Caught in the Act(Lesson 1 of 4)

Caught In the Act(Lesson 1 of 4)

Felt Need:I have a hard time accepting God’s forgiveness.

Doctrine:God’sMercy and Grace

To help the student understand God’s mercy and grace so they will seek His forgiveness for past sins and release themselves from self-condemnation.

Psalm 103:11-12

How far has God removed our sins from us?

THE FELT NEED:I have a hard time accepting God’s forgiveness.

Show Video: “Caught in the Act”

Ask the students what judgment they would give to the robbers.

Caught on Tape: Homeowner Video of Robbers –

THE TRUTH: Mercy and Grace

Caught in the Act (John 8:3-4)

A.The man goes free

• Where is the man? It makes you wonder if the man (who never was exposed) was part of the scheme. The Law required that both guilty parties be stoned (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22) and not just the woman.

B.Jesus’ Dilemma

• If He said, “Yes, the woman must be stoned!” this would ruin His reputation as the friend of sinners. Many, if not all of the common people who followed Him would abandon Him and would never have accepted His gracious message of forgiveness.
• If He said, “No, the woman should not be stoned!” then He was openly breaking the Law and would be subject to arrest.

The Judgment from Authorities (John 8:5-9)

Page 1

A.Guilty as charged

• The woman never denied the accusation of her sexual sin. Jesus never asked if it was true.

B.The Sinless Judge

• Jesus was saying, “If any of you have not committed this same sin in your heart or in body, go ahead and cast the first stone.”(Read Matt. 5:28)

C.Accusers Disperse

• One by one the accusers walked away shamefully embarrassed.

Mercy and Grace (John 8:10-11)

A.Jesus Shows Mercy and Grace.

• In a turn of events, the only person that could condemn her says, “I do not condemn you.”
• Jesus showed grace (undeserved and unmerited favor) to the woman by sending her off with a new chance at life.
• Jesus was not minimizing the seriousness of her sin or its consequences.
• For Jesus to forgive this woman meant that He had to one day die for her sins. Her forgiveness was free, but it was not cheap.

B.Go and sin no more.

• Jesus told her to start over with a new goal to never relive her former sins. While we will still sin, our attitude and goal should be to sin no more.
  

THE CONNECTION:Condemnation leaves where forgiveness is received.

1 John 1:9 says that if we have confessed our sin, He has forgiven it. There is no need to carry the guilt or shame when He has paid the price of that sin and given us a new life (a new and fresh start).

A.Recognize that God proclaimed you forgiven.

Jesus told the lady that she was no longer under a sentence of condemnation. The Word of God says the same truth to us. (Read Romans 8:1.)

God etched the most powerful promise we can claim on a daily basis in 1 John 1:9.

B.Work through it.

We may not be sinless, but our goal is to sin less as we grow in our relationship with God.

When you fall, get up and have a mindset that, with God’s help, you will never return to that sin or mistake again.

Conviction of sin comes from God, but guilt and shame are from the enemy.

Remind yourself every day that condemnation leaves where forgiveness is received.

THE DECISION:Deal with sin

Deal with sin that you feel guilty about.

• Is there a sin that you have not asked God’s forgiveness for? Tonight you can deal with it. I want to walk you through the steps of turning from it and getting forgiveness from God.

Confess the sin – 1 John 1:9. This means to say the same thing about the sin that God does. Talk to God and tell Him what your sin is; call it what it is.

Walk through steps of repentance.

• Ask forgiveness of God and others. Once you confess it to God, you need to ask for His forgiveness and then go to anyone else that the sin affected, confess it, and ask their forgiveness.
• Claim the forgiveness that God promises – Romans 8:1.
• Walk in the freedom that Jesus promises – Psalm 103:11-12.

Grace: Undeserved and unmerited favor.

Mercy: The act of withholding punishment or condemnation that is deserved.

• Video “Caught on Tape”
• Make sufficient copies of the questions for the Internet search.
• A PowerPoint presentation for this module is available.

Warren W. Wiersbe, (1996). The Bible Exposition Commentary (Vol. 1, p. 319). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books

Show the following “Caught in the act” video. Ask the students what judgment they would give to the robbers if they werepart of the jury in a court case. What punishment would they recommend be handed down?

