Have you ever heard of someone who committed a sin and got instructed to Go and Sin No More?
There is a story in the Bible, sometimes referred to as the Pericope Adulterae. In the story, Jesus made the statement, Go and Sin No More, and over time, I have heard people give different meanings to it.
A surprising interpretation of the statement is a claim to repent and sin no more. However, in this message, we will look at the statement together, and I am hopeful that you will understand what Jesus meant.
Go and Sin No More Bible Verse
In case you are wondering, how many times does the Bible say to go and sin no more? My response is simply one.
As for the phrase, Sin No More, there are two Bible verses translated with it. There are John 5:14 and John 8:11. Both are alike, but with distinction.
John 5:14 KJV says, “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.”
In John 8:11 KJV, “She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
These were two different events in John’s account, and the distinction is that the first gave a reason for the phrase Sin No More, while the second only ended at Go and Sin No More. Why that?
To further decipher the difference, I think it is better to look at each event one after another. We will start with the second one, which is our main focus.
Go and Sin No More Meaning
In my previous message, we looked at the account of Jesus and the woman who was caught in sin. The focus was on a statement Jesus made, rephrased, Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone At Her.
We will look at the account again. In this case, we will focus on a statement: Go and Sin No More. Here we go:
“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,
they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’
This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’
And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’
She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’” John 8:1–11 NKJV.
To delve further into the meaning of Go and Sin No More according to the passage, I have summarized the story into three points.
- A woman who sinned worthy of stoning according to the law of Moses was brought to Jesus to tempt Him.
- After their insistence to hear Him speak about her, He made a statement that challenged their conscience, and they left the woman with Him.
- After inquiring about her accusers, He told the woman that He had nothing against her, but that she should go and sin no more.
The first part of understanding the phrase is the word ‘Go’. It occurred to me that some people interpret it as ‘repent’ and sin no more. But was that what Jesus meant? I beg to differ.
The word Go commonly means to walk or move away. It is synonymous with ‘depart’ and common with a party of two people, where one tells the other to march on or move away.
Jesus telling the woman to go, was Him giving her permission to leave rather than commanding her to repent. Remember, before telling her to go, He said, I do not condemn you.
Having permitted her to walk away or march on, He added ‘Sin No More’. I think this is where the bone of contention lies.
I can imagine someone saying, “Yes it is! What did Jesus mean when He said Go and Sin No More?” We will get there in a bit, but I advise the best way to approach the statement would be in context.
The part that says, Sin No More, can be taken as a command, advice, or a suggestion. I believe a command fits in perfectly because there were no additions. But I would still agree with anyone who says Jesus advised the woman to sin no more.
So what did He mean by Sin No More? Assuming a young man stole from a brother who caught him and took him to an elder. The brother reported to the elder that the young man stole from him, and thereby sinned worthy of severe punishment.
After a while, the elder said things to the brother that made him leave the young man with the elder who turned to him and said, Go and Sin No More. The young man left and no reports of him stealing were brought up again.
The question should be What was the implication of the statement to the young man or what did Sin No More mean to the woman caught in adultery?
It would be wrong if Jesus were to encourage any form of wrongdoing in His instructions. However, generalizing the implication of the statement Sin No More in the passage can undermine the issue that led to the statement in the first place.
The sin that was significant in that passage was the sin of adultery and sin no more, if taken contextually and for the woman, would be do not commit adultery again just as the same statement would mean do not steal again for the young man caught stealing.
Can we generalize the statement to mean do not do anything wrong again? Yes of course. But the point is that the statement is best explained in context because the sin had already been defined within its context.
Remember, the phrase Sin No More was used by Jesus only on two occasions as recorded in the scriptures. On one occasion, the sin was defined; on the other, it was not. We have just seen the occasion where the sin was defined, how about we look at the occasion where the sin was not defined?
Sin No More, Lest A Worse Thing Come Unto Thee
“After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.
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 5:1–14 KJV.
As much as we will look at the man in the pool of Bethesda in another message, I want to point out a few takeaways from the above event.
- The man in the story had a disease that made him helpless for thirty-eight years.
- Jesus was passing by Bethesda and saw the man. Then He offered to help him.
The offering to help him came in the form of a question that led to his being made whole. In simple English, the question goes this way: Do you want to be made whole? The man began narrating how helpless he was, but Jesus told him to rise, take his bed, and walk.
What happened afterward was something normal to the Jews in the Gospels as we discussed a similar happening with the case of the once-blind man who said, I was blind, but now I see.
Fast forward to where Jesus made the man again. He said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing comes upon you.”
We do not know the exact sickness that man was suffering from before being healed, but it seemed his previous condition had something to do with a wrong lifestyle or sinful act.
To have an idea of his situation, let us look at a like of it. Someone was involved in a sexually immoral act and contracted an STI, which caused him pain and rendered him helpless. It could have been a one-time act or even a lifestyle he was used to. Sadly, he had no one to help him.
But now, a doctor showed up after a long time, offered him a solution to the infection, and told him not to go back to the lifestyle or act that got him into that condition in the first place.
Jesus’ statement in this case, can be taken as both a warning and an advice, but the best person to understand what exactly He was pointing to would be the man He spoke with.
However, from the passage, we can see Jesus advising the man not to return to his previous sinful life (style) and warning him about the possibilities of a worse thing (could be another infirmity or even death) to come upon him if he were to go back.
Understanding “Sin No More” In Both Cases
In the first event we looked at, some people took the woman to Jesus, but in the second one, Jesus went to the man. Later, He found him in the temple and spoke to him.
You can see the reason for Jesus saying, ‘Go’ before ’Sin no More’ in the woman’s case and why He did not have to say the same in the other.
The point is that there was a sin problem in both cases and the ‘Sin No More’ was instructive to the people that Jesus spoke to.
When you read both stories, did it ever occur in your mind whether or not the woman and the man ever had faith in Christ? Think about that for a moment.
On second thought, we did not see Jesus preach the gospel to any of them, neither did He threaten them with ‘hell fire’ like I see people do with those passages.
Instead, Jesus presented them with repentance from immorality to morality for their own good in this world. If you did not see that, you should read it again. (You do not have to do that if you do not want to.)
Just like anyone can choose to interpret any text of scripture to mean anything they want, a Christian can choose to limit these passages to Christians alone.
But when you realize that Jesus was not speaking to Christians in the cases we discussed, you will understand that morality is for every human being for the betterment of our lives in this world. That is why we have laws and the law.
Moving On
Do we do the wrong things? Yes. Should we do the wrong things? No. Brother John said that every wrongdoing is a sin. And we can see that every sin has its consequence, and we experience them one way or the other regardless of who we are or what we have.
When it comes to justification before God, we all have fallen short of it by our wrongdoings. The only possibility is through faith in the finished works of Christ. You should consider reading Saved by grace through faith in Christ, as well as Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.
In conclusion, for The Believers Today, let me leave you with what John said in 1 John 2:1–2 NKJV:
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
Focus on doing what is right before God and man, being good, and loving one another. It will make life on Earth better, at least for the people we come in contact with.
Also, remember to forgive others like Jesus did to those two, without them necessarily asking for forgiveness. You will have peace of mind.
