The Way to be Liberated from Sin, Satan, and Curses – Only Jesus Christ (John 8:1-11)

Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I pray that the blessing of the Word of God will be upon all the people who are worshipping in the church, on the outside rooftop, and in their homes. The title of today’s sermon is, “The Way to Be Liberated from Sin, Satan, and Curses – Only Jesus Christ.” All of the works of conflicts, division, fighting, and killing is occurring all around the world. Conflicts, division, fighting, judgment, and killing do not come from God; these are things that all come from something else. 2000 years ago, when Jesus Christ came to this earth, there was a group of people who were always opposing Him, and they were the Jewish people. Especially, the Pharisees and Sadducees thought that they had to push out Jesus Christ at any cost.

The Jewish people believe in God, and Jesus Christ was sent by God, but ironically enough, the Jewish people who followed God actually set up an opposing team to push out Jesus Christ at any cost. This is a very bad thing, and that flow has continued until this very day. There was a big opposition between the people who are holding onto the Bible of God and people who are holding onto the gospel.

1. A Woman Caught in Adultery
   In today’s passage, the Pharisees and Sadducees capture a woman who was caught in the act of adultery to try to catch Jesus Christ. This woman was forced in front of a trial because she was caught in the act of adultery. If you look at Moses’ laws, if you find a woman guilty of adultery, she is to be stoned to death. Even now, if you go to a Muslim nation or a middle eastern country, there are laws like this in place.

The laws of Moses were given by God, however, there were also laws that the Jewish elders had added on top of the laws of Moses, so they were trying to lead the nation of Israel with very detailed, strict laws. That is the method with which the world tries to lead people. If we don’t have any laws at all, the nation would be very confusing and full of crime. In order for a nation to stand, there must always be some form of law.

God gave the Israelite people the law through Moses. That law is the Word of God; however, if you don’t know the goal of the law of God, you’ll use the law to kill people.

1) Field
Why do you think this woman who was caught today, why did she commit adultery? The Bible never tells us why she committed adultery; either way, she was caught in the act and was brought into trial.

2) Woman
It’s possible that she already had a husband and was caught in the act with someone else, or perhaps it is a woman who was promiscuous by nature. Perhaps she was an adulterer because she was a prostitute in need of money, so that is why she was caught. However, these are people who have such a reputation that all the Israelite people judge them, and they wanted to stone her to death. In other words, she committed a sin that was revealed to our eyes.

3) Pharisees
The Jewish people are scheming to use this woman who was caught in the act of adultery to try to trap and test Jesus. That is why the Jewish teachers asked Jesus Christ the question in verse 5, “In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now, what do you say?”

2. Jesus Christ
   So, they’re trying to trap Jesus Christ into killing someone because they go outside of the Word.

1) First Response
Jesus Christ does not say anything, but he stoops down and writes on the ground. People didn’t ask anything about that, but Jesus gets up and said, “Let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw the stone at her.” So, the Israelites are coming to Jesus, trying to trap him, but instead, Jesus Christ is saying, “You who do not have sin, throw the first stone.”

The Bible says He wrote something on the ground, but it doesn’t say what He wrote. This is just my thinking, but as Jesus Christ was preparing what to say, He was writing on the ground. Don’t you think He would have written something He already said? In Matthew 5:28, Jesus Christ had already spoken about adultery and sexual immorality. What did He say?

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” When Jesus is writing on the ground, He wouldn’t have created any random, new words; He would have written down what He had already spoken. The Jewish people are using the law of Moses to try to punish and kill the people who have committed sins that you can see with your eyes; however, Jesus is saying, “If you’ve even thought lustfully in your heart, you have already committed adultery.” It is something that the Pharisees had never heard before.

In reality, there is the sin that you can see with your eyes that you commit with your behaviors, but there is also a sin that is a process inside your heart that you cannot see with your eyes, and right now, Jesus Christ is pointing out the sin that is in progress in your heart. The people who are gathering around this adulterous woman to try to stone her to death simply have sins that are not revealed, but God is pointing out the sin inside of everyone.

2) Second Response
After He says that, He stoops down on the ground and begins to write again. Then in verse 9, they saw what Jesus Christ wrote on the ground and they heard what He had said. Filled with guilt, they left, the older ones first. What does it mean that they were filled with guilt? They knew they were sinning, they know that they have the sin of sexual immorality within them because they have looked lustfully at women and have touched women before; they just had not been caught for their acts.

What do you think Jesus wrote on the ground? In Matthew 5:29, Jesus Christ says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Because you have touched a woman or done a sexually immoral act with your right hand, cut off your hand; it is better for your right hand to be thrown away than for your whole body to go to hell.

