Go and sin no more

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (I John 1:8-9 NLT)

You might be acquainted with the story recorded for us in the book of John where Jesus is teaching a crowd of people when the Pharisee leaders bring a woman to him who was caught in adultery. They expect him to back them up in their desire to stone the woman to death. Jesus' simple statement really puts grace on display for us, "let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone..." Before too much time passed, all her accusers turned around and silently left the scene. His next words are even more telling as it comes to seeing the impact of grace, "Didn’t even one of them condemn you...neither do I. Go and sin no more.” The truth is that we have ALL sinned - we ALL need grace. We ALL need to embrace the words, "Go and sin no more."

None of us is without sin. We all stand in need of a Savior. We are all unable to live upright lives without his indwelling Spirit within us. There is no more necessary truth for us to hear than the words, "...but if you confess your sins, he will be faithful and just to forgive them." The more we attempt to mask or hide our sinfulness, the longer it will be until we walk into his grace. The moment we admit our sin is the moment we find ourselves richly embraced by his grace - unmerited forgiveness and total restoration. Jesus doesn't condemn us for our sinfulness - he came into this world to actually help us come out of that lifestyle of sin. 

Argue with me all you want - it won't change the fact that you and I are sinners. We are born with a sin nature. We walk this earth with a sin nature in control of our actions up until the time we ask Jesus into our lives. At that point, our sin nature is no longer in control - we are given a new nature (his nature). Does that mean we no longer struggle with that sin nature? Nope, it just means we have a spiritual and emotional strength not our own to help us no longer give into it. There are no 'degrees' or 'grades' of sin. All of us have this sin nature within. All of us actively or passively choose to act according to that sin nature. Christ's plan is for us to actively (not passively) choose to 'sin no more'.

Dealing with our sin nature is a daily experience. We are tempted by things in our environment, what we see on social media, and what we observe 'passively' without even being aware we are being influenced by those things. Jesus asks us to engage with this world with our 'new nature' - allowing his Holy Spirit who resides within to help us make active choices to resist sin. If we truly want to 'go and sin no more', we will need to press into his Word, listen to his promptings, and rely heavily upon the strength his Spirit brings. Just sayin!