“Neither do I condemn you. Go and leave that sinful lifestyle.”
How is that possible?
I never really examined the issue of the woman caught in adultery in that light until yesterday when someone read the passage that way. Coming to think of it, there was the case of a Samaritan woman who was chatting with Jesus and he told her all he knew about her lifestyle. She had been married a number of times and the man she was now living with was not her husband. Jesus then offered her salvation. She ran to her village to tell her friends and family about him-- the man who supernaturally knew everything about her.
Obviously, the reason why she was in this illicit relationship was because something or someone was lacking in her life. Jesus identified what it was—His presence in her. Would she be willing to give up the cheap stuff for the real deal?
A relationship with one’s creator is the most satisfying relationship that can be experienced. It has its moments of testing yet after years of togetherness, like any good marriage, it is worth the patience, trust, acceptance, peace, goodness, kindness, sacrifice, forgiveness (yes, we are sometimes mad at God) and love.
Salvation is entering into the greatest love relationship of all. God is love with a capital L. He is holy love. And there is a reason and a purpose for that kind of love.
I thank God that he doesn’t flirt with the devil. The devil tried to seduce Jesus with all the glitter and bling of the world. What if, and that’s an impossible what if, Jesus had told him, “let me think about it”. Here’s how it could have worked out. The devil would have said, “Take all the time you want to think about it. I won’t hurry you.” In the meantime the seducer would have carefully orchestrated their subsequent meetings. You know, the get to know you better kind of stuff. Like the excitement of Eve looking at the forbidden fruit from a different angle.
Then the subtle, “You don’t have to tell your Father about us. And even if he finds out, who cares? It’s your choice.”
So today, in an everything-goes world, marriage vows are discarded like out-of-style clothing, with the self-deception, “Let them talk if they want. You sin, I sin, we all sin, so cast the first stone.”
Wrong! Wrong could never be right however one tries to justify it. The consequences very often are so complicated that extricating oneself causes greater hurt to everyone affected by the original wrong choice.
DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS
The marriage promise was “till death do us part”. Death is separation from God, and divorce is a symbolic death—a separation from a husband-wife relationship. Adam and Eve died, were separated from God ( the lover of their souls) when they committed spiritual adultery with the devil. They fell for his seduction and were chased out of their perfect environment upon discovery.
The (biblical) Law condemns the guilty partners. Common law says it’s okay. Just make sure you share your inheritance with one another—children included.
Grace says you are wrong. You have sinned against God and you have sinned against man. Grace says Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread (including Your Word which is food for our souls), AND FORGIVE OUR TRESPASSES, as we forgive them that trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
To anyone who is being tempted to start an adulterous relationship, to anyone who is just discovering that the person whom you are presently dating is married with or without children, to anyone trapped in an unwholesome affair, and to partners who now realize that they have spent a great portion of their lives living outside of what God had intended for them, I say that now, this very day is the day to restart your life.
Yes, YOU sin, I sin, WE ALL sin, for the sinful nature we inherited from our unfaithful fore parents (Adam and Eve) still resides in us. That is why Christians still sin after becoming Christians. The difference Christ makes in one’s life is our impregnation with His godly nature; a new life growing within us to keep us from self-destruction. Please understand that to sin, and to live a sinful lifestyle are not the same. That was what Jesus meant when he said, “Go and sin no more.” Go, and change your lifestyle of immorality.
There is coming a day when we will finally be sin-free and sin-less like our Saviour who declared that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory; that sinless covering he intended us to live in from the beginning. He also declared that the wages of sin is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). This eternal life is introduced to those who never heard of it in John 3:16, and many children can recite it for it is easy to remember: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
To those who are feeling condemned, having blown it, here’s an important message from our sin bearer to you personally:
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
The starting point is to confess to God that you have been tempted to sin/that you have sinned/that you have been living a lifestyle of sin and that you are sorry. Tell him that you are sorry for the hurt you have caused to other people while pursuing your sinful lifestyle. Tell him that you are willing to accept his sacrifice and his forgiveness. Then invite him to put within you his nature and his Holy Spirit so that you would be all that he purposed for you from the beginning of time. Then, thankfully receive the forgiveness of your sins which he paid for with his blood, and the healing of all your sicknesses and griefs which he purchased with the brutal bruises he took in his body, accept the peace he provides through his Spirit for every situation in your life, and go and enjoy your new life in Christ.
It would also be proper to forgive everyone who has done you wrong. If you can find them and the Spirit of God prompts you to confront them, let them know that they hurt you but that you are this day choosing to forgive them as God requires. If you have been the one who hurt others through your sins, ask God to tell you what to say to those from whom you are seeking forgiveness. It is possible that they will reject your hand of reconciliation but you will be free from condemnation to live with a clear conscience, having been washed by the blood of Jesus.
Finally, I couldn’t help but notice in Revelation 20 that there is a second death coming to all whose names are not written in the book of Life. Even in this worldly system we have a register of births. And chances are that your name or number can be found in there. Well Jesus is keeping a register of births, so to speak in the register of newborns (born again people)—you must be born again to have eternal life. Check it out for yourself. Go to Revelation 20: 11-15. Death, hell and whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That is a fiery divorce.
The next chapter describes a beautiful royal wedding, with the happily ever after, and the wicked witch ending up in the fire. Which will you choose? The happy bride of the Lamb or disgraced, divorced and banished?
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
That is the message to the woman at the well in John 4: 7-39. It can help you make the right choice. Now go and would you choose to sin no more?
For further study on the subject see Jeremiah chapter 3.