When Jesus Christ wrote these words on the ground, all the people who gathered around to stone the adulterous woman realized that, “My eye should be gouged out and my arm should be cut off.” Then, all these people who were judging the woman, holding stones to kill her, they all left.

3) After The People Left
Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” When the woman replied, “No, sir,” then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” This is the work that Jesus Christ came to this earth to do.

3. Gospel of Jesus Christ
   Whenever we fight, it is because we have a standard. We can look at this three-way intersection between the adulterous woman, the legalistic Jews, and Jesus Christ who is the gospel. Still in today’s society, in our families, in our church, and our field, we can see there are the legalistic people who are always judging people, trying to kill and condemn, then there are those with the gospel who are always forgiving.

Do you know why very successful celebrities and people commit suicide? Let’s say one day they’re at the peak of their fame, and then they lose their popularity. There’s also malicious things written and publicized about them. Those are all things that come out because, let’s say the celebrity does something bad, or their skills are not as they used to be, and that individual is not able to overcome the [public] reaction. People keep pointing out the celebrity’s flaws and judge them. Even if someone makes a small mistake, people can’t leave it alone; that’s today’s society. There is no such thing as forgiveness. The more successful you are, the more people try to take you down.

In some sense, the adulterous woman was in the lowest position of society in their culture. It was a situation where all of the most successful people in the society are revealing the sins and crimes of other people. It could be that the people who are trying to report and accuse this woman are going to be caught for the same sin later on.

Everybody has their own standard, especially those who have succeeded by their own efforts are very frightful because they have fulfilled their own life with their standards and their power. One day, they face a limitation, and at that point, they are not able to live up to or overcome their own standards, so they feel weak about themselves and commit suicide.

Satan will never leave that kind of person alone, Satan will always accuse them, “That’s all you’re good for? This is all you will amount to be?” There’s something that Satan has been whispering to you all your life, there is something that Satan has told you about yourself all your life. One day, you yourself will not be able to overcome your own standards.

Then, just like the Jewish people trying to stone the woman to death, Satan will continue to accuse you and report you, pointing fingers saying, “That’s all you can do,” and he drags you into complete powerlessness, hopelessness, and depression. That’s the reality we live in today.

Let’s say there are some remnant students who are supposed to be studying, but they give up on their studies. Or, there are some students who are not able to get along with their friends because of the environment in their schools, and some young adults have to get jobs in the future, but the future looks so empty and bleak. There are people who don’t know what’s going to happen in the future because of the coronavirus, and they’re filled with fear because of their own standards. The devil uses that as a foothold and continues to oppress you with it.

Satan says, “That’s all you can do.” He always oppresses you, pressing down on you. That’s why there are so many mental patients arising in the world. Satan makes it so that you fall into your own guilt. Kids who watch porn do it once or twice, but because they keep watching porn, they fall into guilt. There are some students who go into these sexually immoral websites and do secretive acts on their own, but individually, they know in their own heart, while they’re watching they might feel differently; however, there is a spiritual state within them that knows of their own guilt.

Satan doesn’t just let that go; Satan digs into your guilt and stabs you with it. Satan stabs people with societal standards. The individual might think that this is fun and pleasurable, but Satan is controlling them with it. Satan digs into your conscience with a certain level of legality or law; you might enjoy it, however, your heart is being oppressed by something. You’re oppressed by guilt so that you can’t even see others, you avoid people’s gaze, you can’t even look people in the eye, why? Because you yourself are oppressed.

This reality is the same in the present day as it was in the past. There is not a single person in the world who can escape from that. Jesus Christ said, “If anyone has never looked at someone else lustfully, come out.” There wasn’t a single person who came out. What does that mean? It means that every single person is caught guilty in the law. If there is no law, then there is no sinner or criminal. If there is a law, then anyone who is outside the law is a criminal.

We were lost in original sin ever since Adam and Eve, and as soon as we were born, we were born in original sin as being disobedient to God. Of course, Satan wouldn’t leave us alone. Satan uses our sin to accuse us and makes us slaves. What is sin? Sin is going against the law, going against God’s Word. 1 John 3:8 says that the one who does what is sinful is of the devil. If you are a sinner, it means you belong to the devil. That means there is not a single exception, every single person is a sinner because the sins of your mother and father and ancestors from the third and fourth generation have come to the child.

