What does God say about sexual sin?

but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

Introduction

Narrative rendition of the passage ()

In the last part of chapter 7, the teachers and Pharisees are huddled together complaining about the masses and how they followed Jesus. They complained when Nicodemus tried to bring some reason to their madness.

Jesus had other priorities...

John 8:1 NIV

but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus regularly slipped away from the crowds to get alone with God, often during the night.

Side note: If Jesus needed those quiet times before the Father…it’s safe to say, we need them even more. He spent the entire night there —

John 8:2 NIV

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.

John 8:2

The teachers of the law (scribes, instructors) and the Pharisees (religious ruling body) showed up — dragging in a pitiful woman that had been caught in the act of adultery —they placed her in the middle of the crowd with Jesus.

“Teacher, the woman before you was caught in the very act of adultery. The Law tells us that she must be stoned to death for this sin. What do you have to say?”

Jesus knew their true motivation: to get Him into a position where they could accuse Him of blasphemy and arrest Him.

The Law () calls for the death penalty when people are caught in the very act. However…these Pharisees left out an important point of Law: the other participant (the man) was also supposed to receive the same judgment.

Whatever the details here...the Law did call for capital punishment in this situation (not necessarily stoning). Since she was caught…there is no doubt she was guilty of the sin. How should Jesus respond?

If Jesus said “go ahead and stone her” His famous compassion would come into question. In addition — the Roman rulers of the day did not allow capital punishment without their permission. The accusers were probably giddy because they thought they had Jesus backed into a corner, with no good answer.

I love how Jesus responded — while they were leaning forward to see what His answer would be, Jesus simply knelt down and began writing in the dust on the ground with His finger. What was He writing? We don’t know…it doesn’t tell us.

The men persisted to ask Him for an answer — He kept writing for a bit — then He slowly stood up and looked into their accusing eyes

I have no doubt that whatever He wrote made them nervous — but the words He spoke out loud make His message very clear

I have no doubt that whatever He wrote made them nervous — but the words He spoke out loud to them left no room for doubt

“If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” ()

:9-11

“If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” ()

John 8:9–11 NIV

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

What can we glean from Jesus saying, “He who is without sin, throw the first stone?” In his commentary, Bruce Milne effectively answers the question

So what can we glean from Jesus saying, “He who is without sin, throw the first stone?” In his commentary, Bruce Milne effectively answers the question

The Message of John 13. Excursus—The Woman Taken in Adultery (7:53–8:11)

The sword of judgment is double-edged. In judging others we judge ourselves, and an unwillingness to pronounce judgment on ourselves undercuts our right to pronounce it on others. Put more generally, God’s call to all of us, all of the time, is to live holy, godly lives. Any deviation from that should concern us, as much in ourselves as in others

John 8:12 NIV

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus provides the only way we can find a way out of the death trap of our sinful nature

John 8:12 NIV

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Those teachers and pharisees had no concern about the Law — they only cared about themselves and their self-righteous standing as religiously elite men. Their hearts were sinful and their intentions evil

Prayer

The way Jesus handled the situation is a great example because sexual activity before, within and outside marriage is commonplace in our world. We are surrounded by adultery, rampant pornography addiction, and even gender specific lifestyles that go against Biblical instruction — e.g., LBGTQ society.

The way Jesus handled the situation is a great example for us because our world is inundated with a lot of sexual confusion and practices: adultery, rampant pornography addiction, and even gender specific lifestyles that go against what the Bible teaches — LBGTQ

This isn’t really about a specific sin issue but about what God says and whether or not we accept it. After all, sin is sin — it means missing the mark of God’s design for life. It is rebellion against God

When Jesus said, “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone”, the teachers and Pharisees had to walk away. In fact the whole crowd dispersed.

“Where are your accusers?”

“ There are none”

“Then neither do I condemn you…Go now and leave your life of sin”

Big Idea: Since no one is perfectly sinless, leave judgment to God -- His truth never changes and His grace is available to all

Thankfully...God’s grace can cover the sins of anyone that comes to Him in repentance, desiring to make Jesus Lord.

Since no one is perfectly sinless, leave judgment to God -- His truth never changes and His grace is available to all

Interrogatory: “What does God say about sexual sin, specifically?”

Francis Chan clip

Transitional: No matter what the sin...

Francis Chan clip

God’s Truth Exposes Sin

John 8:12 NIV

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

How important is truth?

John 1:14 NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

How important is truth?

It depends on who you are talking to, what day it is, what is politically correct at the time, what people are saying on FB, who has the loudest voice

Absolute truth is an endangered species

John 8:12 NIV

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 14:6 NIV

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 1:1 NIV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:17 NIV

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

If you believe in God…are you willing to follow His truth?

We know sin is real…from personal experience

If God says something is a sin or an abomination…

Do you want to argue with Him…He is truth?

God’s Truth Exposes Sin

If God says “this is my will for you as a man” or “as a woman”…well?

Romans 3:23 NIV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 NIV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This book is your instruction manual — it is life, breathe, and water to your soul because it is the living Word of the living God.

Sin is real — and God’s truth exposes it clearly

Sexual sin is sin…just like lying, cheating, stealing, etc. are sin

Homosexual sin is sin, just like any other sexual sin.

Transitional: If we are all about truth…and sin is obviously all around us, where does grace come in? Where is the balance?

God’s Grace Offers Life and Hope

This story of the woman caught in adultery brings both truth and grace into balance — it doesn’t toss out the truth of sin in favor of grace, nor does it minimize grace by focusing on how horrible the sin is.

Sadly, our culture tries to make us enemies with the LGBTQ community or…fill in the blank (pro-choice, atheists, other religions, biker dudes, drug dealers, all around bad people that seem to have no standards or morals)

God’s grace means no condemnation

Blanket condemnation is not what we see in this story

Hear me on this: it is important that we do not fall into the trap of watering down God’s Word. We must consistently present the Biblical standard of sexual purity and lift up its benefits - of all the benefits, the most important one is honoring God, because He is the Creator and keeper of truth.

When a believer, pastor, or a church approaches someone that has failed - we must do so in humility, care, and sensitivity