Caught in Adultery!

The answers we seek are found at the cross.

James 4:4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
**There is so much Good in the best of us, and so much Bad in the worst of us.

*What can wash away my sin?
**** Nothing but the blood of Jesus!!

Our thoughts are first to be triggered in the “chain reaction” of our souls: *thought stirs up emotion,— emotion influences desire,– and desire produces action.
“…but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:28

John 8:2-11.(The Story of adultery)
“Woman,” he(Jesus) said, “where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more.”

Forget for the moment the self-righteousness of the accusers and the apparent injustice of the adulterous man’s absence.
Did you really hear what Jesus said?
This woman’s guilt was real. She committed the crime of adultery.
God, through Moses, commanded her death.

**But God the Son simply said, “Neither do I condemn you.”

Now, if God violates his own commandment and lets the guilty go unpunished then God is unjust.
*** So how could Jesus possibly say that to her?
*Here’s where the news gets really good!

** God fully intended for this SIN of adultery to be punished to the full extent of his law.
* But she would not bear her punishment. She would go FREE.

****This young teacher(JESUS) would be punished in her place.*****

Might he have written theses words from Isaiah in the dirt?
*But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our inequities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

**Every one of us, in a sense, is that woman.
** Our addiction to sins — our shameful lusts, destructive tongues, murderous hatred, corrupting greed, covetous pride, lack of patience, jealousy  — stand exposed before God as starkly as in that temple courtyard.
Our condemnation is deserved.
***And yet,  Jesus speaks these stunning words to you:
“Neither do I condemn you.” Why? **Because Jesus has been condemned in your place. “The Cross”
* ALL your guilt has been removed. No stone of God’s righteous wrath will crush you because Jesus was crushed for YOUR iniquities.

Jesus was the only one in the crowd that day who could, in perfect righteousness, require the woman’s death. And he was the only one who could, in perfect righteousness, pardon her.

**Mercy triumphed over judgment for her at great cost to Jesus. And the same is true for us.

“There is therefore now no condemnation FOR those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
* God’s mercy leads us towards what? Repentance.
I think that if we look at the Word of God as a whole, there’s usually a qualifier for God’s grace and God’s mercy.
**It’s Repentance!!!
Jesus in 1 Peter says, “Be holy, because I am holy.”
*My point is this. We talk a lot about God’s grace these days. And make no mistake, there is certainly grace and mercy for when we fall short in our humanity…as we often do.
But God is not calling us to His grace….He is calling his church to Repentance.
*** He’s calling us to Holiness.  The closer you are to the Lord the higher your standards are.

** Grace is simply a vehicle to help us get there as we hit the road bumps along the way.
Hebrews 10:26 Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.
*Does this mean that if we sin again after receiving Christ, we will be doomed forever? No, there are other scriptures that make it clear that we still do sin even after receiving Christ,
** BUT that we should quickly confess and repent.
*Fear the judgement of God more than the fear of losing a pleasure. 2 Cor. 7:1
*Warning—Whatever you worship, you’ll become that very thing.

*God is calling us to A higher standard.
Stop trying to satisfy your flesh by justifying It.

Repentance is not a door leading to a dungeon, but rather a pathway leading to the Love, Truth and Freedom found only in Christ.
*  ” Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. “Revelation 3:19

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
* We must live in light of what God has done for us(the Cross) and live pure and holy lives.
*We can go to God any time.
*Sin is a serious matter. It is a perversion of Christian doctrine to say that since there is now grace, we can continue to sin so that grace may abound. (Romans 6:1)
*So, we must strive daily to live holy lives. But if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). So we must quickly confess and repent and receive God’s forgiveness.
* Our lives must be characterized by holiness, not by sin.
*At the same time, we can rejoice in the intimacy we have with God because of what Jesus has done.
** “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”John 8:36

Father, I am tempted daily to sin. I come before you in the Holy of Holies to ask for your power to resist the devil and discipline my own flesh. I confess my sins to You and thank You for Your forgiveness bought by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the intimate relationship we can have with You because of Your gift.  Help me Father to stay Close to You and not the world–that WE may be so spiritually United. With You, Jesus—No temptation can overtake me.   Thank You for your Word which is absolute Truth that gives Your perfect Guidance into all things.  Lord help me receive more of Your Holy Spirit as I read Your word and: “Search me, OGod, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”  In Jesus Name,Amen.

*Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5 ESV)

*The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 ESV)

*No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)