Let he that is without sin cast the first stone, is one of the most used Bible scripture among Christians. Although many Christians don’t spend much time in the Bible themselves, let alone study the Bible, this scripture is engraved in their minds and much used. It is a good thing to speak the Word, as long as it is used in the right context and for the glory and honor of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. But unfortunately, this does not always happen and many scriptures are taken out of context, including this scripture. This Bible scripture is not used to exhort people to live holy lives and walk in obedience to Jesus Christ and establish His Kingdom, but it is used to applaud sin and the sinner, and to approve and accept the works of darkness, and to silence the Christians, who do walk in the Truth after the will of God and call the people to repentance and the removal of sin. But what did Jesus mean by, Let he who is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her? Does he who is without sin cast the first stone still apply in the New Covenant?
Read the Bible in the right context
When you read and study the Bible it’s important to read the scriptures in the right context and to know when the words were written (in which dispensation), where the words were spoken, by whom the words were spoken, to whom the words were spoken and meant for, in which context the words were spoken and the message (Read also: What are the three dispensations in the Bible?).
Before looking into John 8, where Jesus said, let he that is without sin among you let him cast a stone at her, it’s important to know what happened before and the situation between Jesus and the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees. Therefore let’s begin at the feeding of the multitude in John 6 and look at what happened from that moment until the moment the adulterous woman was brought to Jesus in the temple.
The same multitude, who followed Jesus because of His miracle, left Jesus because of His words
After Jesus fed the multitude of 5000 men (women and children not counted) in Galilee with 5 loaves of bread and two fishes, Jesus withdrew Himself into the mountains. Jesus withdrew Himself because after the miracle of the feeding of the multitude, the Jews considered Jesus a prophet and Jesus perceived that they would take Him by force, to make Him a king.
But this soon changed, after Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum (His residence) and said to the same multitude, that He was the Bread of life that was sent by His Father and that everyone, who would eat His flesh and drink His blood would have eternal life and He would raise them up at the last day. He that would eat His flesh and drink His blood would dwell in Him and He in him (her).
The Jews, who considered Jesus a prophet and wanted to make Him king, a day before, couldn’t listen and bear the hard words of Jesus and so they left Jesus, who was left behind with only twelve of His disciples (John 6 (Read also: Following Jesus for the signs and wonders).
The Jews sought to kill Jesus, because Jesus healed on the sabbath and made Himself equal to God
Jesus walked in Galilee, because He didn’t want to walk in Judea, since the Jews sought to kill Jesus. This is very important to know, since God had commanded in the ten commandments of the law of Moses, which was meant for the old man who belonged to God’s people (Israël), ‘thou shalt not kill’. Therefore, the Jews didn’t keep this commandment
Why did the Jews sought to kill Jesus? The Jews sought to kill Jesus because, according to them, Jesus had broken the sabbath, by healing the lame man, and because Jesus called God His Father and therefore made Himself equal to God (John 5:1-18).
While His disciples went to Judea to celebrate the Jewish feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stayed in Galilee. But after His brethren were gone up, Jesus also went in secret to the feast (John 7:1-10).
Jesus taught in the temple
The Jews sought Jesus at the feast and asked where He was. There was much murmuring among the people concerning Jesus. Some of them said, He was a good man, while others said that Jesus deceived the people. But no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.
In the middle of the feast of Tabernacles, Jesus went to the temple and taught the people. The Jews marveled at His teachings and wondered how He knew letters, while He had not studied. Jesus told them that His doctrine was not His but of His, the Father, Who had sent Him.
Jesus talked to them and conversated with them, and said to the Jews, among others, that while none of them kept the law, why they wanted to kill Him? and the Jews accused Jesus of having a devil.
They tried to take Him but no one laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come.
Many of the people believed in Him and said, “When Christ comes will He do more miracles than these which this Man hath done?”
The Pharisees heard the people murmuring about Him and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Jesus.
In the synagogue, Jesus testified of His departure and on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles about the living water. There arose again a division among the people because of Him and some of them wanted to take Jesus, but no man laid hands on Jesus.
The officers of the chief priests and Pharisees returned to them without Jesus
The chief priests and Pharisees had commanded the officers to take Jesus and bring them to them. However, the officers returned without Jesus. When they asked the officers why they had not brought Jesus, the officers answered, that never had a man spoken like Jesus.
