Go And Sin No More

Sometimes there are phrases in scripture that we gloss over. We read them, but we don't fully consider their implications. I think one such phrase is found in John 8:11. In this instance Jesus is speaking to the woman taken in adultery. Jesus has mercy on her and tells her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more". Have you ever really considered what that means? What did Jesus expect of this woman? Was He actually asking her to live the rest of her life without sin? Is that reasonable? Is it even possible?

We often state that no man is without sin (Romans 3:23). We know that all who have reached an accountable age are guilty of sin before God. 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." We understand that we have all sinned. None of us is perfect. No one can stand before God on the basis of his own righteousness.

But we go further. We convince ourselves that a man cannot live without sin from day to day. We expect to fail. We forfeit the battle before it is fought. This idea is so ingrained in our thinking that it sounds arrogant to say, "I'm going to live without sin". Yet that is exactly what Jesus is asking the adulterous woman to do. He makes the same request of a man whom he healed in John 5:14 -- "Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you." John wrote "My little children, I write these things to you that you may not sin" (1 John 2:1). That is God's standard. We can't afford to lower it.

Can you live without sin for the rest of your life? That sounds pretty intimidating! What if I told you that the Lord would return in the next 10 minutes? Could you live without sin for the next 10 minutes? How about the next half hour? Could you make it an hour?

If you can live without sin for an hour, then just take it one hour at a time. Put your trust in God and go to Him for the strength you need to make it happen. As preacher Mark Dunagan once put it, "Satan may trip me up again one of these days, but it doesn't have to be today." You can live without sin today.

Go and sin no more.

- PG