• Caught on Tape: Homeowner Video of Robbers Goes Viral

Most of us would agree that crimes need to be punished. Imagine how bad our cities would be if crimes were just overlooked. Most crimes would bother us more if they were against us and not against someone we don’t know. We need to remember that God has laws that are broken every day too. It’s important for us to understand how God handles the sins that are committed against Him, even by those who know Christ as their Savior. God does not overlook our sin; rather He chooses to forgive us.

Although this is true, many times we condemn ourselves over and over again for our failures. Some of us carry a heavy load of guilt because of secret sins, addictions, and moments of bad decisions. There are also some that live under a cloud of shame for situations out of their control. Many times situations like the divorce of parents, physical abuse, and sexual abuse hang a scarlet letter of guilt on the victim that does not belong to them.Then there are times whenwe have clearly been in the wrong, we have asked forgiveness, and yet still feel guilty. We can be assured that God’s forgiveness extends beyond all of our situations, even when we don’t feel like it. As believers, we can embrace the forgiveness of God when we understand two characteristics of God—His grace and His mercy.

In this lesson, we will see a vivid picture of God’s Mercy and Grace to someone who was totally deserving of judgment. Turn with me to John 8.

Caught in the Act (John 8:3-6)

This passage is of a woman “caught in the act” and brought before Jesus and a group of religious leaders for judgment. What happens might surprise you.

Secret sin made public

We all have secret sins no one knows about, things seemingly hidden in the quietness of our bedroom or the secret place of our heart. This is a secret sin that became public. One of the most traumatizing things that could happen to anyone is when a secret sin is suddenly made public. This is a true account of a woman that wished she could hit rewind on her day. (Read John 8:3-6.) Put yourself in the place of the woman. She is caught “in the very act” of adultery, and her sin is brought out in the open for the public to see.

A.The man goes free

• Where is the man? It makes you wonder if the man (who never was exposed) was part of the scheme. The Law required that both guilty parties be stoned (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22) and not just the woman. It seems suspicious that the man is not on trial as well; it seems he went free. The Jewish leaders handle the matter in a brutal fashion. They take the woman and push her into the midst of the crowd while Jesus is teaching. They were trying to put Jesus in a no win situation.

B.Jesus’ Dilemma

• If He said, “Yes, the woman must be stoned!” this would ruin His reputationas the friend of sinners. Many, if not all, of the common people who followed him would abandon Him and would never have accepted His gracious message of forgiveness. But, if He said, “No, the woman should not be stoned!” then He was openly breaking the Law and would be subject to arrest.

Try to put yourself in her place. With her sin now known to everyone, she finds herself on the ground in front of Jesus. She knows that she is guilty and deserving of judgment. She could only hope for a merciful response, but she did not expect it.

The Judgment from Authorities (John 8:3-4)

A.Guilty as charged

• The woman never denied the accusation of her sexual sin. Jesus never asked if it was true. The accusations were not empty rumors, but shameful truth. Then Jesus told the accusers they could start the execution; but only if those accusers were completely innocent of any sin themselves.

B.The Sinless Judge

• Jesus was not asking that sinless men judge the woman. He was the only sinless person present. Jesus was saying, “If any of you have not committed this same sin in your heart or in body, go ahead and cast the first stone.”(Read Matt. 5:28). Jesus was the only one in the crowd that had the moral authority of perfection to require the death penalty.

C.Accusers Disperse

• One by one the accusers walked away shamefully embarrassed. The oldest leave first then the younger leaving only Jesus, the only One who is qualified to judge, and the woman. Then Jesus says something incredible to the woman.

Mercy and Grace (John 8:10-11).

A.Jesus Shows Mercy and Grace

• Listen to the short conversation that happened between Jesus and this guilty woman. (Read John 8:10-11.) In a turn of events, the only person that could condemn her says, “I do not condemn you.” WOW! He did not require that she be stoned. The law required the death penalty for sex outside of marriage and specifically, adultery. This woman was guilty but instead she received mercy. Jesus told her she would not be condemned for her sin, but how can He “let her off the hook?”
• Jesus showed Grace (undeserved and unmerited favor) to the woman by sending her off with a new chance at life. Jesus was not minimizing the seriousness of her sin, or its consequences. For Jesus to forgive this woman meant that He had to one day die for her sins.
• Her forgiveness was free but it was not cheap. There is no more condemnation because condemnation leaves where forgiveness is received.

It is so easy to look at someone else’s moral failure and cast judgment on them, isn’t it? We see it all so clearly, like the religious leaders. We don’t cast stones, but we cast words of condemnation. Put yourself in the place of this woman. Think of how she must have felt to hear the Savior say to her, “I do not condemn you!” What joy must have filled her soul!