There are also the sins we commit on our own. I may not be breaking any laws from the world’s standards, but I am breaking God’s law, and the devil will never leave that alone. He digs into our hearts and completely controls us. So, in all these different forms, Satan completely enslaves us to live under the guilt trip of our sin. Nothing can liberate us from that, and nothing will drive out Satan unless it is only the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1) Liberated
Then, how is it possible that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can liberate us from the sins and curses and Satan? Why did God give us the law to begin with? It is explained in Romans 7:4-6, that if a woman is married to a man and commits adultery, then she is legally bound to be stoned to death. But let’s say that the woman’s husband dies. Once her husband passes away, there is no longer a legally binding agreement, and at that point, if the woman decides to remarry or go to another man, that is not illegal. Paul uses this kind of example to explain our relationship with the law.

If we don’t want to be tied down by the law, we have to die. Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross and we have been unified with Him in His death, so we are no longer held accountable for our sins. If you are caught in the law, then there is no answer for you other than death. However, Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. We have been unified in that death with Him, therefore, we have been completely liberated from the law and now, no one can use the law and persecute us saying, “You are a sinner,” why? That is the gospel of Jesus Christ who died on the cross.

When Jesus Christ proclaimed the gospel to all the accusers holding stones, they all fled.

Romans 7:11 says that, “All the commandments have deceived me and put me to death,” what does that mean? It means we have sin, that we have a law we are not able to keep. Because of that sin, I’m now sentenced to death as a punishment or price for sin. Then, why does he say that the commandment deceived him? Because anyone who sins is of the devil.

Satan deceives us with the law, “You weren’t able to obey that, then. This is all you will amount to; this is all you could do. There is nothing you will amount to when you live life.” Satan continues to deceive us with these. However, the very reason why God gave us the commandments to begin with is intended to bring life. That is Romans 7:10.

The reason the Lord gave us the law was to bring us life. However, Satan deceives us using the law by capturing us in the guilt trip of our sin. We know that we have sin because of the law, however, it shouldn’t end with that. The reason why God gave us the law is so that we can see through the law that we are sinners, and therefore, hold onto the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ.

The law, therefore, is a guiding teacher that takes us back to Jesus Christ. However, Satan will cut off that connection. Instead of making you right again with the life of Jesus Christ, he only punishes you and accuses you of being a sinner and therefore kills you. These are the problems arising in the church and family.

Why do you think people fight? It’s because someone did something wrong according to some standard. What do you think is the reason why Jesus Christ came? The reason why Jesus Christ came and says, “Hold onto me,” is because we don’t have the ability to do it on our own. With our physical strength, we have no choice but to be at this low level. That is why God promised us to give us the filling of the Holy Spirit.

2) In Christ
That is why Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Jesus Christ has finished everything on the cross, now no one can condemn us for being sinners. When Jesus Christ wrote the words of the gospel on the ground, all the demon-possessed people who were trying to kill the woman fled. All the people who were controlled Satan to kill this woman fled because, in Romans 8:2, through Jesus Christ, we have been set free from the law of sin and death by the law of the spirit who gives life.

Then, should I leave someone be, even if they keep sinning? That’s what’s ironic. I have to tell them about their sin and quickly cast it out. I have to punish that person so they can see the fight resulting from their own incorrect doings. But the Lord did not come to this earth to do that. That is something someone does when they don’t know the meaning of people and don’t know the meaning of the law.

We do not have the ability to perfectly obey all of God’s laws, so you are under some misconception that you have some kind of hope to do it yourself. Only Jesus Christ alone can completely fulfill the law. In other words, only God Himself can perfectly obey the law. God came to earth in the flesh as Jesus Christ, and that’s why He had no sin. We can only be liberated from and bring completion to the law when the spirit of Jesus Christ comes into us.

Romans 8:4 says, “In order that the righteous requirement of the law may be fully met in us. We do not live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.” You will never be able to fulfill the law with your uprightness, your morals, or your ethical thinking. Paul was under the misconception that he perfectly obeyed all the laws, and that’s why Paul confessed this misconception that he was blameless in the law. He is saying he had no lust or sexual immorality, even though on the inside he was full of it. That is why, from God’s eyes, you are a sinner, but you think you’re righteous, “I’ve never sinned and I’ve succeeded until this point.” But one day, when you stand in front of the gospel, all of that is revealed and Paul completely fell to the ground.

Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates our thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Before the words of Jesus Christ come into my heart, I think I’m right; I think I’m okay, but the moment the Word of God comes into me, all my inner darkness comes out and is revealed. That’s why it’s impossible to save other people unless it is only by the gospel. Without the gospel, you will only be pressed down and oppressed; you will not be liberated. That is why the Lord has come into us as His Spirit.

