No Condemnation

Jesus…said to her, "Woman, 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." (John 8:10-11)

Under the Law, this woman, caught in the act of adultery, was condemnable and deserving of death (see Leviticus 20:10). But Jesus didn’t go there. Instead of condemning, Jesus offered grace and forgiveness.

This is entirely in keeping with his mission: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). God sent Jesus into the world to bring salvation. And salvation - deliverance from sin and its effects - is provided to those who have faith in Christ: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned” (John 3:18).

In the words of the apostle Paul, those who have placed their faith in Jesus are “in Christ,” and they are no longer under condemnation: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

If you are “in Christ,” saved by grace through faith and reconciled to God, you have been set free from sin and death. You are no longer condemned; instead, you are free not to sin. Before your conversion, you were in slavery to sin and therefore unable not to sin. “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18).

The great theologian and philosopher Bob Dylan put it like this:

You’re gonna have to serve somebody

Yes, you’re gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

Paul’s conclusion: “Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:22). Salvation leads to sanctification; deliverance from sin and death results in transformation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I encourage you to spend some time meditating on the miraculous truth that Christ came, not to condemn, but to save and forgive and redeem and restore and transform. And then, give thanks to God for this “inexpressible gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15)!