n e w c h u r c h l i f e : m ay / j u n e 2 0 1 7
When death was prescribed for
adultery in their law, it symbolized
spiritual death. It symbolized the fact
that to knowingly and purposefully
commit adultery brings spiritual death
or damnation. When the Lord came
into the world He was establishing a
genuine religion that emphasized our
need to be in the spirit of the law. This
new religion was able to make more
distinctions based on intention.
In not upholding the penalty for
adultery, the Lord was implying that
the woman was not yet in a state of
condemnation. In other words, based
on her real intentions, or on her potential for repentance, the Lord could see
that she was not spiritually dead.
But note that the Lord did not say, “I forgive you.” The Lord never says this
in the Gospels. (He sometimes says, “Your sins are forgiven.”) To be sure, the
idea that God forgives is there, but it is only said according to the appearance.
God is indeed an agent in removing evil and its effects from us. But the truth
is that the Lord does not need to forgive us. “Forgive” means to “let go” or
“release” from someone a fault that we attribute to him. The Lord never sees
faults as ours. He never attributes them to us, but to hell. He never needs to
change His attitude toward us, but is ready at any time to embrace us in love.
No, it is we who must change in order to accept His love. As long as we are
hanging on to some evil desire or bad
habit, we are not able to receive what
He has to give. We are forgiven when
we change and let go of evil. We then
give the Lord permission to reorder
our minds and to gradually move
that evil out of our consciousness. As
this removal happens we experience
forgiveness – that is, we find freedom
from that evil.
So the woman taken in adultery
was not forgiven by the Lord. In fact,
she does not find forgiveness in this
story either. She is not absolved either
of her crime or her responsibility for
The Lord never sees
faults as ours. He never
attributes them to us,
but to hell. He never
needs to change His
attitude toward us, but
is ready at any time to
embrace us in love.
It is we who must change
in order to accept His
love. As long as we are
hanging on to some evil
desire or bad habit, we
are not able to receive
what He has to give. We
are forgiven when we
change and let go of evil.
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