An Application: 
Who Is "The One Sinless of You"?
--Jimmie B. Hill in "Families Matter!" Vol. 1 No. 2 2004


"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her" (John 8:7). This is a verse of scripture that is used entirely
out of its context by many brethren to excuse sin. Their contention
is that since none are without sin, none may point out the sins of
another. This, of course, is absurd. The Lord does not refer to one
who was absolutely sinless in every respect in this verse. That
requirement would have made it entirely impossible for anyone to be
punished under the Old Law for Ecclesiastes 7:20 clearly states, "For
there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth
not." What, then, did the Lord mean here? 

The scribes and the Pharisees had brought a woman to the Lord who
"was taken in adultery, in the very act" (John 8:4). Where was the
man? They invoked Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 and stated
"that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou?" (John 8:5). They
overlooked the fact that the Law required that both the man and the
woman should be stoned. Were they truly concerned about the Law of
Moses? No! They were concerned about putting our Lord on the horns of
a dilemma (John 8:6). If He, thinking that the stoning would have
been too harsh, said to turn her loose, He would have been in
violation of the Law of Moses. If He, on the other hand, had said to
stone her, He would have been in violation of Roman Law. Either
statement would have furnished the Pharisees a pretext for
accusations. However, our Lord maintained and vindicated the Law but
imposed upon them a condition which they had overlooked. That is, the
one who executed the law must be free from the same sin, lest by
stoning the woman he condemn himself as worthy of like death. The
Pharisees knew that He knew their lives and that they were as guilty
as the woman they had brought. He had previously called them "a
wicked and adulterous generation" (Matthew 16:4). These scribes and
Pharisees forgot, too, the demand of Moses (Deuteronomy 17:5-7) that
the witnesses (accusers) should cast the first stone. The Lord's
answer to them apparently hit like a lightning bolt. There can be no
doubt that His words impressed upon them the truth that freedom from
the outward act did not imply inward purity or sinlessness. Covered
with shame, they left one by one. 

Given this, the only conclusion possible is that the Lord meant that
the ones who cast the stones must be innocent of the sin for which
they wished the woman to be slain. Friends and brethren do not
misapply this verse. The question is not: "Who is without sin?" - the
Bible makes that clear - "For all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The question is: "Who has humbled
himself in the sight of God and repented of his sins?" May we all do
so.


In Christ, Steve Preston



Sign up for BibleTalk, short messages 
from God's word, at bibletalk-subscribe@...
or on the web at freegroups.net/groups/bibletalk