Jesus And Sin
That’s Not Fair…
As we come to the final week of our study on hamartiology, we will be looking at the life of the only person who has ever walked this earth and hasn’t sinned. Interestingly enough, even though Jesus Himself has never sinned, we can still learn a lot from Him about our own relation to sin and what it should look like because He was still tempted just as we are. This is why Hebrews 4:15 can tell us, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.” So while it is true that our life is not perfect like Christ’s, it is not true that this means He can’t relate to us or be the best example we have as to how we are to deal with sin and temptation. As John Piper so beautifully states, “What Christ secured for us on the cross is not just pardon for sins, but God’s power to break the bondage to sinning.” Jesus is our perfect atonement for sin and our perfect example of how to handle sin all at the same time. With that in mind, let’s dive in.
God’s Word
For starters, I can’t think of a more perfect place to start in Jesus’ life than when He was led to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This whole story can be read in Matthew 4:1-11 and it reveals to us how Jesus responded in times of temptation. And while this story is only 11 verses in this chapter, the lesson we can take away from this is monumental. There are 3 specific things that Satan tempts Jesus with and Jesus responds perfectly in each one. In short, Jesus was tempted with food, possessions, and faith in His Father in an attempt to lead Him into sin. Verses 4, 7, and 10 show us Jesus’ response each time. See if you can spot the similarities. Verse 4 “But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” Verse 7 “Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’” Verse 10 “Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” Every single time we see Jesus respond to Satan in a time of fierce temptation, Jesus responds to him with the Word of God. Whenever you are tempted or fighting through sin, how often do you surround yourself with the truth of scripture? If you don’t know the answer to this question, it’s probably because you don’t do it as often as you should. The Bible isn’t just a big storybook for us to use when we want to remember historical events, it is the living Word of God that we are meant to take seriously. If Jesus Himself used the scriptures to fend off Satan and free Himself from the temptations of this world, how much more do we need to use the scriptures on a daily basis when we encounter sin? This is why Hebrews 4:12 so famously says, “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” This isn’t just some cute coffee cup verse, it’s the reality of how we should view scripture. Jesus knew that, and so should we.
Forgiveness
On the flip side of this, Jesus also shows us a different aspect of how we should handle sin, even when it’s not us who are being tempted or overcome by it. Jesus isn’t just a great example for how we are to overcome sin, He is also the best example for how we are to approach others who are dealing with sin. Now if I were to list out all the examples of how Jesus has forgiven people in God’s Word, this would be the longest blog post I’ve ever written. For our purposes, however, we will be looking at one of the most misused passages in all of Scripture. This passage, of course, is the story of Jesus and the adulterous woman. We see this scene take place at the beginning of John 8 with a crowd of people accusing a woman of committing adultery and telling Jesus that the proper action in this situation would be to stone the woman to death. Jesus then famously replies in John 8:7 “... “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” This response is indeed a powerful one because it shows us the mercy that Jesus has towards sinners and the forgiveness that should follow us in our lives as well. On the contrary, this passage is often abused because people are led to think that whenever someone sins against you, you should do nothing about it and just hope they stop. This was not Jesus’ point.
Look at what else He says in verses 10-11 “And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not sin any longer.” This forgiveness that Jesus offered came with a command. ‘Do not sin any longer’. Jesus didn’t just tell this woman to go back to the way that she was living and just pretend that nothing ever happened. He told her to stop this wicked thing that she was doing and live a holy life. This is the power that forgiveness should have in a debtor's life. When someone sins against you, our immediate reaction shouldn’t be to seek revenge or find instant justice against this person. We must seek to forgive them. Along with this forgiveness, however, we must be clear to remind our debtors, ‘Do not sin any longer’. This is the statement that shows our forgiveness is not to be abused and that our forgiveness is a sign of love and not one of weakness. Yes, Jesus was the only perfect man ever to walk this earth so of course He’s going to deal with sin in a much better fashion than we are. But when we hold God’s truth in our memory and keep His example of forgiveness in our hearts, we can face this life knowing Christ has given us all we need to face this sinful and fallen world.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Piper, J. (2024, May 25). How can I fight sin without losing sight of Christ? Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-can-i-fight-sin-without-losing-sight-of-christ
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