We like dealing with others according to their sins.
Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world; the world was already condemned under God's wrath. Jesus came to save the condemned, because He loved the condemned (John 3:16-18).
A Christian, then, should find great joy not in making sure others know they’re condemned, but in making sure others know there’s no condemnation in Jesus! (Romans 8:1)
One morning Jesus walks into a public space. There a woman caught in the act of adultery is brought to him (John 8:1-11). She is condemned and punishable by law. Death by stoning is the verdict. The executioners must include witnesses of the crime and non-participants in the crime. So Jesus invites those who can legally carry out the sentence to come forward and pick up a stone. But none come forward. Rather, one by one they begin to leave.
Are there no witnesses? There are. Are they all adulterers? No.
Jesus had said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) As the light in what Jesus said dawned upon them, they saw and felt the truth: there were no non-participants.
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (James 2:10) We all have sinned, not all identically, but all equally and unanimously. We all are practitioners of sin. “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way…” (Isaiah 53:6)
So only Jesus is left with the sinner… But He doesn’t condemn her to die. What?! She certainly deserves to die. “Neither do I condemn you”, Jesus says (John 8:11). Why? Because He loves her; He came to save her. But how can He not condemn her? What about her sins and the law? How can He save her?
Again, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 3:23-26).
And again, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
God “does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:10). But He does deal with our sins, and He does this in Jesus. Jesus was dealt with according to our sins, and He was repaid according to our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).
No, we shouldn’t deal with others according to their sins nor repay them according to their iniquities. We should thankfully put down the stones of condemnation that were justly intended for us but struck and killed Jesus in our place. Christians are not the guardians or keepers of grace. We are witnesses of and participants in grace – costly, precious, undeserved, and free.
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