Encounters with Jesus in the Ashes
The light was dim in my bedroom that night. I knelt, face-down, the fibers of the carpet tickling my nose. The world felt like it was shrinking around me to contain only this room, this moment. I had been blind for so many years, living—no, relishing—in sin. I chased it and held it near to me like my favorite pet. But that night the veil was lifted, and my sin was exposed before me. No longer could I take cover under the guise of being a “good person.”
Tears dropped to the floor as conviction crumbled the hardness of my heart. It was in this crumbling of everything I thought I knew that Jesus found me. As I was pursuing sin, he was unrelenting in his pursuit of me. This was my “go and sin no more” moment. In a blink of an eye, my worldview shifted in alignment with the God who created me, and the trajectory of my whole life changed.
He sought me, he saved me, and there was no way he wouldn’t change me.
A Woman and a Trap
There’s another woman whose life held a similar story. She was merely a pawn in their game—a test and a trap for the Lord Jesus Christ. The scribes and Pharisees discovered her sin of adultery and decided to use it to make a point. To them, her life meant nothing. They didn’t care if she lived or died. Dragging her into the middle of the crowd where Jesus was, they said, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” (John 8:4–5).
Scripture doesn’t tell us how this nameless woman felt as she stood in front of these men with their threatening looks. Perhaps she was bowed down with the weight of her shame and terrified as she seemingly stared death in the face. Maybe she was imagining what was to come, already dreading the sharp stones striking her flesh. Would God be gracious enough to let one hit her in the temple, ending her life quickly, or would she experience a slow, pelting death? Did she feel utterly hopeless?
The woman waited for the verdict as Jesus wrote something in the dirt with his finger. The Pharisees and scribes kept asking him until finally he silenced them saying, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).
In pretending to care about the law and holiness, these men exposed their hard and darkened hearts. They sought to catch Jesus and find him guilty; instead, he caught them. One by one he exposed their sin, and each of them walked away (John 8:9).
The woman was left alone with the man who had saved her. She was preparing to die for her sin just a moment prior, but now she stood, both feet on the ground, unscathed. Jesus asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” When she responded, “No one, Lord,” Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:10–11). Jesus was the only person in the crowd who was qualified to stone her. Instead, he poured out his grace on her. He sought her, saved her, and now he would change her.
I often ponder what her life must have been like after her encounter with Jesus in the dirt that day. She was face-to-face with death until the Son of God stepped in between and spared her. How did that change her? Did she go about her days with a new peace, a new desire for holiness, and a new worldview? Did she often ponder that life-changing moment with awe flooding her heart?
We don’t know for sure. But we do know that those whom Jesus saves, he also sanctifies (Phil. 1:6). When we have an encounter with Jesus in our ashes, we cannot remain unchanged.
Face-to-Face with Death
Every single person, prior to believing the gospel, walks around face-to-face with spiritual death. The man we nod to at the grocery store as we walk by with our cart is hunted by this great enemy. The lady next to us in the waiting room at our doctor’s office is staring death in the eyes, even though she may be spiritually blind to it. Death stands before us, threatening us with sharp stones, and Jesus is our only hope.
The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). But if you are a believer, then you know what it’s like to have the veil lifted to see Jesus offering you eternal life in him instead. You’ve felt terror turn to peace, dread to comfort. You have relished in the safety of your Savior who has reminded you that he’s not yet finished with you. You’ve experienced your “go and sin no more” moment. Jesus sought you, saved you, and he is changing you day by day.
Sin No More
It’s not that we no longer sin. In fact, God’s Word declares us a liar if we say we have no sin in our hearts (1 John 1:8). None of us would still be gripping our stones had we stood at the “trial” of the woman caught in adultery. All Christians still battle sin because we are still living in fleshly, corrupt bodies. But we have a new heart with new desires that long to obey and please God. The Holy Spirit lives inside us making us long for holiness rather than sin.
In Colossians 3, we are encouraged to look to Christ, fixing our eyes on him rather than the things of this world (vv. 1–2). Directly after that passage, we find the “put offs” and “put ons” of Scripture. This is not a random choice made by Paul.
We often want to jump to the imperatives of Scripture. What do we do now? How do we obey? What does God expect of me? These are wonderful questions that we should care about. Yet, we cannot obey or please God without being first immersed in the gospel. Our eyes must be fixed on Jesus—he is the only true path to holiness and growth in Christlikeness. If we want to be sanctified, then we must ponder Jesus. Ponder who he is, what he has done, and how he lived on this earth.
When Jesus plucks us out of our own ashes, he doesn’t expect perfection—he has already attained that on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). We have died with Christ, and he will raise us to life. He has purchased our right-standing with God. Still, he does want to change us, little by little, to love sin less and to desire him more.
If you have trusted in Jesus alone to save you from your sin, there is no condemnation for you (Rom. 8:1). Savor this truth; let it sink into every crevice of your mind. Then, go, and strive by the power of the Holy Spirit, with your eyes glued to Christ, to sin no more.