This devotion offers clear and balanced guidance from the Lord Jesus Christ, especially on the woman caught in adultery. Jesus told her to go and sin no more!

Bible Reading of the Day
AM – 1 Chronicles 3-5
PM – John 8:1-20

𝕿𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊: 𝕲𝖔 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕾𝖎𝖓 𝕹𝖔 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖊
𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟖:𝟏𝟎,𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐉𝐕
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒔? 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆? 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝑵𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑵𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆: 𝒈𝒐, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆.

At the end of John 7, everyone had left the Temple and gone home. Jesus spent the night on the Mount of Olives, then returned early the next morning to teach at the Temple. During His teaching, He was interrupted by a religious leader trying to trap Him, using the situation of a woman caught in adultery.

This situation was designed to trap the Lord Jesus Christ. The hypocrites weren’t genuinely concerned about condemning the woman; instead, they were looking for a chance to accuse Jesus. This likely stemmed from His previous confrontation with them about the Law in 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟕:𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟒. If He had supported stoning in response to their question, they would claim He was unmerciful. Conversely, if He showed mercy and decided to free her, they would argue that He was against the Law.

They approached Lord Jesus Christ seeking guidance on the best action for their situation. In this moment, Jesus demonstrated that God extends forgiveness to all. Observe the interaction between Jesus and the woman, especially as she calls Him “Lord.”

The Lord Jesus Christ examines her heart and faith. He doesn’t just say, “Sin no more. I won’t condemn you,” but instead, He declares, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.” This shows that the Lord still recognizes her sin—there’s no excuse for her or us. Amen! Yet, she finds forgiveness through God’s grace.

The Lord Jesus Christ conveyed a balanced message to the woman. He first encouraged her to move forward, saying, “Go,” which is a positive note. Then, He admonished her, “Sin no more,” highlighting the negative aspect of His message. Effective Bible preaching involves maintaining this balance between positive encouragement and calling for change.

As messengers of God’s Holy Word, we need to highlight God’s grace while also acknowledging the serious consequences of sin and wrongdoing. It is crucial to deliver a balanced message from the Bible, as our words can greatly influence others’ lives. Additionally, we preachers are reminded by the late pastor Selva’s words: “𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬.” Let me add that “𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖒𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝖎𝖒𝖕𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖋𝖚𝖑 𝖒𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖆𝖌𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖚𝖑𝖕𝖎𝖙, 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞𝖉𝖆𝖞 𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖚𝖈𝖙.”

Have you made mistakes? Repent and continue your journey with the Lord. If salvation hasn’t yet been attained, don’t reject Him; instead, approach Him in repentance. Just as the religious leaders who saw God’s Word but turned away—perhaps because of their sins and their desire to preserve their reputations—left Christ, this behaviour persists today. 𝕻𝖊𝖔𝖕𝖑𝖊 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖗𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖗𝖊𝖕𝖚𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖗𝖊𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊. Beloved, if you feel convicted about any wrongdoing in your life, turn to the Lord and seek reconciliation with Him!