Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 'Teacher,' they said to Jesus, ‘this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?’ They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him…

-John 8:1-6a NLT

…but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.

-John 8:6b NLT

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, 'All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!' Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

-John 8:7-8 NLT

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.

-John 8:9 NLT

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, 'Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?' 'No, Lord,' she said. And Jesus said, 'Neither do I. Go and sin no more.'

-John 8:10-11 NLT

GUILT from God’s perspective:

God’s

Unique

Intentional

Loving

Treatment

GUILT from Satan’s perspective:

Grief

United

In

Lifelong

Torment

The difference between guilt and shame is very clear in theory. We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what we are. A person feels guilt because he did something wrong. A person feels shame because he is something wrong.

-Lewis Smedes, Shame and Grace

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

-Isaiah 43:25

I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.

-Isaiah 44:22 NLT

Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

-Micah 7:19 NLT

…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

-Psalm 103:12 NIV

…I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.

-Hebrews 10:17 MSG

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

-Romans 8:1 NLT

Ponder the achievement of God. He doesn’t condone our sin, nor does He compromise his standard. He doesn’t ignore our rebellion, nor does he relax his demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, he assumed our sin and incredibly sentences Himself. God’s holiness is honored…our sin is punished…and we are redeemed. God does what we cannot do, so we can be what we dare not dream: perfect before God.

-Max Lucado, The Grip of Grace

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