The more I get to know Jesus, the more it changes how I read His Word.  When He confronted the woman caught in adultery and told her: “Neither do I condemn you….”  It was not some sort of “Get Out of Jail Free” card.  He did not tell her how much He loved her, or how wonderful He thinks she really is.  He didn’t tell her she was a victim.  As I see it playing out, Jesus was looking straight into her eyes and continued: “…and from now on sin no more.”

He did not condemn her, he did not rub her nose in it, nor did He tell her how awful she was and that she deserved to go to hell for eternity.  He did however give her a stern warning.  He did not give her a free pass.  He did virtually the exact same thing to the paralyzed man at the pool of Siloam.  Jesus healed the man and when He and the man were together next, he told the man: “…sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you.”  Up to this point sin was not even a part of this man’s story!

Usually we deal with sin in two primary ways (three if you count not actually dealing with it):  One is we treat it as no big deal, a little white lie, it didn’t hurt anyone….  We usually do this while dealing with our own sin.  The other way is to make it a HUGE deal (other people’s sin).  Both are wrong, though, if you must make the mistake, make a big deal out of your own sin and minimize other’s.

Sin is evil incarnate, it has huge repercussions and desperately damages our relationship with Jesus.  Dealing with it cost Jesus dearly.  He did deal with it however, and as a result we do not have to let sin hold us (or anyone else) back.  Take your sin to Him and let Jesus tell you:

“Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”