The Pharisees asked if they were also deceived and accused Jesus that He didn’t know the law of Moses, because according to them, Jesus didn’t keep the law of Moses.
However, Nicodemus, who was one of the Pharisees, said that their law didn’t judge before they would hear Him and know what He was doing. The Pharisees asked him, if he was also from Galilee and that he had to search and find out that out of Galilee no prophet had arisen (John 7:45-52).
This and much more, but you can read that yourself, took place in the temple, where later on the adulterous woman was brought to be judged to be stoned.
What was the true reason why the chief priests and Pharisees tried to kill Jesus?
The chief priests and the Pharisees wanted to take Jesus and kill Him, because according to them Jesus didn’t keep the law of Moses and because Jesus made Himself equal to God, but the true reason was ofcourse, that Jesus testified of their evil works.
Although they were the rulers of Israel and were appointed in the office as overseers and shepherds of God’s people, they didn’t belong to God and didn’t listen to His words, and knew not and didn’t believe the Scriptures that testified of Jesus, and they even wanted to silence the Son of God and get rid of Him by killing Him.
These men belonged to the devil, who hates God, and everyone, who belongs to God and wants to eliminate them. The love of God was not in them, but hate and death reigned in the heart of these chief priests and Pharisees, who brought the woman, who was caught in adultery to Jesus (Read also: What is the difference between Jesus and the religious leaders?).
The woman, who was caught in adultery, was brought to Jesus
And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more (John 8:2-11)
Jesus spoke these words in the Old Covenant, before His crucifixion, death, and resurrection from the dead. God’s redemptive work for fallen mankind had not taken place yet, nor the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the new creation.
Jesus spoke these words to the scribes and Pharisees, the (religious) leaders of God’s people, who were still the old creation and belonged to the generation of fallen mankind (sinners).
They were the old carnal man and therefore unspiritual and subject to the elements of the world (spirits of the world).
They lived under the law and had the law of Moses as their schoolmaster, which kept them (guarded), through obedience, under the law.
However, these (religious) leaders didn’t obey the words of God and were not subject to the law of Moses, and didn’t walk righteous in the will of God, as we can read in the previous Scriptures.
But they did evil works, which derived from their evil heart, whereby they testified that they didn’t belong to God (Read also: What are the similarities between the religious leaders of God’s people then and now?).
They had usurped a position of power, for selfish reasons and had the same (sinful) nature as their father the devil, since they were murderers just like their father and wanted to be the god of these people and be exalted and honored by them.
They didn’t know God and didn’t love God above all and didn’t love their neighbours as themselves. They were not compassionate with God’s people and were no shepherds, who took care of the flock and fed, protected, helped, and led them to eternity. They were selfish and only concerned with themselves.
And this Jesus, was a threat to them, since His righteous works testified of their evil works.
They hated their brother Jesus, just like Cain, who hated Abel, because his works were righteous and God was well pleased with Abel and respected his offering. Because of the fact that the righteous works of Abel testified of the evil works of Cain, Cain hated his brother Abel and killed his brother Abel (Read also: Why did God not respect Cain’s offering?).
The same spirit, who dwelled in Cain, dwelled in the scribes and Pharisees (with some exceptions of course) and encouraged them to kill Jesus.
Why was the adulterous woman brought to Jesus?
These scribes and Pharisees didn’t come to Jesus with the adulterous woman, because they loved God and wanted to obey His law and do His will and wanted to prevent the curse of this evil would come over the congregation of Israel. No, they only came to Jesus with the adulterous woman to tempt Jesus, so that they had something to accuse Him. Since they were evil, their intention was evil.
They asked Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest Thou?
They tried to flatter Jesus by calling Him Master, but Jesus knew their hearts and their intention and wasn’t tempted by their words.
“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”
Jesus didn’t say anything and stooped down and wrote with His finger on the ground. Nobody knows what Jesus wrote with His finger, we can only guess.
Maybe Jesus wrote with His finger the ten commandments of the law of Moses, since the scribes and Pharisees confronted Jesus with the law of Moses. and God wrote (twice) with His finger His ten commandments on tablets of stone.
But again, this is just an assumption. No one knows what Jesus wrote, since it is not written in the Bible, and we can’t build a doctrine based on an assumption.
We only know what Jesus said, when they continued asking Him, namely, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. After these words, Jesus stooped down again and wrote on the ground.
Jesus answered their question indirectly, but not as they expected.
