Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16

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I recently had a powerful conversation with a wonderful friend. Have you ever had a friend who is so like-minded that it’s almost like having a great conversation with yourself? It was one of those talks. We started talking about the story in the Bible about the woman who was caught in adultery in John 8. In case you aren’t familiar, the Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus to be stoned because she was caught in the act of adultery. Jesus then bent down to write in the dirt and said, “Let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v.7). He wrote more on the ground and then people started walking away until there was no one left. Here’s where it gets good. Jesus asks the woman, “Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir,” and then Jesus said, “Then neither do I, go and sin no more.”

Go and sin no more. We often spend so much time on the part where Jesus doesn’t condemn her and skip the “go and sin no more.” Why? If Jesus had stopped at neither do I condemn you, we could argue that Jesus is okay with us remaining in our brokenness. If I’m honest, I have seasons when I want to just lean into my brokenness and tell myself that God is okay with it and that he gets where I’m coming from. Although it’s true that Jesus doesn’t condemn me, and he understands (see today’s Scripture), he still tells me to get up and sin no more because He loves me. It’s the process of sanctification. The process of being freed from sin. We are to be set apart from the world even as we remain in the world. 

John 17:19 says, “For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” He was saying that He will set Himself apart as a sacrifice so that they, His disciples and anyone who accepts Him, might be made pure by the shedding of His blood which cleanses us from all sin. This is the only way we can be made pure and holy. Staying in our sin, indulging our flesh, resting in our brokenness keeps us from being sanctified.

Next Steps

Ask God’s Holy Spirit to bring to an area in your life that you struggle to be free from sin in some way.  Ask God to help you in this area.  Then, read Isaiah 41:13:  “For I am the Lord your God who takes you by the right hand and says to you, “I will help you.”  Demonstrate to God that you remember this, His beautiful promise to you, by speaking it back to Him with gratitude and praise.