This We Believe—“…in the forgiveness of sins,”
John 8:1-11
Forgiveness. Forgiveness is one of the central virtues of the Christian faith. We proclaim, every time we recite the Apostle’s Creed that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. The statement, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins” almost seems to be added as an afterthought in the Creed. After all, we have covered so much territory when we talk about the work of God the Father, the work of God the Son, and the work of God the Holy Spirit. We have surveyed the deep subject of the work of Christ, and the depths of understanding what it means for the church to one holy catholic, church. Deep subjects all, so by the time we get to these closing statements our minds have almost disengaged from the thoughts contained in the Creed. But the early church fathers included this idea because the doctrine of forgiveness is central to understanding our relationship with God, and it is central to maintaining our relationship with one another. So what do we mean when we say, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins”?
First, it means that we believe in the reality of sin. It is the confession both of original sin, and sin in our individual lives. The idea of original sin is simply that because of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, humanity is tainted with the stain of sin. The Apostle Paul says it this way: Romans 5:12
When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Does that mean that I am guilty because of what Adam did? In a way, yes, but more to the point, it means that what Adam did, every one of us would have done had we been in his place. Sin is a fact of life. Regardless of culture or country, age or generation, sin is one of the chief and enduring characteristics of earthly existence. History books and news reports recount for us the undeniable testimony of human depravity. Death, disease, abuse, neglect, robberies, murders, envy, jealousy, division, war, famine, human rights atrocities all stand as testimony of the sinfulness of the world and the people in it. Even in our more noble moments, ulterior motives often taint the desire to do good.
This bothers us, but probably not as much as it should. We know there is a line between right and wrong, and we often know when that line has been crossed.
But what is sin? In the Bible, sin has many meanings. It means variously, missing the target, stumbling, falling, breaking the law, disobedience, ignoring Commandments, and moral debt. However the word sin is used in the Bible, it can be reduced to this: Sin is whatever is contrary to the righteous will of God.
And we know that we are all guilty in some way. Humanity is a fallen race. Sin is the condition borne into every human soul. The Bible confirms the point for us: Romans 3:23
For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
So confessing that we believe in the forgiveness of sins is at one and the same time our confession that we believe we have sinned. But it is also our confession that we believe God has dealt with sin, both in our lives and in His creation. And God has dealt with sin. How? Because God is holy, and completely pure, He must deal with sin in a way that overcomes it once and for all. Sin must be dealt with in one of two ways. God must punish sin, or He must forgive it. We say, with our confession, that we believe we need forgiveness.
The passage of Scripture I want us to look at this morning shows, in a compelling way, the forgiveness of God. Listen to this episode in the life of Christ:
John 8:1-11
Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, [2] but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. [3] As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
[4] "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. [5] The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?"
[6] They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. [7] They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, "All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!" [8] Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
[9] When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. [10] Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, "Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?"
[11] "No, Lord," she said.
And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Jesus granted forgiveness to this woman caught in the act of adultery. According the law of Moses, she was to be stoned to death. The law was very clear on that point. We could concentrate on all the points of this event in Jesus’ life. We could ask all the questions about the trap the Pharisees were attempting to put Jesus in. We could talk about the fact that there was no man drug into the Temple before Jesus, for the man caught in adultery was to be sentenced to death as well. We could explore the mystery of Jesus’ drawing in the sand, but I want us to capture the power of the compassion of forgiveness contained in his conversation with the crowd and with the woman, for in this conversation we see the grace that God has extended to us all.
The compassionate heart of Jesus looked at this woman, and what he saw was one who needed redemption, not condemnation. Please don’t misunderstand. Forgiveness is not overlooking sin. Jesus could forgive this woman because he knew he came to pay the penalty of sin once and for all. It was with the full view of the cross in front of him that this woman lay before him that day. And it was his blood about to be shed that opened the heart of God to grant forgiveness to this woman.
Forgiveness is not a compromise on God’s part. It is God’s way of dealing with sin. Because Jesus paid the penalty for sin, and satisfied God’s righteousness, forgiveness is available. Remember, I said sin could be dealt with in one of two ways. It could be punished or forgiven. Because Christ took the punishment, bearing our sins on the cross, God can forgive us. Forgiveness means that Christ has taken our place, and extended to us God’s grace.
And this is no cheap grace Jesus offers. Jesus did not simply say to the woman, “Neither do I condemn you,” but added, “Go and sin no more.” With that statement, Jesus brought forgiveness and laid the blessing at our doorstep. It was his challenge to the woman to live a life above the one she was living. With Jesus’ forgiveness came the challenge, “You can live a better life.” You can live a life above this sin. I am freeing you to claim that life.
