1. Law (verses 1-7)
2. Grace (verses 6-11)

Of all of the words in the Bible, I think that my favorite word is "Grace." The church that greatly transformed my life had "Grace" in its name, "Grace Church of DuPage." We named all three of my daughters, "Grace." My oldest daughter is "Carissa Grace." Carissa is the Greek word for "grace." My second daughter is "Hanna Grace." Hanna is the Hebrew word for "grace." We broke that pattern a bit with my third daughter, naming her "Stephanie Grace." "Stephanie" is named after me (Steve, Stephan), but her middle name is "Grace." We were very pleased when our oldest son married a gal named, "Jenna Grace." (Now, that does place a little bit of pressure upon David.)

I love the word, "Grace," because it embodies the way that God has dealt with Israel over the years. "Grace" is the way that Abraham was called. We read nothing of him before God called him and blessed him by making him a father of nations. It's simply God's grace that chose him.

"Grace" is the way that God dealt with Israel over the years. Though they sinned over and over and over again, God still showed his grace toward them, by remembering his covenant that he made with Abraham, not merely giving Israel over to their sins.

So even when they made the golden calf, even when they were unbelieving at Kadesh-Barnea, even when everyone in Israel did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25), the LORD didn't discard his people. He raised up David and brought forth Jesus, the Messiah, by his grace.

"Grace" is the way that we are saved from our sins. "or by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). That's what I love about grace! It's not about us. It's all about God! In Ephesians 1, we are told that God is to be praised for his grace in saving us “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6). He chose us (Ephesians 1:4). He loved us (Ephesians 1:4). He predestined us for adoption as sons (Ephesians 1:6). He blessed us (Ephesians 1:6). He has redeemed us (Ephesians 1:7). He has forgiven us our sins, “according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Throughout all eternity, our very existence in heaven will be for the display of God’s grace toward us. "So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7).

I love grace!

As we come to the Scriptures this morning, we are going to see "Grace on Display" from John, chapter 8. That's the title of my message this morning: "Grace on Display." We are going to see "Grace on Display," as we see Jesus deal with the woman caught in adultery.

Now, before we read the text, we need to deal with the text.I have taken a picture of my Bible. My guess is that yours reads something like this as well.

If you notice, there is a little "2" in superscript after that. It refers to the note below, which reads, "Some manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11; others add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations in the text."

Now, let me give you a quick lesson in textual criticism, so that you can understand these notes in your text. Textual criticism is the practice of analyzing all of the available ancient manuscripts of the Bible that we have discovered to determine the most accurate original wording.

So, let's think about how we got our New Testament. The authors of the New Testament wrote down their text and sent it to their friends, who read it and were so helped by it that they wrote copies of it for themselves to distribute to their friends. Those others would read it, be so helped by it that they also would write copies for themselves to distribute to their friends, and so on and so on. In this way, the ancient world was flooded with copies of Biblical manuscripts.

Now because these copies of the New Testament were ancient, it means that they were written long ago. Many of these manuscripts didn't survive, especially in the early years of the church, when Rome was persecuting Christians and burning their manuscripts when they discovered them.

The few manuscripts that did survive were well-loved, and often wore out from over-use. Also, because of the humidity in some areas, many of the manuscripts rotted away. That's why the best manuscripts that we have were from desert regions, like Egypt, where the humidity is practically zero. Sometimes these manuscripts were thrown away. Sometimes they were damaged, or even lost. Suffice it to say that there are lots of reasons why we don't have all of the ancient manuscripts that were created. But the truth of the matter is that we have thousands of ancient manuscripts from the New Testament, a hundred of which were written before the 5th century.

Now, because they didn't have computers or copiers, they made mistakes in writing it out. Sometimes, if people were writing from a copy, the slight errors in the text would be passed on when the next person copied from the text. The good news is this, that most of the copies of the New Testament that we have agree about 95% of the time. Of the 5% that is different, the majority of the differences are like a letter or a word or even a verse that is missing or different. Further, the good news is this: none of textual variants in the Bible make any difference at all in the theology of the Bible.

The problem, by in large, is not that we don't have all of the words God intended for the Bible. The problem, for the most part, is that we have too much of the Bible. For instance, look back at chapter 7 and verse 39. There's a textual variant in this verse. Let me read for you what it is. The ESV reads this way:

John 7:39 (ESV)
Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.

