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MEDITATIONS ON DAILY ⓂANNA FRIDAY, 21ST APRIL 2023
GRACE AND DUTY: THE INSEPARABLE TWIN
TEXT: JOHN 8:1-11
1. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2 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.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 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.
7 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.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 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.
10 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?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Timeless Truth: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 6:1,2.
INTRODUCTION
Jesus Christ made Grace available for mankind through His death, burial and resurrection. ‘GRACE’ is God’s Riches At Christ Expense. Grace is a condition for salvation from sin and it opens the door to more spiritual and physical blessings. Experiencing grace is not possible in isolation. There must first be the quest for mercy and personal faith in the Lord Jesus. In addition, grace is transformative as it teaches and expect full compliance to maintain and grow in it. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world’ (Titus2:11-12)’. It is not surprising that Jesus told the woman who received grace to “go and sin no more”. That is the duty of all who have received grace from Christ.
1. The Daring of Hypocritical Saints
a. “The Scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery” and it was “early in the morning”.
b. Unfortunately, the accusers felt holier than the accused. Not until the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit fell on them, they saw themselves as morally better than the accused, v9. When there is ignorance of the truth or there is no conviction of sin by the Holy Spirt, the religious hypocrites and the moralist will often pose as saints. The privilege of teaching does not exonate the teacher from the duty of conformity. Romans 2:1,3.
c. The Pharisees apart from their partiality in releasing the man and keeping the woman, it showed their disdain for women. To them, like many today, adultery is excusable for men and unpardonable for women. Their intention was also questionable. The Law required that such cases should be referred to Judges for judicial sentence and attached to it was capital punishment for the guilty. Since the Law was slack on capital punishment for adultery at that time, (in fact they lacked the power to exercise capital punishment), they thought to put Jesus in a fix. If Jesus asked them to give her capital punishment, Jesus will be accused of exercising the power exclusively reserved for Pilate. He also will be called a murderer and wicked fellow. Of course, they were not interested in justice as it may even be a case of rape. If He showed mercy, He will be contradicting the Law. “The foolishness of God is wiser than men.” Thinking that you can outsmart God and pick holes in His word amounts to folly of the baser sort.
d. Judging others without settling your own life straight before God is hypocrisy and attached to it is “woe unto you”. Avoid it!
Question
Do you have the tendency to judge others without judging yourself first?
2. The Down-trodden and Humiliated Sinner
a. The woman, who was likely to be a prostitute on ‘sinful night duty’, was caught early in the morning “in the very act”.
b. It was a highly shameful and humiliating arrest. The fear of possible capital punishment was not ruled out and thus the woman was dejected and embarrassed.
c. The woman was penitent, neither defensive. He was not argumentative about the Pharisees partiality against her. She was condemned by her conscience and condemned by the religious leaders and stayed motionless in front of the person she perceived as the final Judge.
d. To her surprise, the “Friend of sinners” who proclaimed that He came not to condemn the sinners but to save them proclaimed: Neither do I condemn you, (only) go home and sin no more.
e. The light of the grace of God shines at best in the darkness of conviction, acceptance of guilt and sincere penitence for sin. He is still gracious and the gospel in our lips should be the gospel of grace to the convicted.
Question
Have you also experienced this grace too?
You can only proclaim effectively what you have experienced.
3. The Dutiful Holiness and Saintliness
a. “Go and sin no more” is demanded by the Master with a dutiful response to reception of grace.
b. Will the loving God command someone to do what is not possible for her to do? It was a command backed up with grace and supernatural power to obey.
c. Deliberately avoiding all forms of sins at all costs is non negotiable for true Christians. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin……. and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” 1John3:9.
Question
Are you dutifully following the Masters command? Have you received the supernatural power to be doing so?
Prayer points
1.Pray that all hypocrisy that is rash at judging others without looking inward will be removed out of your lifestyle 🙏
2. Ask for the supernatural power that will always conquer sin🙏
3. Ask for love and commitment to the gospel of grace to the penitent🙏
4. Pray for conviction of sin and true penitence for all church goers who are lacking salvation grace🙏
HYMN Go and Tell the story
The Bible in One year Romans 1-3.
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