By Alan Dean
Retired pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
A lot of debate has taken place through the ages about grace and obedience. Martin Luther stirred up this debate 500 years ago this month when he nailed 95 theological points for discussion on the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
As I see it, the two go hand in hand. God’s amazing grace toward man manifested through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection produces a love in our heart that wants to show our gratitude by pleasing God through obedience. And God enables this obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit.
There is a good example of this grace and obedience shown by Jesus in how He treated the woman brought to him that had been caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). She had been brought to Jesus by Jewish leaders with the condemnation that by Old Testament laws she should be stoned to death.
Jesus knew these leaders were testing His loyalty to the Old Testament. But being full of mercy toward the woman, Jesus asked the leaders: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone.” And at the same time Jesus began writing on the ground some of the ways these leaders had fallen into terrible sins as well.
As these leaders read Jesus’ knowledge of their sinful lives, they “were convicted by their conscience and went out one by one.” No one was left to condemn the adulteress. Jesus told the woman: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more”.
The woman’s life was spared by Jesus’ love for her, but in the same sentence He told her to not commit adultery any longer. Jesus also expects us to not continue in a sin that we’ve been forgiven of.
The other lesson is that none of us have the right to condemn another of his/her sins. “We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Instead we are to encourage and help one another in gaining the victory over sin. Our love and compassion can do more than pressure and condemnation.
According to John 3:19, condemnation only comes from God on judgment day when it will be shown that light (Jesus and His gospel) had come into the world and many had chosen darkness (worldly interests) rather than light (eternal interests). They will be condemned for not taking advantage of God’s free grace in overcoming sin and gaining eternal life.
God is so good, merciful, and just! He gives the light of His love to every person that comes into this world (John 1:9). Let us show our gratitude by choosing to please Jesus in obeying His laws through the power of the Holy Spirit.
