John 8:1-11, “Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 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.
I was thinking about this precious passage of Scripture today. The Lord was always willing to forgive sinners. The wicked Scribes and Pharisees dragged this terrified woman to Christ, ready to stone her to death. What a bunch of rotten hypocrites! Jesus knew their wicked hearts and write on the ground. What don't know what he wrote, but if I were to take a good guess, I'd say: “Where's the man?” From the eldest to the youngest they all walked away.
Dear reader, there is total forgiveness in Jesus Christ. When God saves us, He separates our sins as far as the east is from the west. Did you know that east and west never meet? If you get an an airplane and keep flying west, you'll never reach east. The same is true if you fly east, you will never find west. But if you fly north, you will be going south after you cross over the North Pole. And if you travel south, you'll find north as soon as you pass over Antarctica. God is so wonderful to say that He will separate us from our sins, as far as the east is from the west. Psalms 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
God is more than amazing! I took this photo a couple days ago of some flowers in my front yard. Wow, God's handiwork is so awesome! ...
We need to make a clear distinction between the saved and the unsaved. If you are saved, then all of your sins have already been forgiven and forgotten as far as your POSITION in Christ is concerned. This is the believer's SONSHIP, not DISCIPLESHIP. Discipleship is our service for Christ, following Him in obedience. This has nothing to do with SALVATION.
Justification is when we get saved (“Just-If-I'd” never sinned at all). We are not saved by our goodness, but by God's goodness. We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS (Matthew 6:33). We are saved by God's imputed righteousness, which is by faith alone (Romans 4:4-7). And then after we are saved, now we need to make a second decision, if we are going to take up our cross to follow Christ as His disciple, which is sanctification.
Romans 5:5-9, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
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