Verse from John

“她说：“主啊！没有。”耶稣说：“我也不定你的罪。走吧，从现在起不要再犯罪了。””

‭‭约翰福音‬ ‭8:11‬ ‭

“She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more." ]”

‭‭John‬ ‭8:11‬ ‭

Jesus’s teaching about absolute ideals and absolute grace seem contradictory.

Jesus never lowered God’s perfect ideal. In His response to the rich young ruler, He said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). He told an expert in the law who inquired as to the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (22:37). No one has completely fulfilled those commands.

Yet the same Jesus tenderly offered absolute grace. He forgave an adulteress, a thief on the cross, a disciple who had denied ever knowing Him, and a man named Saul, who had made his mark persecuting Christians. Grace is absolute and all-encompassing, extending even to those who nailed Jesus to the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” were among the last words He spoke on earth (Luke 23:34).

Grace is for the desperate, the needy, the broken, those who cannot make it on their own. Grace is for all of us.

Father, 

Your all-encompassing grace washes over us and astonishes us. 

May we live today as people who enjoy Your complete forgiveness and a restored relationship with You.

Jesus fulfilled the perfect requirements of the law so that we may enjoy the perfect peace of His grace.

Insight

The life of the apostle Paul is another example of God's grace. Because of Paul's past, he considered himself the most undeserving recipient of God’s mercy and grace (1 Tim. 1:13–14). Although he was chosen to be an apostle to the Gentiles, Paul also gave another reason he was chosen: “God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life” (v. 16 nlt)