But the King James reads this way:

John 7:39 (NKJV)
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.

Now, if I would ask you what the differences are about these translations, you could see a few things. The ESV begins with the word, "Now," but the New King James begins with the word, "But." The ESV says, "he said." The New King James says, "he spoke." The ESV says, "about the Spirit." The New King James says, "concerning the Spirit." The ESV says, "those who believed." The New King James says, "whom those believe." The ESV says, "were to receive." The New King James says, "in Him would receive."

There are five differences that we can discern between these two verses. Four of these are "translational." But one of them has a textual difference.

Can you see it? Here it is. The ESV says, "those who believed." The New King James says, "whom those believe." It's a matter of tense. Some manuscripts of this verse have the past tense, "who believed." Other manuscripts have the present tense, "believing." In this case, it's the difference between one letter. It really makes no difference at all in understanding the text. That's the sort of difference that account for 99% of all discrepancies in the Bible. It's not that we don't have what John wrote down. It's that we have too much. In other words, John wrote one or the other. We just don't know which he wrote.

Our passage today is one of those instances where the difference in the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament is far more than a missing letter or word. In this case, we are talking about 12 verses, that are in some manuscripts, but not in other manuscripts.

When working to try to understand which manuscripts are the best, risking oversimplification, let me just say that the older the manuscript, the more influence it has on our translation. Right? For instance, if we have a manuscript that dates to the 300's AD, we will consider it more than a manuscript that dates to the 500's AD.

Now, when it comes to our text, read again what the ESV says, "[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11]." You can read it this way, "the oldest and most reliable manuscripts of the New Testament do not include this passage in the Bible."

Then, the footnote explains a bit more. "Some manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11; others add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations in the text." In other words, these eleven verses sort of "float around" in manuscripts. Some manuscripts move them up into chapter 7. Others include them as a sort of footnote at the end of the book of John. Some manuscripts even have these verses included in the book of Luke, right before chapter 22, when the chief priests and the scribes were seeking to put Jesus to death (Luke 22:2).

All of that to say, I'm doubtful of the authenticity of these verses. I'm doubtful that John actually wrote these words. Which means, that I (as a preacher) am in a quandary, What should I do? Should I preach these verses as Scripture? Should I skip them?

In my preparation for preaching, I often listen to many pastors who have preached through this book. I have all of the sermons of about a dozen pastors. Of them, only two skipped this passage. Most of them preached this passage, as if it were part of the original text, even those who had doubts about its inclusion.

This morning, I'm going to preach them, because the story is such a good story, and I don't want to skip any of God's word. What if I'm wrong? I don't want to stand before the Lord someday and have him ask me about why I didn't preach this passage, and I say, "It's not in the Bible," and he says, "But it was in your Bible."

It may just be that God, in his providence, had another author (not John) write this passage, of a true event that took place in the life of Jesus, and have it included in John for us to read and hear. I don't know. I just don't feel right about skipping this passage, because it brings about a picture of the grace of Jesus in such a beautiful way, entirely consistent with everything that we know about Jesus.

So, I'm going to preach this passage (if I can ever get through this long introduction). But here's my caveat. I'm not going to preach it like I have the rest of John, in the sense that I'm trying to tie the passage into the flow of thought in chapter 7 and in chapter 8. I'm going to treat it sort of like a "guest passage," a passage of Scripture that preaches on a Sunday morning, apart from the flow of our regular exposition.

I'm also going to preach the passage more theologically than normal, pulling truths from other portions of Scripture. Because, the reality is that this passage changes none of our theology about Jesus or about salvation. I want to show this to you.

Now, with all of that, let's read our passage.

John 7:53-8:11
[[They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."]]

From everything that we know of Jesus, this passage seems totally consistent with what he might have done.

In Matthew 11:19, we read that Jesus was accused of being a "friend of sinners." Matthew, the tax collector was one of his disciples. Tax collectors were despised and considered traitors in the days of Jesus, as they extorted money from the Jews on behalf of the Romans. Jesus ate with "tax collectors and sinners" (Matthew 9:10). Jesus was on the side of the downcast and the fringes of society.

