No Condemnation

John 8:11  :Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more."

John 8:3-11 gives us the account of the woman taken in adultery and dragged and condemned before Jesus as he taught in the temple.  I have had to wonder if this particular act of adultery was planned by the ones who brought her to Jesus because the stated purpose of bringing her before Him was to find something with which to accuse Him. 

This is a serious accusation and there is no record of the woman denying it.  And it is true that Moses in the law demanded that such should be stoned.  The curious thing though, is that the law said that both the man and the woman were to be stoned.  Where is the man, for she cannot do the "very act" all by herself.  Oh how we bring condemnation to ourselves when we try to use Scripture to fulfill our own agenda. 

When told what Moses in the law said, and asked, "but what sayest thou?", Jesus did not answer them  but stooped down and began writing on the ground.  They kept egging Him on, what do you have to say about this?  He stood up and said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." and stooped down and continued writing on the ground.  Scripture does not record what He wrote, but I have wondered did He list a catalog of sins, did He write the Ten Commandments - the moral law, did He describe the Holiness of God, did He write of forgiveness, did He write the two greatest commandments of all - to love?  Maybe somehow the law of Moses did its work, because the accusers left beginning with the oldest until they were all gone and not one threw a stone.

One thing the Scribes and Pharisees did right was to bring her to Jesus.  It is not our responsibility to bring condemnation, but to bring people to Jesus, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  John 3:17-21 says Jesus came not to condemn but to forgive.  We were already condemned.  All who stood before Jesus that day were condemned, but only one received the available forgiveness.  Jesus asked the woman, hath no man condemned thee?  She responded, "No man, Lord".  Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more." 

May we be a forgiving people and not condemning.  What a glorious thought that Jesus is waiting and desiring to forgive us.

Keep looking up for He loves us.

Ron

Cashless Society

Isaiah 55:1   "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

God instituted a cashless transaction a long time ago and it is voluntary.  You don't have to take part in it.  In the beginning God planted and garden and placed Adam and Eve in it, gave them responsibilities to care for it, provided for their needs, and came down and communed with them in the cool of the day.  You probably know the story, they rebelled against God and were cast out of the garden - big change!  Eventually money (which varied from culture to culture as to what was used) became the medium of exchange for services and goods.

Satan is a copy cat.  He also wants a cashless system (society).  He has been working to bring it about for some time now.  Generally people don't accept a big change all at once, thus we have the "boil a frog in cold water" concept.  There was barter, coin, paper money, checks, wire transfer, credit cards, debit cards, paid cards, touchless transactions, and more.  All this leading up to the "mark of the beast" which will be required of everyone.  In other words is not voluntary.  Revelation 13:17 says, "And that no man might buy or sell, saving he that had the mark, or the name of the beast or the number of his name."Governments of nations have been working toward this for some time now, and this coronavirus "epidemic" forced on us in being used to promote the cashless society.

However we need not be fearful in this (can we say "exciting"?) times.  Satan has been upstaged and God is accomplishing His purposes.

Thinking again of God's cashless transactions, Jesus said in Matthew 11:28  "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  How's that, trading worry, fretfullness, concerns, labor for REST!  Yes the day the Lord Jesus Christ returns for His Bride is closer that it has ever been before.  The day of our Redemption draweth nigh!

Keep looking up!

Ron