Meditate On
“No Condemnation” Comes First
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
John 3:17
The account of the woman caught in adultery demonstrates
something very important. What enables someone to have the power to overcome
sin? The threat of the law obviously didn’t stop the woman from committing
adultery. But receiving Jesus’ acceptance—knowing that even though she deserved
to be stoned to death, He did not condemn her—that gave her the power to “go
and sin no more.”
Notice that Jesus saved the woman righteously. He didn’t
say, “Don’t stone her. Show mercy to her.” What He said was, “Let he who is
without sin cast the first stone.” And on their own accord, the Pharisees and
religious mob all left.
Notice also that Jesus did not ask the woman, “Why did
you sin?” No, what He asked was, “Has no one condemned you?” It seems as if
Jesus was more preoccupied with the condemnation of the sin than the sin
itself. He made sure that she walked away not feeling the condemnation and
shame. Let’s not reverse God’s order. When God says something comes first, it
must come first. God says “no condemnation” comes first, and then you can “go
and sin no more.”
Christian religion has it in reverse. We say, “Go and sin
no more first, then we won’t condemn you.” What we need to understand is that
when there is no condemnation, people are empowered to live victorious lives,
lives that glorify Jesus. Grace produces an effortless empowerment through the
revelation of no condemnation. It is unmerited and completely undeserved. But
we can receive it—this gift of no condemnation—because Jesus paid for it at the
cross.
Truth be told, none of us could have cast the first
stone. We have all sinned and fallen short. In Christ, we are all on equal
ground. If a brother or sister gets tangled in sin, our place is not to judge
them, but to restore them by pointing them to the forgiveness and gift of no
condemnation that are found in Jesus.
The only person who is without sin and who could have
exercised judicial punishment on the woman was Jesus, and He did not. Jesus was
in the flesh to represent what was in God’s heart. It wasn’t judgment. His
heart is unveiled in His grace and His forgiveness. I like to say it this way
when describing what happened as the Pharisees waited to stone the woman: The
Pharisees would if they could, but they could not. Jesus could if He would, but
He would not. That’s our Jesus!
BLESSINGS
JOSEPH PRINCE
