John 8:2-12 "Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
This is an example of a present sin that the woman had just committed, at that very moment. Jesus did not hold it against her. As we shall see in John 13, Jesus told Peter about three future sins that he would commit, but Jesus did not hold those sins against Peter. Notice also that the accusers were convicted by their own conscience and left, beginning with the oldest and even to the last. The longer we live, the more we have sinned. We are all in need of the free gift of righteousness available through Jesus. Jesus was able to not judge and condemn her according to the Law because He was going to pay the penalty for her sin and all of our sins at the cross.
Notice the difference between the Old Testament Law of Moses, which would have the Jews stone this woman to death, and the grace of Jesus under the New Testament. Jesus did not condemn her. He told her to go and sin no more. John 1:17 states "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Right after He does not condemn her, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world (grace and truth). He who follows Me (by offering grace and not condemning people) shall not walk in darkness (accusing and condemning others for their sins), but have the light of life (which is grace)."
Jesus Himself defines what light and darkness is in John's gospel. The light is His grace and love. The darkness is accusing and condemning others for their sins. If we apply these ideas of light and darkness to John's epistle of 1 John, it gives a whole new meaning to the epistle. Every minister I have ever heard teach 1 John chapter 1 defines light as walking in holiness and darkness as walking in sin. But that is not the way John defines it in his gospel. Let us read 1 John chapter 1 in light of this.
1 John 1:5-9 "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you , that God is light (grace and truth; love) and in Him is no darkness (accusation or judgment or condemnation) at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him (if we say that we know God or represent Him), and walk in darkness (accusing and condemning others for their sins), we lie and do not practice the truth (which is grace). But if we walk in the light (His grace and truth) as He is in the light (grace and truth), we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin (the actions and deeds of sin). If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth (His word of grace) is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Notice how defining light and darkness correctly, according to John's gospel, gives a whole new meaning to 1 John chapter 1. This is one of the main passages where ministers teach that we are out of fellowship with God each time we sin and we must confess our sin to get back into fellowship with Him. They teach that because they incorrectly define light as holiness and darkness as walking in sin. This incorrect interpretation would mean that God has forgiven us of past sins, but is counting our present and future sins against us until we get those sins confessed. This is error and contradicts 2 Corinthians 5:19, which states that God is not counting our sins to us. This idea contradicts many other verses throughout the New Testament.
Notice also that there are two cleansings listed in verses 7 and 9. In verse 7, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. In verse 9, we are cleansed from all unrighteousness. This is how we know that verse 9 is referring to a one-time confession of sins to receive Christ as our Savior. We are only cleansed once of unrighteousness before God. Otherwise this verse would be in conflict with other verses that declare that we are the righteousness of God in Christ when we receive Jesus. Verse 7 shows that we are cleansed from the actions and deeds of sin on an ongoing basis throughout our lives. Righteousness and holiness are two different things. Righteousness before God is a gift and instantaneous when we receive Jesus. Learning to walk in holiness is a ongoing process.
Keith Oliver
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