No Condemnation Part 3
Download MP3Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine encouragement. This is Joy In Every Step with your host, beloved preacher, retired teacher, and faithful faithful servant of the Lord, Sarita Bernadette. Each week, Sarita shares heartfelt messages rooted in the Word of God, filled with wisdom, joy, and the gentle reminder that God cares deeply for you. Whether you're walking through the valleys or dancing on the mountaintops, Sarita's voice will guide you back to his promises step by step. So open your heart, settle your spirit, and take the next step in faith with Joy In Every Step.
Speaker 2:Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette, and welcome back to another episode of Joy In Every Step. I'm glad you're here. The last two episodes have been focused on the topic of condemnation. We've hunkered down in that topic as a result of some conversations that I've had with believers and friends who are struggling with guilt and shame and blame. God's word is clear, and this has been an anchor scripture for this particular series of episodes.
Speaker 2:It's Romans eight verses one through three. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.
Speaker 2:Friends, Jesus paid the penalty for sin. He paid it all. And there's nothing we can do to earn the grace given to us. It's free. It's a gift.
Speaker 2:So let's talk more about the word condemned. Legally, condemned has a range of meanings, and a couple of those are relevant to our message today. In the criminal justice system, condemned describes a defendant who has been convicted of a crime and formally sentenced to some kind
Speaker 3:of punishment, The most extreme being capital punishment or the death penalty. Colossians two thirteen through 14 reads, you
Speaker 2:were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ for He forgave all your sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the ultimate sentence of condemnation and spiritual death for sins has been completely forgiven. Canceled.
Speaker 2:Paid for, beloved, because He took the punishment. We've been set free from the spiritual consequences of our sins. Loves, the forgiveness we've received through Jesus Christ has wiped out our record of debt. It's removed our past, present, and yes, even future guilt. Legally, condemned also refers to an official government declaration that a building, home, or structure is unfit for habitation or use.
Speaker 2:Somebody's already tapped in. This means the conditions they're in are unsafe for living, and it usually happens because of severe code violations, code violations, structural damage, black mold, lack of plumbing or fire damage that makes the property hazardous. Think about all of that in spiritual terms now, beloved. Code violations. Choosing your own way instead of following His commands and doing things His way.
Speaker 2:There's a code for this life, and it's found in the pages of His Word. Structural damage was also Sometimes, because of our past, our foundations can be shaky. Sometimes things come along that fracture our core beliefs. There are times when doing things God's way, it becomes difficult for us. And we might even try taking shortcuts that lead to instability in the foundation, if you will.
Speaker 2:I know my dad used to do, house building and repairs and rebuilding, and he would talk about the shortcuts that people would take as they were building, and he would say, You know, these houses these days are built with silly putty and Play Doh. Beloved, think about that in the spirit. When you don't build the proper foundation, the result is structural damage. Black mold was on the list. Spiritually, this symbolizes being stuck in one's toxic ways.
Speaker 2:It can mean stifled emotional growth and unhealed trauma. Beloved, think about it. Mold thrives in dark, damp, unventilated spaces. We must be brave and address those hidden things in our lives, those areas of decay, spaces where there's negative energy, or even neglected boundaries. Lack of plumbing.
Speaker 2:Well, beloved, we have to let go of negative experiences. We must quit the ruminating. Remember that word, ruminating? Constantly replaying past negative events or fixating on worries without reaching a resolution will bring on condemnation. Let it go, beloved.
Speaker 3:Let it go. Then there's fire damage. This can indicate burnout.
Speaker 2:Some of us are exhausted,
Speaker 3:honestly. We've been
Speaker 2:putting out fires for a long time and we're just tired. Perhaps it's time to pause, assess the damage, and allow God to minister to your weary soul and spirit. Let Him clean some things
Speaker 3:out, repair, and rebuild where necessary. He's able.
Speaker 2:The effect of those kinds of spiritual damage, this kind of spiritual damage that I just listed, if it's unchecked, if it goes unchecked, it can be lasting. And it's just plain unsafe, right? Listen, it becomes illegal to live in or occupy the building until the violations are fixed. Avoiding the trap of self condemnation requires that we face whatever issues God reveals to us. One more legal reference regarding condemnation.
Speaker 2:Historically, condemned or condemnation has been used in criminal law to describe the act of a court sentencing of a convicted defendant, and they're given a specific penalty, the most extreme, of course, being death. No condemnation indicates a permanent verdict change. Instead of standing before the Lord as a guilty defendant, beloved, we are fully pardoned and legally declared not just innocent, but righteous. Second Corinthians five and twenty one, For our sake, God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. In the eighth chapter
Speaker 3:of the book of John, there's
Speaker 2:a story about a woman caught in a particular kind of sin. Now, looking back at the previous chapters in this book, you see that Jesus is growing in popularity and there is much debate among the religious leaders about who He is. And this incident only serves to fuel the discussions. Let's take a closer look at John eight:one-eleven. While Jesus went to the Mount Of Olives, early in the morning he came again to the temple.
