John 8 begins with the account of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees brought her to Jesus to see what his response would be to the question of whether or not to follow the Law and stone her. Jesus, being the only righteous judge told them to cast the first stone if they were without sin. No one was able to fulfill this request as they each took an inner look at themselves and found they had sin in their lives. We are no different, and should never judge others as we are no more righteous than they. We should let the Lord and His very word be every man's judge.
The Pharisees continue to challenge Jesus in questioning his authority. We must be careful in this same light. When we become judgmental of others and the church, the root can usually be traced to having a problem with doctrine. Whether it is the Godhead, salvation, or holiness, we must not let the Pharisee "spirit" cloud our judgment in making us critical of things we should hold dear.
Jesus continues the chapter by making it plainly clear that we have a choice in what we want to believe. Our actions will let others know who we love and serve. If we continue in sin, then we are servants of it. If the Lord is whom we truly love, then we will obey His commandments, not challenging them at every turn as the Pharisees did even unto the point to almost stoning Him. We will love His word, trusting it with an unfeigned faith that pleases Him.
Have we been critical of someone or something in the church lately? Maybe we have allowed that Pharisee spirit to invade our inner being. That spirit only desires to be in rebellion against doctrine truths. In contrast to that, we ought to let the Holy Ghost fill us up all over again, until we are truly in love with the Lord and all of his holy word. We need the transforming, renewing power of the Lord every day!
Brother Dwight Chandler
Monday
John 8