Furthermore, when it comes to this passage, and Jesus dealing gently with this woman, this is totally consistent with what we know of Jesus.Perhaps you remember the story recorded in Luke 7, when Jesus was in the home of a Pharisee's house. While he was there, a woman came in among them. She was identified as "a woman of the city, who was a sinner" (Luke 7:37). She had "brought an alabaster flask of ointment" and she anointed his feet with the oil, and wept at his feet, wiping the tears from his feet away with her hair (Luke 7:38).

The Pharisees objected to the scene, saying,

Luke 7:39
If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.

But Jesus was not offended by this prostitute weeping at his feet and wiping his feet with her hair. Jesus responded to the Pharisee, who was named, Simon:

Luke 7:40-50
Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "Say it, Teacher." "A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

The way that Jesus dealt with this woman is the same way that he deals with the woman here in John 8. He shows compassion and grace to the woman. He extends forgiveness to those who least deserve it. This is grace. It is compassion and kindness, that forgives sin and extends mercy.

This is what Jesus did in this story with the woman caught in adultery. He put his grace on display, thus, the title of my message this morning, "Grace on Display."

Perhaps the gospel of John was the logical place for these verses to be placed, as the gospel of John is all about the grace of God. Do you remember how the gospel of John began? It began with the prologue, which presented themes that we would see in the gospel of John. One of the themes we would see is the theme of "grace."

John 1:16-17
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

This is what we see in this passage of the woman caught in adultery. We see "grace upon grace." The Pharisees were exactly right. According to the law, this woman deserved to die. But grace gives what is undeserved. Grace did not condemn this woman. Grace gave this woman freedom from her sins. I say that intentionally, I say, "Grace did not condemn this woman. Grace gave this woman freedom from her sins."

John says that Jesus was "full of grace." John says that Jesus was "grace upon grace." That is, when you think about Jesus, you can think about Jesus as grace stacked upon grace, stacked upon grace, stacked upon grace.

That's why I love the word, "Grace." That's why I named all three of my daughters, "Grace," because, it epitomizes Jesus. Jesus is grace personified! His actions show was grace is like. Grace doesn't condemn us in our sins! Grace receives us despite our sin. Grace empowers us not to sin, as Jesus said to this woman, "from now on sin nor more" (John 8:11).

Grace is opposite to the law. Look again at verse 17.

John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The law is strong and hard and demanding. It sets a standard and will not bend. The law is justice to those who transgress, bringing punishment. But grace comes with love. It bends to stoop low and help. Grace brings forgiveness and hope and restoration.

In this story, we see the contrast between the law and grace. In fact, that's my outline this morning: Law and Grace. We see law in in the first half of the passage, as the scribes and Pharisees come with the law in accusing this woman. We see grace in the second half of the passage, as Jesus responds to these men.

So, let's look at our first point:

1. Law (verses 1-7)

So, let's begin with the last verse of chapter 7.

John 7:53
They went each to his own house,

OK. I'm not sure exactly how this would connect with the scene at the end of chapter 7, where the religious leaders are all talking together behind closed doors about Jesus. Then, we read in verse 1,

John 8:1
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

But Jesus hasn't really been on the scene since verse 44. So, you can see how this passage is a bit disjointed with the context. It would make way more sense at the end of verse 36 (as some manuscripts have it), when everyone is with Jesus, and they all scatter to their own homes, but Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives. Anyway, we pick it up in verse 2,

John 8:2
Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

This is totally consistent with the life of Jesus. It's what he did. We saw him doing that in chapter 7 and verse 14. Throughout all of the gospels, we often find Jesus in the temple teaching the people. But then, comes the drama of our story this morning: Verse 3,

John 8:3
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst

Picture the scene, Jesus is teaching in the temple, with a crowd around him, listening to his teaching (just like I'm preaching right now). An array of scribes and Pharisees come and interrupt the teaching of Jesus. They come dragging a woman, placing her at the feet of Jesus.

We are told that this woman had been caught in adultery. Surely, this woman didn't want to be there among the crowds. First of all, she was hardly presentable, she was ripped out of her bed, perhaps some sort of robe was slipped upon her, her hair was disheveled, Surely, she was ashamed and looking down, perhaps sobbing from whole ordeal. I'm sure that she didn't want there. It was probably the last place that she wanted to be at that moment. Then comes the accusation:

John 8:4-5
they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?"

