - righteousness - no condemnation - and a call to live out of that new identity.”

Grace + Truth

Grace and Truth Go Together

ILLUST - Things that naturally go together

Grace and

truth - light

grace - warmth

no grace - cold and harsh

no truth - in the dark

truth - diagnosis

grace - medicine

no truth - you have the diagnosis with no hope

no grace - medicine without knowing why would lead to lack of motivation and no change.

Truth without grace is harsh, legalistic, and unlikely to be heard. 

“Grace” without truth is soft and shallow, and ineffective for change. 

Having met Truth, we stand on and with truth. 

Jesus said that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Truth is true irrespective of my desires, opinions, or delusions. 

Truth is relational - Jesus is the TRUTH. 

There is a truth about right and wrong beyond what culture says.

two genders

lifelong marriage

marriage = one man and one woman

elective abortion is murder

We can be bold and truthful without being intentionally hurtful.

The Church has not been very good at this!

Any offense should be with the gospel not with me

Were the Pharisees wrong in what they said? no.

Pharisees didn’t want grace they wanted justice - judgment 

They wanted judgment in their own eyes rather than grace for her heart. 

Pharisees wanted truth for truth’s sake - not truth for the person’s sake.

They were wrong in their motivations - devoid of grace

The reality is — the woman’s adultery is still wrong. Though Jesus has forgiven her spiritual consequences, there will still be natural consequences - a broken marriage, tarnished reputation, etc.

We can and should be ready to give and explain the truth - the diagnosis - for the person’s sake and be ready with the medicine of grace

Ever try to be right rather than relational?

Having received grace, we now give grace.

How often do we hope others receive all the judgment they deserve while we plead and pray for all the grace God can give to cover the sin in our own lives?

Jesus is the only one who can truly forgive sin and offer the grace of salvation to someone.

However, in our relationships, we can display grace while not neglecting truth and we can bring them to Jesus to receive this same grace we received ourselves.

Grace does not erase the offense of the gospel. When accepted, it resolves it.

When sending out the Twelve Apostles, Jesus said to them:

Matthew 10:8 ESV

8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

You received the Kingdom of Heaven freely (grace) now give freely (grace)

Grace is a vehicle to deliver truth.

“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care”

— Teddy Roosevelt

TEST do you have a heart that seeks the good of the person and not only the truth of the situation.

Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Grace is the motivation to live out the truth.

Jesus gave grace first then called the woman to holiness

By default we tend to think the opposite - clean up your life first, then you will be forgiven and receive grace.

But that is NOT what Jesus does!

This is HUGE!

He did not call the woman to clean up her life then he would accept her — he offered her grace FIRST then called her to life out the truth of the grace.

This is the gospel!!

The grace of salvation and acceptance with Christ is the motivation for living a holy life — it is not the reward for living a holy life.

God’s grace is the power that frees us from sin, not the reward for freeing ourselves.

Reality - TRUTH - is we are ALL that woman caught in our sin before Jesus

Grace and Truth Go Together

Having met Truth, we stand on and with truth. 

Having been given grace, we now give grace.

Grace is a vehicle to deliver truth.

Grace is also the motivation to live out the truth.

Let’s love people enough to tell the truth and show them the grace that can change everything.

What relationships in your life do you need to speak truth delivered through grace?

Who have you been so focused that they hear the truth you’re trying to tell them that you have neglected to show them grace?

Do you have the heart of the Pharisee? Are there people in your life that you throw before Jesus with hopes he will condemn for their sin rather than leading them to Jesus hoping they will receive his grace?

LGBTQ?

Drug dealer?

Guy at work who lies his way to a promotion?

The woman you know who is cheating on her husband?