Go and Sin No More?

[Hobie]

We have two places where Christ says to to the person to sin no more..

John 5:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

John 8:11
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Did Christ really mean for them to go from there and actually sin no more?
Then we have this warning from Christ..

Luke 11:24-26
24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.
25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.
26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

How does this apply to us today?

 

[Randy Kluth]

We have two places where Christ says to to the person to sin no more..

John 5:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

John 8:11
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Did Christ really mean for them to go from there and actually sin no more?
Then we have this warning from Christ..

Luke 11:24-26
24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.
25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.
26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

How does this apply to us today?

It's pretty obvious, at least to me, that Jesus was not talking about being sinless. He was talking about having been on a course in which a person does what he wants instead of walking with the Lord, consulting Him in everything, and keeping his conscience clean.

It's really a matter of what path you're on--certainly not a matter of perfection. We're going to get a little off the path at times, when things get tough, and we're up against a wall. We don't always deal with bad people well. Traffic can kill a good spirit that regularly "sings psalms and spiritual songs."

However, when we get a little rude, or insulting, or judgmental, it's time to reassess and to get back on track. That's what I think Jesus is talking about. More specifically, I think Jesus was talking about when someone is so far off track that he or she is really not walking with the Lord at all. And this leads to some pretty scary moments, where the consequences can be dire.

When the Lord delivers us from the consequences of our own poorly thought-out actions, that's when we need to "sin no more." It means we get back on the "path of the just" to be seen as saints or righteous people, with a good reputation. We need to be witnesses to the Lord Himself, and we can't do that when we're hostile and ugly, engaging in carnality and being provocative.

Hopefully if we get into this condition God won't have to afflict us with something major. Even then there is hope. And if the Lord should heal us, you can be sure he'd say, "Go and sin no more," because He doesn't really want to afflict us at all. Chastisement from the Lord is always necessary to some degree, but the Lord would keep us from the major infractions, and along with it, the major chastisements.

 

[TonyChanYT]

From now on sin no more. Really?​

Jesus commanded the woman caught in adultery in John 8 (ESV):

11b “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Was Jesus demanding her to live a sinless life from now on?
No.
sin
ἁμάρτανε (hamartane)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
The present tense in Greek carries a sense of habitual or continual action.
New International Version:

Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:

go, and sin no more] Or, go and continue no longer in sin.

Elsewhere, Jesus healed an invalid in John 5:

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Here, we have the same verb form:
Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Jesus didn't say to him: From now on, live a sinless life or else something worse may happen to him.