For sure, this is the law. This is the law that these men were portending to keep. "If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death" (Leviticus 20:10). Which brings a question to mind: where's the guy? The law states that both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death. But these men only brought this woman. It's because their motives were far from clear. Verse 6 makes this plain:

John 8:6
This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.

They weren't really interested in the law. There were many adulterers in Israel in their days, and they didn't put them to death. But, seeing an opportunity, they were interested in trapping Jesus, because, whatever way he answered was bad for Jesus. If Jesus said, "No. Don't stone her," then he would be accused not upholding the law of Moses. If Jesus said, "Yes. Stone her," then the Romans would come to him, as the Jews had no right to execute capital punishment. They had laid a trap for Jesus.

Again, this is entirely consistent with the ways of the Pharisees. In Matthew 12, we read of the Pharisees who brought some difficult questions to Jesus, not because they were interested in having their questions answered, but because they were wanting to trap Jesus.

Mark 12:13-17
And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?" But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's." Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at him.

The question that they brought on that day was this, "Is it lawful to pay taxes or not?" (Mark 12:14). The either/or question was a trap. If Jesus said, "Yes. It is lawful. Pay your taxes," then the Jews would have been irate, as they hated paying taxes to the pagan Romans, and the Jewish crowds would have been stirred against him. If Jesus said, "No. You don't need to pay your taxes to the wicked Romans," then, Jesus would have been arrested by the Romans, who demanded by physical might to have taxes paid. So, how did Jesus answer the trap? "Bring me a denarius," so they did. "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" they said, "Caesar's." "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." What a masterful response.

Likewise, as we read in our story this morning, a trap was set before Jesus. Likewise, his response was masterful. His response was a non-response. It's what the moment called for.

John 8:6
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

It's at this point in the narrative that we come upon something that has not occurred in the other gospel accounts. Nowhere else in the Bible do we see Jesus stooping down and writing in the ground with his finger. Also, when presented with a challenge, Jesus usually stands up and confronts those who are confronting him.

But here, we see Jesus bending down and writing with his finger on the ground. Yet, this is consistent with the grace of Jesus. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus said, "I am gentle and lowly in heart." That's why he says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [for your souls]" (Matthew 11:28). At this moment, Jesus showed his gentleness.

It's a display of Proverbs 26:4 and 5, "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes." There are times to speak to fools. There are times not to speak to fools.

Here, in our story this morning, Jesus chose not to speak to the fools. Instead, it almost seems as if he joins himself with the woman, who may have been on the ground, weeping. What grace! that Jesus doesn't leave this poor, ashamed, unkempt woman all alone in her tears, but rather identifies with her, low upon the ground.

We aren't told what Jesus wrote in the ground, so neither am I going to speculate. We aren't told because we don't need to know.But we do know that the only other time we read of the finger of God writing something in the Bible, it was when he wrote the 10 commandments on the tablets for Moses. "And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God" (Deuteronomy 9:10). I believe that Jesus writing on the ground is a subtle reminder to us of the law of God, which these scribes and Pharisees are bringing upon Jesus.

But Jesus was silent. The silence of Jesus is also a picture of Proverbs 15:1, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Jesus was trying to diffuse the situation. But these scribes and Pharisees were having none of it.

John 8:7
And as they continued to ask him,

You can hear their words pounding in your ears? "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" "So what do you say?" "So what do you say?" So, we read in verse 7,

John 8:7-8
he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

This is my second point:

2. Grace (verses 6-11)

The law pounds us like the scribes and Pharisees: She should be stoned! She deserves to die! Let justice be upheld! But grace shows another way. Grace puts it all in perspective. "Do you want law here? Then, do you want law everywhere?" This is what Jesus taught us in the golden rule, "Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12). "Do to this woman as you would like done to yourself" is the message here. "If you are without sin, throw your stone."

Then, Jesus let it sit. He stoops down again to identify with the woman. Once more he writes in the ground with his finger. What grace! God in his mercy worked in the heart of these men who brought this woman before Jesus. We see what happened in verse 9,

John 8:9
But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

God worked in their heart to see their own sin, to see that they, too, deserved to die, and they left. The law-guys left the scene. Romans 3:20 says, "through the law comes knowledge of sin." Apparently, these men knew enough of the law to see enough of their sins, that they didn't want to cast the first stone. But sadly, they didn't come to Jesus, who alone could cure them.

