JOHN 8:10-11: “When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” NKJV

OBSERVATION: How do I – “Go and sin no more?” When I read this familiar account of the woman caught in adultery I wish the story ended with the words – “Neither do I condemn you.” Yet, this is not the only thing that Jesus said to this woman. Jesus also said,

“Go and sin no more.”

Sin is the natural condition of every person. Sin is our natural predisposition in life. We have a broken nature that is bent on sinning. David wrote in Psalms,

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psa 51:5 NKJV)

I will never forget the first time I held my daughter in my arms just moments after she was born. As I looked at her my heart was filled with love and I thought – “How could anything this perfect have any sin?” Yet, just like each one of us, my daughter was brought forth in iniquity. My sinful nature and the sinful nature of my wife were passed down to my daughter. I did not choose this, my wife did not choose this, and my daughter surely did not choose this. Yet, this is the condition of all mankind. From Adam and Eve, this state of brokenness has been passed down from generation to generation.

When my daughter was around 3 years old she liked riding our neighbor’s big wheel. We lived on a curve where traffic would come around and it could catch a child by surprise if they were on the street. My wife made it very clear to my daughter that she could not cross the street. Then it happened. My daughter crossed the street to my wife’s horror and disbelief. Worried about her safety she ran after my daughter. When they got back to our house my wife asked her – “Why did you cross the road? You know that I told you never to do this!” My daughter looked at my wife and said,

“Mommy, I thought about it long and hard and decided to do it anyway!”

Sin is the natural response of our human nature. Paul speaks about the battle with our old nature in Romans chapter 7. We are all born into sin. We all battle sin. We are no better than the woman caught in adultery. We need a Savior to forgive us and cleanse us from our sins. We also need a Savior who can deliver us from the power of our sin!

Jesus is that Savior!

What good would it have been for Jesus to forgive the woman caught in adultery only for her to return to her destructive life? Used by men like something to be discarded, her life was caught in a meaningless and destructive cycle. Yet, all this changed when she met Jesus and heard His words of redemption and victory.

“Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more!”

Receiving Jesus’ forgiveness is the easy part. Walking in victory over our sin is the difficult part. Many have turned the grace of God into a revolving door. They lean upon the grace of God to excuse their continual cycle of brokenness not realizing that it is the very grace of God that was given to break this destructive cycle. So how does one – “Go and sin no more?”

The account of the woman caught in adultery often ends with these words. However, the text does not end here. It ends with Jesus teaching the woman how to “God and sin no more!”

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (Joh 8:12 NKJV)

There was no paragraph break in the original text. If all Jesus said was – “Go and sin no more!”, this would have been a hard command to follow. Yet, Jesus did not leave this woman there. He showed her how she could walk in His forgiveness of sin and power over sin. The only way that we can have power over sin is if we –

Walk in the light!

Jesus proclaims – “I am the light of the world!” To follow Jesus, to stay close to Jesus, is to walk in His light. The contrast between light and darkness is one of the most important themes in Scripture. Light both exposes sin and provides the pathway to victory over sin. The Psalmist speaks of this light in Psalm 119.

“Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” (Psa 119:104-105 NKJV)

In the same chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus continues to expand on His call to walk in the light.

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Joh 8:31-32 NKJV)

When Jesus called the woman caught in adultery to “Go and sin no more!”, this was not a rebuke, it was an invitation. It was an invitation to follow Jesus. It was an invitation to walk out of the shadows of her brokenness and shame and into the light of Jesus’ forgiveness and cleansing. It was an invitation to be set free and live in the light of His Truth!

Within ourselves, we cannot “Go and sin no more!”. We will quickly fall back into our old patterns of brokenness. Our victory is not in our resolve to sin no more. Our victory is in the call to walk in the light! In His light, love, forgiveness, and cleansing we find the grace to turn away from our brokenness and shame and walk in the freedom of His life!

So, what do we do if we find ourselves on the other side of the road on our big wheel once again? The Apostle John gives us the answer.

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1Jn 1:7-10 NKJV)

The answer is never to pretend that we are ok. When we fail the answer is to confess our sins – and get our lives back in the light! As we walk in the light, as we walk with others who are abiding in the light, as we abide in His Word, the blood of Jesus Christ continues to cleanse us, heal us, and empower us. We grow in our victory over the power of sin in our life. The light becomes our new normal and the darkness that once held us becomes that which is unnatural.

We find our lives being transformed from one degree of glory (light) to the next, by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. This is what is understood as sanctification. Simply put – as we live in the light we become more like the light. We become more like Jesus! We begin to experience a true inner transformation where the light of His love is replacing, in ever greater measure, the darkness of our old life. Paul puts it eloquently in his letter to the Corinthians.

“But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (2Co 3:16-18 NLT)

The day when Jesus spoke into this woman’s life is the day that the veil was taken away from her eyes. She was no longer a person that men used and discarded. She was a forgiven, cleansed, and precious daughter of God. She had met Jesus. She had walked into the light. And, she found her continuing victory over her broken past as she lived in the light.

So can we!

Lord, grant me the grace to live in Your light every moment of the day! If I fail, let me be quick to run to you for forgiveness and cleansing and back into Your light. Transform me, moment by moment, day by day, by the power of Your Holy Spirit so that I can live in Your light and experience the freedom of Your death and resurrection.

In Jesus’ Name!