Jesus confirmed the commandment of God, which He had given to Moses.
However, since Jesus knew the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees and their evil works, and knew they were hypocrites and murderers, since they and their fathers killed the prophets and they also wanted to kill the Son of God, and were as guilty as the adulterous woman and even more guilty, since they were the leaders of Israel and knew the scriptures and had a responsibility toward God and the people, but had blood on their hands, Jesus said, ‘he that is without sin.’
Since none of them were without sin, but had done many wicked works in their lives and had not given heed to the call to repentance of John the Baptist and they didn’t repent and be baptized and refused to turn from their wicked way and remove their wicked works and bear the fruits that meet repentance, their own conscience convicted them and they walked away one by one, beginning at the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman.
When Jesus raised Himself and saw nobody, except the woman, Jesus asked her, woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? The woman answered Jesus, no man Lord.
Since Jesus was not appointed as Judge of the law and the purpose of His coming to the earth was not to condemn the people unto death, but to save people from death, Jesus said to the woman, Neither do I condemn thee (unto death (Read also: For which judgment did Jesus come into this world?)).
“Go and sin no more!”
However, Jesus gave the woman a commandment, namely, go and sin no more!
Jesus didn’t say, ah you poor thing, you can’t help it. You are just born in a fallen world and you will always remain a sinner. No! Jesus didn’t say that, but Jesus said, go and sin no more!
The adulterous woman had made a conscious choice to rebel against God and disobey His commandment and violate the law of Moses, which could have kept her guarded, by committing adultery.
Jesus had saved her life from sinners and saved her from (the sentence to) death. And now that she had met Jesus the Christ and Jesus had forgiven her sin and commanded her to sin no more and not commit adultery again, it was up to the woman if she would obey the words of Jesus and keep His commandment or reject His words and commandment.
Does ‘he who is without sin cast the first stone’ still apply in the New Covenant?
Jesus spoke the words ‘he that is without sin cast the first stone’ in the Old Covenant to the leaders of God’s people, who were still the old creation and didn’t believe in Jesus and had not repented of their sins and were not baptized. This same applies to the adulterous woman, who was brought to Jesus. She was also the old creation, who belonged to the generation of fallen mankind and belonged to God’s people, and lived under the law.
Therefore, Jesus didn’t speak these words in the New Covenant to the new man, who does believe in Jesus Christ and has repented of his sin and is baptized in water and has received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and is born again in Christ, which means that the flesh with its sinful nature has died in Christ and the spirit is raised from the dead and the Holy Spirit abides in the new man.
The new man is not a slave of sin and death anymore!
But the new man is delivered from sin and death and is transferred from the darkness into the Kingdom of the Son, where Jesus Christ is King and reigns, and belongs to the Church; the Body of Christ on earth (Read also: Do you always remain a sinner?)
The new man is not a son of the devil anymore, like the old man; old creation, and therefore the new man is not a sinner, who lives in rebellion and disobedience to God.
But the new man has become a son of God and has been made righteous by the blood of Jesus and holy (separated from the world and devoted unto God) and therefore should walk holy and righteous in the will of God.
The new man has a new Father, a new nature, and a new position in Christ
Through regeneration in Christ, the new man has a new Father, a new nature (God’s nature), a new position in Christ, and shall no longer live as a slave of sin and as a victim under the elements of this world, but the new man shall reign in Christ as a victor over the elements of this world (Read also: How to walk in the dominion God has given to the new creation?).
In the Old Covenant, the old man had already power to walk righteous in the darkness and resist sin through the obedience of the law of Moses and because of that not sin, because otherwise Jesus had not commanded to sin no more.
But Jesus did say, go and sin no more. Therefore they were able to not sin
They couldn’t do anything about their fallen state and couldn’t change their sinful nature, but they could do something about the way they lived.
If the old man was already able to not sin, how much more should the new man, who is restored (healed) from their fallen state as sinner and made righteous by the blood of Jesus and reconciled with God and created after the image of Jesus and has God’s nature, sin no more.
Whosoever follows Jesus shall never walk in darkness
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12)
The new man is not the old man, who walks in darkness and has not the sinful nature (nature of the devil) that is controlled by the elements of this world and perseveres in sin.
But the new man has God’s nature and walks after the Spirit in the light in obedience to God the Father and His Word and doesn’t want to walk in disobedience to God in darkness, because the new man loves God above all.
