GO AND SIN NO MORE — John 8:11

Base Text: John 8:11

"'No one, sir,' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.'"

INTRODUCTION: WHY IS THERE EVIL IF GOD EXISTS?

If there is a God, why is there so much evil in the world? You have asked yourself that question more than once.

Every day we hear of war, or at least the threat of war. If there is a God:

• Why doesn't he end wars?
• Why doesn't he prevent the deaths of thousands of soldiers?
• The terrible wounds, psychological and emotional trauma?
• The killing of innocent citizens, women, and children?
• The destruction of cities, homes, businesses?
• The displacement, malnutrition, and hunger?

Why does God allow instruments of mass destruction to be invented? Intercontinental missiles, nuclear warheads, biological and chemical warfare?

We also wonder: Why doesn't God prevent crime? Murders, drug sales, violence. Why does he allow abuse — fights between spouses, physical or sexual abuse of children, kidnappings, rapes, extortion?

And why doesn't God keep me from sinning? If He is almighty, why doesn't he keep me from sinful thoughts, unkind words, forgetting to help?

We find the answer in His Word.

1. GOD CREATED MAN FOR GOOD (Genesis 1:31)

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."

a) Everything was made good and with divine purpose

• God created man for well-being and happiness.
• The entire creation was declared very good.

b) Man is not a robot

• He is a person with conscience and free will.
• God gave us the ability to choose.

c) There are only two paths

• People fight for their free doing, they demand freedom.
• But there are only two paths, and each brings consequences.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NIV): "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction... If you obey the commandments... then you will live and increase."

2. EVIL IS THE ABSENCE OF GOD

a) God did not create evil — man chose it

John 3:19-20: "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil."

Evil is not a divine creation; it is what happens when man turns away from God. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of God.

b) The terrible consequences of sin

James 4:1-4 (NIV): "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight."

Wars, diseases, envy, and the evils of the world are born from human selfishness, not from a plan of God.

3. THE DIVINE PURPOSE IS TO PROHIBIT EVIL

a) God gave commandments and warnings

The first thing He did was give clear commandments with the result of the disastrous consequences of doing evil.

b) In the Ten Commandments God prohibits all evil

Exodus 20:3, 7, 13-17: "You shall have no other gods... You shall not misuse the name of the Lord... You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not covet."

c) Time and again God insists

Isaiah 1:16: "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong."

Isaiah 55:7: "Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them."

Many question God, but they are unable to restrain their own evil. They demand freedom and rights, but they hate God because evil brings them consequences.

4. GOD PREVENTS EVIL

a) Jesus' purpose was defined

Luke 4:18: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free."

b) When God heals, he warns: Sin no more!

When God heals someone, it is because he doesn't want them to continue in evil. When he forgives, it is so that man will not continue sinning.

• There are diseases that come from stress — God heals you and you continue under stress.
• There are diseases from sin — God heals you and you sin again.

c) Biblical examples of divine warning

The paralytic at Bethesda (John 5:14):

Jesus healed an invalid man for 38 years, and later told him: "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

The adulterous woman (John 8:11):

The Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus, but He told them: "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." They all left. Then he assured the woman of forgiveness and told her: "Go now and leave your life of sin."

d) Paul warns repeatedly

Romans 6:12: "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."

1 Corinthians 15:34: "Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God."

Ephesians 4:22: "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires."

God clearly prohibits evil, does not desire it, and frequently prevents it.

CONCLUSION: TURN AWAY FROM IT

"Go now and leave your life of sin" means: if we have received mercy from God, turn away from evil.

It is like that woman whose husband beats her time and time again. She goes and files a lawsuit, justice applies restrictions, but she — with her need — returns to the one who beats and mistreats her. Is God guilty of this?

God has provided the way, given the instructions, provided forgiveness. The decision to obey is yours.

Today Jesus tells you the same thing he told that woman: "Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin."

🎥 PREACHING VIDEO

Watch the full message here: https://youtu.be/H2_ws8nMyVk

Outline based on the preaching of Pastor Josué Angarita — MMM Portal Campestre Church, Girón, Santander, Colombia.