B.Go and sin no more

• Jesus told her to start over with a new goal to never relive her former sins. While we will still sin, our attitude and goal should be to sin no more. This second chance for the woman is more than she deserved. Maybe you got caught cheating at school, and the teacher did not give you an F (that’s mercy because she did not give you what you deserved), but she warned you and offered a second chance and help to study (that’s grace—something you did not deserve). Grace is something we all want in times of failure!

This story is representative of our lives. We were guilty of countless sins. Some sins were outward and visible while others stayed seemingly hidden in the quietness of our bedroom or the secret place of our heart. Either way, they were all powerful enough to make us guilty before a holy God. Yet in an act of mercy and grace, He provided forgiveness for each of our sins through the death of Jesus on the cross. Then God offers us a new chance to live right. He tells us to go through life with the goal of not continuing to sin. We can do this when we accept the fact that condemnation leaves where forgiveness is received.

In His mercy, God devised a rescue plan by sending His Son Jesus to pay for all our sin on the cross.

Here’s the point. If God has forgiven each sin we have ever committed through the death of Jesus, then we need to release ourselves from our self-made prison of condemnation. Everyone has experienced that nagging feeling of shame when we have done something we know is wrong. Is there a sin that you have committed in the past that you cannot release the guilt or shame over? 1 John 1:9 says that if we have confessed our sin, He has forgiven it. There is no need to carry the guilt or shame when He has paid the price of that sin and given us a new life (a new and fresh start). As a matter of fact, He has cast them as far as the east is from the west never to be remembered again. (Read Psalm 103:11-12.)

Some of us have repeated a sin for what seems to be the millionth time and have a sense of hopelessness. We have experienced the self-blame, self-hate, anger, depression, and the weight of regret. If you are repeating a sin over and over, you will need help beyond yourself to see victory over it. Talk to a youth leader tonight if you are tired of it and want to stop repeating the same sin over and over. There is no reason to continue with guilt or shame.

If you are like most, you asked God to forgive you more times than you can count, and still had no resolving sense of relief. So how do we finally receive God’s forgiveness and believe it rather than carry guilt?

• Recognize that God proclaimed you forgiven.

Jesus told the lady that she was no longer under a sentence of condemnation. The Word of God says the same truth to us. (Read Romans 8:1.) Regardless of how long our list of sins is, or how shocking, God offers complete pardon through the death of His Son Jesus. God’s forgiveness is a promise.

To the believers, God etched the most powerful promise we can claim on a daily basis in 1 John 1:9. (Read.) This verse shows us that when we confess our sin to God that He forgives and cleanses us. Someone has called this God’s Spot-Remover. While this is not a justification to live however we want, it is a comfort to know that our disobedience can be cleared from the records. All sin can bring a nagging sense of guilt, but some seem to be more haunting. The woman in the story would tell you that sexual sin carries a heavy sense of regret!

The next time that familiar voice of condemnation says you might as well stop trying, openly claim the promise of God’s forgiveness. Know that God’s work of conviction ends at your confession. Remind yourself often that for believers inJesus Christ, condemnation leaves where forgiveness is received.

• Work through it.

God is not surprised by your sin. He knows that we will struggle with it. When He saved each of us, He was expecting progress, not perfection in our lives. That does not mean that He is any less concerned, just that He recognizes that we will continue to sin until we reach Heaven. We may not be sinless, but our goal is to sin less as we grow in our relationship with God.

Jesus basically told this lady to walk away from the shame of that moment and to not foolishly return to the sin of which she was just forgiven.When you fall, get up and have a mindset that, with God’s help, you will never return to that sin or mistake again. We need to stop rolling in the mud of our failure. Keep fighting the battles that you face, even if you failed at the same one three days straight. Be determined that each time you fall, you will get up and keep pushing toward God’s call of holiness. Be glad that while we may track each of our failures, God has totally forgiven them (Psalm 130:3-4). It is great news that God does not have a notebook tracking all the sins we have done in our lives. His forgiveness is unbelievable. If you find yourself returning to the same sin, you need help. Talk to a youth leader tonight. But if you have sinned and confessed your sin, there is no reason to continue with guilt or shame. Conviction of sin comes from God, but guilt and shame are from the enemy. Remind yourself every day that condemnation leaves where forgiveness is received.