The old man, the sinner, doesn’t live anymore, but Christ lives in the new man and shall become more visible during the process of sanctification, when the person is discipled and renews his mind with the Word of God and put off the old man and put on the new man.
As the new man spiritually matures, the new man shall get more enemies and experience more and more violent spiritual attacks from the darkness, since the world hates the new man, just like the world hated Jesus (a.o. John 7:7; 15:18-25, 1 John 2:15-17).
The devil comes as an angel of light with half-truths from the Bible, which are lies. He shall do anything he can to tempt people and mislead them and attack and destroy the creation of the new man.
Jesus didn’t condemn the sinner but did judge the sin
Jesus had not come to the world to judge the sinners and execute the punishment of sin, which is death. But Jesus had come to save the sinners and give them eternal life. That’s why Jesus said, neither do I condemn thee.
But Jesus judged the sin, by saying, go and sin no more!
Misusing the words of Jesus to perpetuate sin
A child of God shall never approve of sin and perpetuate sin and pleat for the sinner and approve the behavior of sinners, let alone, use the words of Jesus to approve sin and perpetuate sin. But a child of God shall always judge sin and call the sinner to repentance, the removal of sin, since a child of God loves his neighbour and knows the truth, that sin leads to death and not to eternal life.
A child of the devil shall protect, approve and perpetuate sin and take a stand for the sinner and exonerate the sinner and silence the righteous, by taking the words of Jesus, ‘let he who is without sin cast the first stone’ out of context and using them for the flesh.
Just like the devil, when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, by using the words of God for the flesh. B
But Jesus knew His Father and His will and was not tempted by the devil, but overcame the devil with the Word and used the words of God in the right context (Read also: I will give you the riches of the world!).
And so the sons of God (this applies to both males and females) should overcome the sons of the devil with the truth of God’s Word and shall not be tempted and misled by half-truths, which are nothing more than lies.
A child of the devil will always side with the sinner, darkness and his father the devil, but a child of God abhors sin, just like his Father, and shall just like Jesus, always call the sinner to repentance (Read also: Was Jesus a Friend of publicans? and The call to repentance)
Bible scriptures that are taken out of context are used to represent and establish the kingdom of darkness
That’s why you will know exactly, who belongs to the darkness (the world) and who belongs to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
If you have repented and laid down your life as a sinner and are born again in Christ you have been made righteous. Not by your works but by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and by His blood. The Word and the Holy Spirit shall reign in your life and from your new nature and new righteous state, you shall walk after the Spirit in obedience to God and shall live holy and righteous in the will of God.
Everyone in a church should be born again in Christ, with the exception of visitors. This is a condition that Jesus set for His Church that lives in the New Covenant and not in the Old Covenant.
When you will go to a brother or sister of the church and confront him or her with something that goes against the will of God and you warn, correct, or call him or her to repentance, and your brother or sister or someone else, says, “who do you think you are? He that is without sin cast the first stone”, then you can refute these words from now on with the truth of God.
Because if you say you are born again and have been made righteous and are delivered from sin and death, you shall do righteous works and not bear the fruit of death, which is sin.
The devil tries to mislead everyone and keep them in bondage with his lies
This Scripture is taken out of context and is overused and misused to ensure that nobody has to change and everyone can stay the way they are and live as the old man, as a slave of sin.
And that’s exactly what the devil wants. He wants to keep everyone in bondage through his lies. He has used this scripture, which he has taken out of context, and applied it in the church to build his kingdom and let his kingdom reign.
A carnal name christian, who is not born again and doesn’t know the Word experientially, will be misled and shall believe his lies, because they judge from their carnal mind and their feelings and emotions and feel sorry for the victim.
But a born again Christian, who is born again and spiritual, judges from the Word and discerns the spirits, and recognizes the lying religious spirits from the darkness. And because the believer knows the Word and doesn’t have a lack of knowledge and lives in communion with the God the Father, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, Who abides in the believer, he or she refutes this lie with the truth of God.
Partial truths are lies, that the devil uses to accomplish his mission. But don’t be misled by the devil, nor by his children, but follow the example of Jesus and stay in Him.
Never be intimidated and never become discouraged by these pious words, which don’t call people to repentance and holy life, but ensure that the sinner stays as he is and sin is tolerated in church and the devil stays the god in the lives of people and they remain subject to the elements of this world.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