Then, the final scene in our story.

John 8:10-11
Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."]]

This is Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This is great, great news! That in Jesus, we are not condemned! Jesus didn't condemn this woman. For all who believe in Jesus today, he doesn't condemn. Now, there are many who think that the textual doubt of this passage has come because it makes adultery so acceptable. They think that this passage was too loose for the early copyists of the Bible. But I don't think that it does any such thing. Jesus says,

John 8:11
Go, and from now on sin no more.

That's the message of grace. Grace teaches us to walk rightly. B

Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

God's grace comes and it brings salvation. Grace is the very thing that trains us to renounce evil in our lives. Grace is the very thing that teaches us to walk rightly before the Lord. That's why we need to center on the gospel at Rock Valley Bible Church. We need to center on Christ and understand the redemption that is ours, that we are forgiven of all of these sins, because that's the fuel and the power for us to walk righteously. The law has no power. It's the grace of God in Christ that will teach and transform us to walk rightly and to renounce ungodliness, and for this woman to renounce adultery and to sin no more.

But let's not lose the fact that this is not just "do better." This is grace. Grace to the undeserving. We need to grasp just how vast grace is.

In "The Weekly Word" email to the church this week, I included a quote at the end. I was thinking about preaching on grace. I found a quote from Derek Thomas, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina about grace that I thought was great. It said this:

Grace must raise the temptation to think that we can sin as we please. If it does not, we have not understood the true extent of grace.^[1]

When my wife read this quote in her email, she said to me, "What's up with that grace quote? Wow, that really sounds like just sin as you please." I replied, "I didn't mean that to be controversial in any way," but she took it as controversial. I said, "I don't think it should be controversial at all. Isn't this what Romans 6 teaches about grace?" She still thought it was controversial.

So let me address this quote. Turn to Romans 6. Let's just think about grace here a little bit. At the end of Romans 5, Paul is talking about the two most crucial men in history: Adam and Christ. They were two men, who performed two acts and had two results. One was righteous and one was wicked. The wicked one brought judgment to the world, but Christ brought salvation to the world. Then we read in verse 20,

Romans 5:20
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

You see, whenever sin increases, grace abounds. You look at that and you just say, "Wow! Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace!" It just goes and it flows. That's how great grace is. Verse 21,

Romans 5:21
So that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As I said in the introduction to my message this morning, we will be in heaven just to magnify and exalt grace. Here in Romans 5, Paul says, that grace is so great that the more sin there is, the more grace there will be. So it leads Paul to interject an expected response from his reader.

Romans 6:1
Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

The reader might say, "We want to glorify God's grace, so shouldn't we sin, so that more grace will be shown to God's great glory!" Now, if you have followed Paul's argument correctly, it must lead you to ask this sort of question.^[2]

That's what Derek Thomas is talking about. You need to see that grace is so big that it leads you to think, "Are we to continue in sin that grace might abound?" Grace must raise the temptation to think we can sin as we please. If it does not, we've not understood the gift. We've not understood the true extent of grace. If you don't ask this question of Romans 6, you've not understood the grace of God that Paul spoke about in Romans 5. Your grace is too small. We need to realize that where sin increased, grace abounds. Grace is always there and it is ready to forgive. But then Paul says,

Romans 6:2
By no means!

Paul says, we are not to sin that way! You may ask the logical question of sinning more, but it's not right. It's not right because grace is what teaches us to turn from sin. Just like this woman, "Go and sin no more." That's our posture. That's what the cross of Christ teaches. It is there. It will forgive all our sin, and it teaches us to walk in righteousness. It teaches us to love Jesus, like that woman who was with Jesus, anointing his feet with her tears and wiping them away. Grace brings us to love Jesus. Grace will lead the woman to go out and sin no more. If you really understand grace, you will go and sin no more.

So let's understand grace, that it might teach us to walk in righteousness.

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on February 2, 2025 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

[1] Here is the full context of Derek Thomas' quote: https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/what-proper-response-grace.

[2] You have followed Paul's argument correctly when you ask the questions that Paul asks. That's the key to Romans 9, by the way, regarding the sovereignty of God. If your theology doesn't lead you to ask the questions that Paul supposes, then you haven't understood what Paul says.