Which is worse, adultery or murder? Both were forbidden by the Ten Commandments (see Ex. 20:13-14). Both were punishable by death in the Mosaic Law (see Ex. 9:6; Lev. 20:10-12; 24:17; Num. 35:30; Deut. 22:22). Although both are grievous in God’s eyes, I think most people would agree that murder is more grievous.
If I’m right, it is interesting that the Bible's story of the woman caught in the act of adultery is not sometimes called “the story of the crowd of men who were caught in the act of premeditated murder.” If you are familiar with the story, you know that none of those men had the right, in God’s eyes, to take the adulterous woman’s life. Had they stoned her, they would have sinned, not only by committing an act of great hypocrisy, but by committing murder. Had they taken her life, they would have been even more worthy of death than she was, being guilty of a greater sin.
In any case, there is much we can learn about God, His grace, and salvation from this particular story. Let’s see if we can find all the application to our own lives.
Jesus Calls Everyone to Repent of All Sin
It is often pointed out that Jesus called the guilty woman to repentance when He said, “Go. From now on sin no more” (John 8:11). But do you realize that Jesus also called the crowd of men to a similar repentance when He said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7)? That’s another way of saying, “Repent, not only of your hypocrisy, but for all your sins that reveal your hypocrisy!”
Notice Jesus did not say to the men, “He who has never committed adultery, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Rather, He said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And He did not say to the woman, “Go. From now on commit adultery no more.” Rather, He said, “Go. From now on sin no more.” Jesus was calling everyone involved in the incident to repent of all their sins.
Jesus Shows Everyone Temporary Grace
Everyone that day was shown grace, that is, “undeserved favor,” by Jesus. And that should not surprise us, because the same grace He showed all of them is the same grace God is showing every unrepentant sinner, every day of their lives. He isn’t giving them what they deserve, that is, immediate death. Rather, He is calling them to repent, and He’s giving them time to do it. If they don’t repent, however, by the end of the “grace period” (their lifetimes), they will face the consequences of their sin at His judgment.
In regard to the incident of the men caught in the act of premeditated murder, Scripture teaches that no unrepentant adulterer or murderer will inherit God’s kingdom (see Matt. 19:16-18; Mark 10:17-19; Luke 18:18-20; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 John 3:15; Rev. 21:8.) The good news, however, is that God’s grace is big enough to forgive murderers and adulterers. King David is the perfect example, who was guilty of both. Forgiveness, however, hinges on repentance, as illustrated by David’s story.
Temporary Mercy Does Not Ensure Eternal Mercy
Was the woman who was caught in the act of adultery “saved”—in the way we speak of people being “saved”—the day she experienced Jesus’ mercy? Did she start a new life of obedience? We don’t know, because we don’t know if she repented. We don’t know if she ever repented.
Think about that. If she didn’t repent, then or at any later time in her life, she could still rightly say, “I was saved by grace that day.” But the grace that saved her from being stoned that day was not a grace that guaranteed she would be saved from hell. If she wanted God’s fuller, eternal grace, it would require faith on her part—faith in Jesus who warned her, and faith that resulted in repentance and ongoing obedience.
The Obedience of Faith Does Not Mitigate Salvation by Grace
And if she had believed in the One who warned her and repented, she still could never have rightly said, “I have been saved by my works.” She could have only rightly said, “I have been saved by grace through faith.” The only way that any sinner can be saved is “by grace” that is predicated upon faith.
Everyone who is reading these words has already experienced God’s amazing grace, having been saved, at least temporarily, from the wrath of God that they deserve. The only way to experience anything but temporary grace, however, is to believe in the Lord Jesus. If you do, you will be born again, and you will take very seriously everything He said. That is, you will repent, turning from rebellion to submission, striving to “sin no more.” If you don’t, it shows that you don’t actually believe in Him.
God’s temporal grace may be “unconditional,” but His saving grace is conditional. Salvation is “by grace through faith” (Eph. 2:8), so faith is the condition of being saved by grace.
If you haven't experienced God's saving grace yet, what are you waiting for? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31)!
