Jesus once gave a simple instruction to a woman caught in sin that is sometimes easier said than done; or is it? Today we are talking about casting off the bondage of sin.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Watch the video of this teaching at https://www.celllifechurch.tv/the-bondage-of-sin
The Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. It has the power to speak truth into the depths of our soul and cause understanding to stir within us. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. Not only is it full of stories about God’s love and provision over mankind but it also is an instruction book. Today we are going to read a passage of scripture that helps us learn how to cast off the bondage of sin.
In John 8:2-11 we read the story of the adulterous woman. This is someone who was caught in the act of adultery and brought to Jesus by the Pharisees. The Pharisees wanted to know what Jesus would do and were hoping to catch him saying something contrary to scripture to disprove who he was. Let’s read John 8:2-11.
(2) At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. (3) The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group (4) and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. (5) In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (6) They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. (7) When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (8) Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. (9) At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. (10) Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” (11) “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Jesus happened to be in the temple speaking in front of a large crowd when the Pharisees brought this woman and made her stand in front of the group gathered. The Pharisees knew that in the Law Moses commanded that such a person is to be stoned but they wanted to know what Jesus thought about it.
Jesus, who is full of love, compassion, and grace, sees the heart of the person beyond the sin committed. He responded, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
At this, the crowd slowly began to dissipate. No one could stay standing to accuse her because all of us have sinned. Jesus then takes the time to affirm her and tell her that he does not condemn her either. He ends his time with her telling her to go and sin no more.
When a person has a personal encounter with the Savior of the world and receives forgiveness, they are changed! Jesus stood up for this woman when no one else did. The adulteress woman was worth Jesus’ time. Jesus became her advocate and affirmed her as a person. She was shown compassion and forgiveness, not the condemnation that everyone else was giving her.
She had to make a choice and decide to either accept the forgiveness of Jesus and obey his command or continue in her life of sin and risk death. We all face that decision in our lives time after time. The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin in our lives and we must decide to stand on the promises of God and leave the sin behind.
Romans 6:23 says:
(23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our sin leads to death but our faith and obedience to Jesus leads to eternal life. Our sin can be comfortable. It can become a lifestyle, even a way of survival, but Jesus doesn’t want us to continue in our sin. He wants us to experience the freedom that comes from living a life forgiven.
The adulterous woman was in bondage to her sin. Her sin defined who she was. We are no different. Our sin will define who we are. It continues to separate us from the love of God and we become numb to it. The sin weighs us down more and more like being weighed down by chains.
When we accept the forgiveness of Christ then we are no longer bound by our sin. We can cast off those chains. We can be freed from our bondage to sin. We must simply follow Jesus’ simple yet powerful instruction, “Go now and leave your life of sin”. This is meant for us today just as much as it was for the woman dragged to Jesus by the Pharisees. Jesus is telling us to take action.
He did not say “stay awhile and let’s talk this through”. He knew what was best for her and knew she needed to take action now. He knows what is best for us and knows we need to take action now. If the Holy Spirit is pointing out sin in your life to you, cast it off and leave it before it holds you in bondage.
We can be good at justifying our actions to temper the reality of our sin. Sometimes we need to stop thinking about the action we need to take and just get up and do it. The changes we need to make are drastic sometimes, and not necessarily the right thing for everyone, but we know what we need to do. Not only does the Holy Spirit point it out to us, but he also gives us the strength and tools necessary to stop sinning and move on with our life in Jesus.
We do not need to explain ourselves to others who may not understand but we must take action and not delay. Sometimes leaving a life of sin means disassociating with negative influences. It could mean changing jobs or living situations.
The sin we struggle with that easily entangles us could be something that no one knows about or it could be something that is out in the open. Whatever the case may be, we must lay it down at Jesus’ feet, accept his forgiveness and not return to that sin.
Be encouraged! In the next verse, Jesus says in John 8:12:
(12) When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
In Jesus, we have life! In Jesus, we can have the confidence that he will show us compassion and love. In Jesus, we will be forgiven and can cast off the bondage of sin.
We encourage you to take action and leave behind anything that is holding you back from experiencing the blessings of Christ. In Jesus’ words may you choose to “Go now and leave your life of sin”.
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