Read 100 Days of Right Believing: Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing Online
Authors: Joseph Prince
100 Days of Right Believing: Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing (18 page)
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
J
OHN
3:17
Y
esterday’s account of the woman caught in adultery demonstrates something very important. What enables someone to have the power to overcome sin? The threat of the law obviously didn’t stop the woman from committing adultery. But receiving Jesus’ acceptance—knowing that even though she deserved to be stoned to death, He did not condemn her—
that
gave her the power to “go and sin no more.”
Notice that Jesus saved the woman righteously. He didn’t say, “Don’t stone her. Show mercy to her.” What He said was, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” And on their own accord, the Pharisees and religious mob all left.
Notice also that Jesus did not ask the woman, “Why did you sin?” No, what He asked was, “Has no one condemned you?” It seems as if Jesus was more preoccupied with the
condemnation
of the sin than the sin itself. He made sure that she walked away not feeling the condemnation and shame. Let’s not reverse God’s order. When God says something comes first, it must come first. God says “no condemnation” comes first, and then you can “go and sin no more.”
Christian religion has it in reverse. We say, “Go and sin no more first, then we won’t condemn you.” What we need to understand is that when there is no condemnation, people are empowered to live victorious lives, lives that glorify Jesus. Grace produces an effortless empowerment through the revelation of no condemnation. It is unmerited and completely undeserved. But we can receive it—this gift of no condemnation—because Jesus paid for it at the cross.
Truth be told, none of us could have cast the first stone. We have all sinned and fallen short. In Christ, we are all on equal ground. If a brother or
sister gets tangled in sin, our place is not to judge them, but to restore them by pointing them to the forgiveness and gift of no condemnation that are found in Jesus.
The only person who is without sin and who could have exercised judicial punishment on the woman was Jesus, and He did not. Jesus was in the flesh to represent what was in God’s heart. It wasn’t judgment. His heart is unveiled in His grace and His forgiveness. I like to say it this way when describing what happened as the Pharisees waited to stone the woman: The Pharisees
would
if they
could
, but they could not. Jesus could if He
would
, but He
would
not. That’s our Jesus!
God’s heart is unveiled in His grace and His forgiveness.
Father, thank You that what Jesus did at the cross for me is so much greater and more wonderful than what I can ever imagine. Thank You for the gift of no condemnation and for Your undeserved favor because Jesus paid for it all at the cross. I believe that Your grace and forgiveness will empower me to live a life that glorifies You today. Amen.
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
C
OLOSSIANS
2:13–14
O
ver the past two days, we have considered the account of the woman caught in adultery. Interestingly, the Bible is silent on what Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger. But I believe that when He stooped down, He was writing the Law of Moses. I have been to Jerusalem many times. During one of my visits many years ago to the temple precinct where Jesus would have met this woman, the Lord opened my eyes to see that the floor of the temple precinct was made of hard cobblestone. This means Jesus was not writing on soil. He was writing with His finger on stone.
Then, in a flash, I saw that Jesus was writing
the law
on stone. He was effectively saying to the Pharisees, “You presume to teach Me about the Law of Moses? I am He who wrote the law.” Jesus wrote twice on the ground with His finger, thus completing the typology, as we know that God wrote the Ten Commandments with His finger twice.
The first set of the Ten Commandments was destroyed by Moses when he saw the Israelites worshiping the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. God then wrote another set on stones and gave it to Moses for it to be placed under the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant. I had never heard anyone preach this before—it was a fresh revelation straight from heaven. I love it when the Lord opens my eyes to see His grace!
Do you know why it’s so exciting to know what Jesus wrote on the ground that day? It’s so significant because it shows us that the very author of God’s
perfect law does not use the law to judge and condemn us today. And it’s not because God simply decided to be merciful on us. No! It’s because Jesus Himself fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf and took upon Himself every curse and stroke of punishment for our sins on His own body at the cross. We are forgiven because He was judged. We are accepted because He was condemned!
Whatever your challenge today, your answer is found in receiving a fresh revelation of how much you are forgiven in Christ.
I am forgiven because Jesus was judged. I am accepted because He was condemned.
Lord Jesus, thank You for fulfilling all the righteous requirements of the law on my behalf, taking every curse and stroke of punishment for my sins on Your body at the cross. Thank You that You do not use the law to judge and condemn me today. I believe that I am forgiven and accepted because You were judged and condemned in my place. Amen.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
I
SAIAH
53:5
T
here is another reason we can rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus has borne the punishment that was due us: forgiveness and healing go hand in hand. The Bible says that He who never broke a single law of God “… was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). Do you see how healing and the price for our forgiveness are so closely intertwined in God’s Word?
Many today are struggling to heal themselves from their sicknesses, diseases, mental dysfunctions, and addictions. I want to announce to you today that our part is to
receive
forgiveness from Jesus and to believe that we are forgiven every single day. The more forgiveness-conscious we are, the more easily we will experience healing and liberty from every bodily ailment, mental oppression, and destructive habit.
One of my favorite psalms goes like this: “Bless the L
ORD
, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the L
ORD
, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases” (Ps. 103:1–3). Now which comes first? The consciousness that all your sins are forgiven precedes the healing of all your diseases!
And the operative word here is
all
. Some of us are comfortable with receiving partial forgiveness in certain areas of our lives. But we refuse to allow Jesus’ forgiveness to touch some dark areas—areas that we can’t let go of and that we can’t forgive ourselves for. Whatever those mistakes may be, I encourage you to allow Jesus to forgive you of
all
your sins and receive healing for
all
your diseases.
My friend, let the past go. Let the mistakes go. Allow yourself to be free, and learn to forgive yourself by receiving with an open heart Jesus’ total and complete forgiveness today.