In today’s passage, Jesus Christ says to the adulterous woman, “I will not condemn you, either. I will not condemn you for your sin,” because when the words of Jesus Christ come into someone, there is nothing else to accuse them of. But there has never been a situation where Jesus Christ rejected the law. Jesus Christ acknowledges the sin and says, “Now, leave your life of sin,” what does that mean? He is saying, “Do not go against the law and become a sinner.”

How do you think this woman lived afterward? Do you think she had the ability and her own physical strength to not sin? No. That is why I think this woman followed Jesus. I think when Jesus Christ took the cross, she was in the area and was crying because there was not a single person in the world who acknowledged her or protected her; there was only Jesus Christ, isn’t that grace? There are some people who think there is no hope because of their illnesses and diseases. If a human has strength but loses their strength, they turn around. If someone loses all their strength because of an illness, they can no longer take care of themselves or other people. That is why Jesus Christ never speaks in those terms.

He is telling you to enjoy the eternal life that allows you to be liberated from that disease eternally. You have been living and enduring for such a long time, obeying the law in difficulty. Now, be strengthened in the gospel. People don’t say this, people accuse you, judge you, and try to press you down. That is the skill of people. But only the Jesus Christ who is within you says, “I have no sin.”

Romans 8:15 says we have not received a spirit that makes us a slave to fear, but a spirit of sonship. We are not slaves to fear anymore. Now, we have received the spirit of Jesus Christ, and therefore we are children of God. In my house, there are two small rooms and I gave one of them to my daughter. Now that she’s a certain age, she won’t let me go into her room anymore, and I said, “Why? This is my house,” but she says, “No, this is my room.” I ask, “Do you pay rent?” She said, “No, but it’s still my room. Dad, stop coming into my room.” If anything, she would say the whole house is her house.

Do you think she is a conman, trying to swindle me? I pay all the rent; she doesn’t pay anything, so how can she so boldly proclaim that everything is hers? She isn’t lying; she seriously believes that. So, she doesn’t make money, she doesn’t pay money, but she boldly enjoys it because it is hers. Why? Because she is my daughter, and she is my child who lives with me.

You now have a relationship of being a child of God, and all the background of the Kingdom of God is now mine. But we have a spirit of slavery that tries to earn things by doing things. There isn’t a single time where my daughter earns money, and if anything, she is disruptive to my money. If anything, I try to rest and she bothers me, or if I try to rest on this side of the room, she’ll follow me and bother me there. She just does whatever she wants.

If she wants ice cream, then after church ends, she says, “Let’s go get ice cream.” I have to pay for everything, I have to drive her, so how is she able to yell so boldly to demand this? Because she’s my child. We have received the spirit of sonship, we are the children of God, and God regards us, saying, “You are no longer sinners.” Does this mean that we’re never going to sin again? Paul was conflicted by that, saying, “There are two laws inside of me, the law of sin is controlling me.” Because he spent so many years of his life under the slavery of sin and the law, he was always dragged around by his nature.

That is when Paul confesses in Romans 8:2, “Because of Jesus Christ, I have been set free from the law of sin and death by the law of the spirit of life.” He enjoys that everything that belongs to God now belongs to me. Why am I not able to enjoy it? We’ve been enslaved by Satan so long, we’re always afraid of what he’s thinking.

3) Those Who Save the World
The one who is able to boldly enjoy what is God’s is the one who enjoys liberation, because God’s things are mine, and my things are God’s, so there is no need for you to protect your own possessions because it all belongs to God. Everything that belongs to God now belongs to me. The kingdom of God and the eternal background of the Kingdom of God are mine. I am weak, but the power and strength of God are now mine.

Conclusion

1. The Gospel that Liberates Us from All Law and Sin
   Then, how can we keep going, not sinning against this covenant, but fulfilling the covenant? Quickly escape from your frame of legalistic thinking and enjoy the gospel, enjoy being a child of God. There’s no reason for you to sell your body to make money, and there’s no reason for you to be dragged around by Satan and your sexual immorality to commit these kinds of sins. Every single day, God gives us the strength and grace to complete the law that He has given us.

It’s okay even if you never commit a sexually immoral act again. Life is not about trying to police our behaviors with ethics and morality, but it is because of the grace of God that He still regards us as His children, as righteous, but that gospel is disappearing. There are so many churches and seminaries, but only the legal aspect and the law are coming to fruition. People are emphasizing the Word of God but they are always accusing people of their lifestyle, and they’re always emphasizing the lifestyle of the law. However, nobody, not this woman, has the power to obey the law, but everyone keeps telling her to live an upright life.