Speaker 2:All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and making her stand before all
Speaker 3:of them, they said to him, Teacher,
Speaker 2:this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say? Verse six. They said this to test him so they might have some charge to bring against him.
Speaker 2:Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. Verse eight. And once again, bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away one by one beginning with the elders.
Speaker 2:And Jesus was left alone with the woman standing
Speaker 3:before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, sir. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you.
Speaker 3:Go your way.
Speaker 2:And from now on, do not sin again. This is a story about a woman who's in a place where she doesn't belong. She's humiliated. She's shamed, possibly unclothed, surrounded by Pharisees and teachers of the law, these men who are ready to stone her. No name is given, no history, no background, or even context in this story.
Speaker 2:We don't have any additional information about her other than she sinned. Jesus knew the law of Moses they were referencing, and I don't believe that He just ignored it. Both Leviticus twenty ten and twenty and verse 10 and Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verse 22 require the death of both the woman and the man who are caught in
Speaker 3:the act of adultery. You know Jesus was fully aware of this.
Speaker 2:But beloved, I must admit, when I read this story, have questions and I know the answers lie in the culture and the customs of the time period, but I imagine this woman had to be with a man. Right? The scripture says she was caught in the act. So where was he? And how were these scribes and pharisees positioned in such a way that they could see the act anyway?
Speaker 2:That alone was inappropriate. Right? Then the whole group comes with this woman in tow to boldly present the case to Jesus. They interrupt his teaching to try to make their point with him. But Jesus doesn't argue with them.
Speaker 2:He just bends down and starts writing. Now there's been much speculation about what Jesus wrote on the ground as the men stood there awaiting a response. Some biblical scholars believe that his behavior was further proof of his mastery of the Scriptures. You see, he was probably referencing what the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah seventeen and thirteen, and it reads, Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord.
Speaker 2:Beloved is such as the case. Case, Jesus might have been writing the very names of those men that were standing there accusing the woman. He might have been writing their names in the dust on the ground as a symbol of judgment against their stony and callous hearts. And in doing so, he forces the scribes and the Pharisees to take a look at their own sins. As he said in Matthew seven and five, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.
Speaker 2:Beloved, we must address our own faults before attempting to correct the flaws of others. The actions of Jesus in this story send a message to the woman and her accusers. I don't care about your background or what you've done. Whatever has transpired up to this point doesn't matter to me. I won't condemn you.
Speaker 2:You belong in the kingdom of God. Jesus challenges those men and anyone reading the story to examine their own sins before judging others when he says, Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone. And Romans two verse one reminds us, therefore, you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.
Speaker 3:My Lord. The message version
Speaker 2:of Romans two combines verses one and two, and I want to read it for you. Those people are in a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one.
Speaker 2:Judgmental criticism of others is a well known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn't so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smokescreens and holds you to what you've done. Emphasis on what you've done. The Apostle Paul's message is that everyone's guilty of sin.
Speaker 2:And here he addresses those who consider themselves to be morally superior. This verse warns against hypocrisy. Remember, all have sinned and fallen short at some point. Selah. Lastly, Jesus shows the woman grace, yet he does not minimize the sin, instructing her to go and sin no more.
Speaker 2:And note, beloved, the grace is extended before giving this command. His forgiveness provides the freedom and the power to change. Genuine forgiveness involves a shift toward a new righteous life. When we are in Christ, we are new creatures, right? One final point about this situation presented in this particular story today.
Speaker 2:Jesus was the only one fully qualified to judge here. He knew no sin. He could have condemned the whole crowd. Yet he chose to protect the woman from the religious leaders and be the savior. The woman in this story received the forgiveness of Jesus, and she did not have to continue to live in condemnation, and therefore, she could go on to live for Him and be a witness for Him.
Speaker 2:I shared this scripture in a previous episode and it's first John chapter three verses 20 through 22. Whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything, beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God, and we receive from Him whatever we ask because we obey His commandments and do what pleases Him. Beloved, receive the grace extended to you.
Speaker 3:Don't allow condemnation into your heart. You
Speaker 2:can live a life free of shame, guilt, and blame. Because you are under grace and not the law, sin no longer has mastery over you. Your old nature was crucified with Christ. So you can now live a new life. Friends, God loves you.
Speaker 2:And so does our little crew here at Joy In Every Step. Thank you so much for listening. I'm Sarita Bernadette, and I'm grateful you chose to spend some time here with me. Feel free to share this episode with someone you know would appreciate it. You can find Joy In Every Step wherever you listen to your podcasts and do give us a follow there.
Speaker 2:Do check out the website at joyineverystep.org. See you next time.
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