Last night I watched a tv show I’d previously recorded. It’s not a great tv show, but I’m a sucker for first responder type shows. As I listened to a couple actors dismiss their actions because God forgives, I gotta say I was like, well, isn’t that just like a tv show to openly flaunt sin and say it’s ok because God forgives. That’s the popular version of sin and the way its accepted into our society. So, let’s look at the unpopular side, shall we? Because sin is never God’s choice for His children. NEVER.
Using God’s forgiveness as a reason to knowingly sin and keep on sinning is not what forgiveness is about. You can never justify sin and it’s dangerous to flip Scripture to fit your lifestyle. TV shows often do this. And truth be told, I’m just as guilty of this as my neighbor. I’m gonna dive into one of my favorite stories of the Bible. The woman caught in adultery is my sister. I was just like her until Christ stepped in and redeemed me. You can stop reading right here if all you want to do is twist God’s Truth. I will not argue or debate His character. That’s between you and God.
Here we go.
In John 8:1-11, a woman who was caught in the act of adultery was brought to Jesus by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They knew full well what they were doing and they knew the punishment for this transgression was death by stoning.
They wanted to see what Jesus would do to this sinful woman. But, this was a mission with a duplicitous motive. It was a trap for Jesus. These sinful men wanted a reason, any reason, to accuse Jesus. Jesus knew why they were there. And in true Jesus fashion He flipped the story on them. Not only did He manage to convict everyone in the crowd of their own sinful nature, He rescued the woman. BUT, the rescue of this saving came with a follow-up on the woman’s part. Let’s look at the words Jesus spoke to the crowd:
“…let the first one who has never sinned throw the first stone.”
John 8-7 (NIV)
No one could throw a stone at her. Why? Everyone sins. After everyone dropped their stones and left, the only One who could’ve thrown a stone at her didn’t. Instead, this is the action part I was referring to, the Lord turned to her and said
“…“Go now and leave your life of sin.”
John 8:11 (NIV)
He didn’t tell her to keep on keeping on. He told her to stop what she was doing. To leave her life of sin. He didn’t give her permission to keep sinning. Did she have to head His word? Nope. It’s her choice to stop or not.
This is what’s called living by the flesh. You can also call it lust. In the end, sin is sin.
Nobody wants to talk about sin, but everybody loves the idea of a forgiving and loving God. That is, until He calls us out of sin. Then it’s, I’ll live my life any way I want to. If it feels good, just do it. Insert loud buzzer sound. That’s a worldly concept.
Yes, God loves you. Yes, God forgives you. God also wants what’s best for you and sin is never His best. Sin lulls you into believing that God’s Word is out of date or that God has changed His mind about what He’s always called sin. Maybe you’ve heard but still don’t believe this:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)
I don’t know what that means to you, but that tells me, Jesus isn’t changing who He is, for me. Not now. Not ever.
I’m gonna get off my soapbox now. I think you get the gist of what I’m saying. But, I also want to leave you with these Scriptures concerning sin:
“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”
1 John 3:9 (NIV)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 (NIV)
When you know the Father’s heart for you, and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have a choice to make. Follow Him or follow the world and all it has to offer. You can still have an abundant life with Jesus and still enjoy the things of the world, but you cannot nor should you expect Him to bless your sin.
I know the cost from the sin of adultery and many others in my life. The cost is too high of a price to my well being and I no longer want what Jesus doesn’t say is mine.
Take good care my friends. Make wise choices and don’t be fooled by the glitter and the gold this world has to offer. After all, you can’t take it with you when you die.
Blessed to be Broken 
This one brought me to tears. You write with heart. Your writing, your story, is blessed by our Jesus. I think you’ll need to write everyday for more than 40 days…I’m learning and remembering Bible verses and lessons from these posts. You truly have more than a 40 day Lent project here, Pat-Trish! You have an outline to a memoir…sure miss and love you!
On Fri, Mar 11, 2022, 6:54 AM Blessed to be Broken wrote:
> Trish Cordell posted: ” Last night I watched a tv show I’d previously > recorded. It’s not a great tv show, but I’m a sucker for first responder > type shows. As I listened to a couple actors dismiss their actions because > God forgives, I gotta say I was like, well, isn’t that just ” >