But the Lord continues to tell us the power of the gospel that allows us to live that upright life, but the churches are telling us the opposite. That’s why the churches fight. That is why the churches have no power to save the world because people, by themselves, are oppressed by their own legalism, oppressed by their own guilt, and they’re completely [lost] in mental affliction. They’re living in fear of the future, but the Lord has liberated us from all of that on the cross and says, “I am with you because you are My child.”

From that point on, He desires to give us spiritual strength. Our prayer and the filling of the Holy Spirit is pulling God’s power into my life, but there are some people who have such a strong sense of conscience that they try to not to live with God’s strength, but they try to live with their own power. What happens if someone like that is like my daughter? They always have to look and be afraid of what I’m going to say, because she knows she doesn’t repent. Then every night, she has that guilty conscience because she knows what I think, and she knows she doesn’t make money, and because she understands that I’m giving her money and giving her a place to live, then she always has to feel bad and guilty, working her way through life doing dishes and chores. So actually, the better I treat her and the more things I do for her, she becomes even more oppressed by her guilt because there’s nothing she’s done to deserve it.

Then, how will she live? You don’t have to do that. You don’t have to fall into your guilt, “Because you are My child and I am your Father, and everything I have is yours. Enjoy this as much as you want.” This is the gospel. Is this gospel being proclaimed? Are you guys personally, in your life and your family, are you enjoying this gospel? Or are your proclaiming this gospel to yourself? You’re dying by yourself because you’re not proclaiming the gospel to yourself.

People can all fall and all make mistakes, but what do you think the Lord will say? “It’s okay, I have the power to do that, and I will give you that power.” That’s what the Lord will say, and we have to continuously put the words of the gospel into our hearts 24 hours a day, but people are so entrenched with legalism. We look at world evangelization and think, “How can I do that? It’s impossible,” but the Lord has already promised to do it Himself, and He promised to give us the filling of the Holy Spirit, and when we pray, we are holding onto the things that belong to God and enjoy it ourselves.

Why do we hate praying? Because we think that even if we pray, nothing is going to work out. However, if you truly believe that, at the moment you pray, God will give you an answer that makes you excited to pray. If you have an appointment to meet someone you really hate, it’s really suffering, but if there’s someone I really like, I always want to meet them. If you truly think about and believe the promises God has promised to give you whenever you pray, you’ll always want to be praying.

The fact that you are unable to pray means that you have a nature of legalism, and because of that, you have to force prayer like it’s labor, so it’s hard and you avoid praying. Why? Because first and foremost, you’re not able to enjoy the gospel. We don’t enjoy the gospel by doing anything, but we enjoy the gospel by simply believing in the fact that the Lord has died on the cross for all of our sins and is with us and is now guiding us and calls us righteous.

2. New Life that Follows the Guidance of the Holy Spirit
   We are His children, but we are not able to audaciously enjoy this, thinking there’s something we have to do. We’re always caught under this guilt trip, “I’m living my life in such a shameful way; does the Lord still love me?” But the Lord is saying, “Regardless of all that, you are still My child, and I know that you don’t have the ability to live your life on your own, and that’s why I’m promising to be with you through the Holy Spirit.” The churches need a person like this who is able to give this gospel and this strength.
   
3. Save the People Who Have Fallen into the World, Satan, and Sin
   The world does not have this gospel at all, so we need a person who is able to relay this gospel to the world. Right now, everybody is trapped up in the snares of Satan because they are caught in their own standards, the standards of the law, and the standards of the world, and we have lost all hope for the future, but the Lord is telling us, “It’s okay, I have fulfilled everything and you are My possession and I will hold onto you eternally, leading you forward.” Those words of God should always move your heart, eternally. When you go out into the world, I hope you will save people, save them with the gospel. That is the work over which God has made us responsible.

The church cannot do this, only the people who have the gospel can do this. This is the message of the church, this is the image of the church that God and Jesus Christ are requesting of us. That is how you will save this church with the gospel. I hope that everything you are doing at work will be used for missions and evangelism of the gospel. I pray that all the devotion you are doing for temple construction and temple purchase is a covenant that you can hold onto to relay this gospel until the ends of the age.

The gospel that has liberated you from every problem, even from death, the gospel that has set you free from disease, and the gospel that gives you freedom from all your human limitations, and now the healing that allows us to receive the power of God so that we can obey the law. I hope you and I will be the ones who save this world.

Prayer
Now, let us hold onto the Word of God and pray together. What am I being caught up by that gives me no hope? The Lord has said, “I have fulfilled everything and I am with you always, and I will give you strength. I did not call you to accuse you, but I have called you to liberate you with the gospel.” I hope you will enjoy the freedom of the gospel that has fulfilled everything. I hope you will stop trying to live by your own mental strength, but hold onto the strength of God that allows you to obey the law and save others.