Jesus makes the same challenge to us. Receiving his forgiveness challenges us to look at our lives, to face our sin, and seeing the nastiness of it, to claim the promise and the power to live the full life Jesus offers. The challenge of Jesus leads us to repentance. Repentance is the human response to the grace of God in forgiveness.
Church Swindoll tells the story of his time in the Marines in 1958. He was serving with the Marine Corps band in Okinawa when their tour took them to a leper colony on the island. Swindoll said he was totally unprepared for what he encountered at the leper colony. He saw stumps instead of hands, clumps instead of fingers. He saw half faces, and he saw one ear instead of two. So heinous were those who lived on the colony that they were unable to applaud the band’s performances. He said he could literally see the anguished cries of the men, women and teenagers who made that place their home. He said, “We could play music for them, but we could not cleanse them of their disease.” The Bible compares sin to leprosy. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses that ugly stain, and we, being cleansed, are able to live new lives.
We, like that woman, lay before Jesus condemned by the world for our sin, but Jesus looks upon us with eyes of compassion, and because of his shed blood, says to us, neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.
Forgiveness of sins flows out of the power of God’s love. With forgiveness, we see the fullness of God at work in power bringing glory to Himself. We see the loving, longing heart of God the Father extending the offer of forgiveness. We see the obedient service of God the Son dying on the cross to pay the penalty of sin, and we see God the Holy Spirit applying the blessings of forgiveness to our lives and in our lives. For forgiveness is given not merely for our own benefit, but so that we might extend the same forgiveness to others. When we make our confession that we believe in the forgiveness of sins, we are confessing that we not only receive forgiveness, but live as forgiving people.
The aim of forgiveness is the restoration of right relationships. The forgiveness of sins restores us to a right relationship with God. Listen again to Paul: Romans 5:18
Yes, Adam’s one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness makes all people right in God’s sight and gives them life.
Someone once said that “forgiveness is the most enjoyed but least employed of all the Christian virtues.” Forgiveness rights the wrong, not because the wrong has been undone, but because the “wronged” has surrendered the right for revenge. That is what Jesus Christ did on the cross. He surrendered his will to the Father. That is what he calls us to do. Archibald Hart says it this way: “Forgiveness is surrendering my right to hurt you for hurting me.” So now we turn to the crowd who gathered around Jesus that day.
Jesus, in confronting the crowd, forced them to face their own sinfulness. It is so easy for us to throw stones at others for the wrongs they have done, especially the wrongs they have done to us. These people in the crowd stood ready to condemn this woman to death. They were more than ready to exercise their right and their authority. The stones they held were the stones of condemnation. Condemnation flows out of the human desire to control others rather than out of hearts full of love. But most of the stones we stand ready to hurl at others for hurting us, might also be the very stones that others might use to throw at us. Perhaps we have not hurt others in the same way they have hurt us, but at the very least we have hurt the heart of God with our sin, and yet, He has forgiven us. You see, Jesus knew, as that crowd was gathered around him, that it took more strength to drop those rocks than it did to throw them. So he gently (and sometimes not so gently) reminds us of our own sinfulness, so he can also remind us of how much he has forgiven us.
Soccer season was starting once again. This year, Curtis Buthe’s tiny, 35-pound, 5-year-old daughter would be playing Micro-League for the Bombers. As they walked to the first practice on a cool summer day, he was anxious to see who the coach would be. Would his focus be on making the game fun and a team experience, or would he focus on goals and winning? As practice began Curtis met the coach, Ray. His first impression was that Ray was a good man. Any lingering doubt about him vanished when an odd incident occurred during a practice game: the white shirts versus the blue shirts.
As they began, an olive skinned little boy who (they later learned) spoke no English wandered from the playground equipment over to the sidelines of the game. He watched. He waited. Moments later, Curtis looked for him again, but he was gone. Then he noticed there were now thirteen Bombers running up and down the field. The boy, perfectly camouflaged in blue shorts and a white t-shirt, had joined the white team. He ran, he passed, he kicked. He smiled.
No one seemed to notice that he wasn’t a part of the team. No one yet said, "He hasn’t paid the fees! The proper forms and releases have not been signed!" Soon, however, a ball rolled into a mother’s lap, and as the new boy ran to fetch it, the mom innocently said to the coach, "He’s not on the team." The kids, who had not even noticed that a new friend was on the field, stopped. The coach looked down at the now very dirty boy, saying, "He’s not? Hmm."
There was a pause as the boy looked up at Ray, who held his soccer fate, at least this day. Finally Ray made his judgment. He put his hand on the boy’s small back and said, "Come on! Let’s play soccer!" And off all thirteen Bombers ran.
This we believe--in the forgiveness of sins. We need forgiveness for our sins, and we need to forgive others. Do you believe that?
