Keep Your Stones In Your Pocket...

"And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the Law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest Thou?"

"This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him."

"But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground."

"And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst."

"When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?"

"She said, No man, Lord."

"And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." (John 8:2-11)

Is Jesus condoning sin in this scripture? No. He is trying to make a point to the religious leaders of the day. He simply makes the point that he does not condemn her. In other words, Jesus is not going to condone her sin, but He's teaching the scribes and Pharisees that once a person has accepted the Lord, there should be no condemnation.

A few years ago, there was a televangelist that was exposed for dabbling in a certain sin. He had a large congregation before being exposed and he lost nearly the entirety of his ministry due to this certain problem. The following Sunday, the pastor gave a heartfelt testimony to his congregation and repented to the Lord for doing what he had done.

Once, I heard him give his testimony. He said that the exposure of his sin made him feel like ". . . standing naked, with every nerve exposed and having a thousand television cameras on me." I remember him saying that during this time of being knocked to the ground, there was nobody that called him to help him in his time of need. Instead, the church kicked him while he was down. Everybody was just condemning him for how he had hurt the church world.

Does this story parallel at all with the scripture that was given?

Please note that I am not saying that we should condone sin. However, I believe that the church is in dire need of showing grace. God has forgiven me more times than I could count. Do you think that it is possible I could forgive someone at least once?! We should look at ourselves the next time we are so quick to pass a self-righteous judgment on someone. Let's try to show the grace and mercy that Jesus gave to our brothers and sisters.

Keeping my Stones,

LTJ

Rom. 8:2