TWO SIDES OF GRACE

<> “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.” Jesus said it. It’s recorded in John 8:11. A group of men had just brought to Him a woman caught in adultery; indeed, “in the very act” (John 8:4). These men reminded Jesus of the law that commanded she be stoned to death. They demanded to know what He thought.

In response, Jesus knelt down and began writing in the dirt, then stood up and said, "The one without sin among you may throw the first stone at her" (John 8:7). Then He knelt down and continued His dust inscriptions. Many have wondered what Jesus was writing: maybe the names of the girlfriends of the married men in the group!

One by one, the men walked away, and Jesus asked the adulteress if any accusers remained. When she replied that they had all left, Jesus uttered the words above: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”

Was she, in fact, guilty? Indisputably.

Was her punishment warranted? According to the law, certainly.

She was indeed, by every biblical standard, guilty as charged and deserving of punishment.

Exactly like us.

That’s right: before a holy God, we are just as guilty as she was. In view of human reality and biblical truth, only a fool would dispute that.

The good news is that God’s grace is bigger than our sin. As Paul wrote, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).

And notice how Jesus applied grace.

First, He expressed forgiveness: “Neither do I condemn you.”

He had already said the first stone should be thrown by the person without sin; and He was the only one that met the stipulation! If the sinless Son of God, Who alone is eligible to judge sinners, freely offers forgiveness, who do we think we are to demand more of sinners then He does?

But that’s not all! He also expected the woman to change. “Go, and sin no more,” He said, and by so saying, called her behavior what it truly was: sin. And He told her to stop it.

Here’s how Paul explained it to his disciple Titus: “God’s grace has been shown to everyone. It saves us and teaches us to lead sober, righteous and devout lives, as we renounce ungodliness and worldly lusts” (Titus 2:11-12). Grace, far from being a permit to sin, instructs those who have been forgiven to pursue righteous living.

Like a precious coin of priceless value, grace has two sides: the forgiveness side and the change side. You can’t have one without the other. Resistance to personal transformation leaves you unforgiven. Refusal to be forgiven – or to forgive! – renders you untransformable. Or, to put it another way, justification and sanctification are both works of grace. To submit to grace means to open oneself to both works.

Jesus said it somewhat more simply: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”