“Go and Sin No More”—What Did Jesus Mean?

These well-known words of Jesus Christ come from two New Testament stories in the book of John—a man healed by the Pool of Bethesda (John 5) and a woman caught in adultery (John 8).

The latter story is more commonly associated with this command. But in both cases, Jesus told these individuals to “sin no more” after saving them from their circumstances and providing the hope and healing they desperately needed. It was the last thing He said before sending them on their way.

But what exactly did He mean?

Was it a literal, face-value command to stop sinning (despite our fallen nature and inability to overcome sin apart from God’s power)? Or was it more of a general “be good!” type of directive, like our parents would say when they dropped us off at school or a friend’s house?

Was it a commentary on the “amount” of sinfulness these two individuals had? Did it somehow indicate that they brought their circumstances on themselves?

Or was it calling attention to the same overarching ideal Jesus wants for all of us?

Or is there still more to it than that?

Jesus’ words were both cautionary and an encouragement—a call to action rather than a demand for perfection. But to better understand the power and meaning behind this send-off phrase, let’s go back into the Bible. And let’s look more closely at what was really going on in John 8.

As we do so together, we’ll cover:

• What sin is
• Why the adulterous woman in John 8 was brought to Jesus
• Jesus’ charge for the sinless to throw the first stone
• What we can learn from “go and sin no more”
• Lessons from the adulterous woman’s encounter with Jesus
• How to live out “go and sin no more”

Let’s begin by reviewing and clarifying what sin even is.

What is sin?

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Simply put, sin is anything that separates us from God.

The Greek word used for “sin” in the New Testament is hamartia, which essentially means “missing the mark” or “in error.”¹

So when any human does something selfish, hurtful, deceptive, destructive, inconsiderate, greedy, etc., that misses the mark of God’s way, which is rooted in love.

Many of the common manifestations of sin are addressed in the Ten Commandments, but sin also includes deeper motivations of the heart and mind—before they become actions.

“But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death” (James 1:14-15, CSB).

Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love—to love God with all of your heart, and to love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).

(Because how we treat other people is a good indicator of how well we love.)

Since God is love, it makes sense that any thoughts, motivations, or actions that oppose love will separate us from Him (1 John 4:8).

And no one is immune from sin—it corrupts every single human being (Romans 3:23; 7:14-23). That’s why we look to God for any hope of redemption, for any hope of overcoming sin in our life, however it manifests (Romans 3:24-26; 7:24-25).

Now that we’ve had a refresher on what sin really is and how it works, let’s dig into the story that made Jesus’ “Go and sin no more” command so well known. You can review it in John 8:1-11.

Why was the adulterous woman of John 8 brought to Jesus?

The Bible doesn’t mention what led the adulterous woman into the situation she was caught in. But the situation surrounding her being brought to Jesus was about more than this specific act of adultery.

The Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus with an ulterior motive in mind—they wanted to create an opportunity to arrest and eventually kill Him.

Early one morning, Jesus was teaching a crowd in the temple as He often did. Suddenly, the Pharisees brought a woman to Him who they said had been caught in the act of adultery. She had broken the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14)—so they demanded that Jesus pronounce judgment on her right then and there.

From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the Pharisees were threatened by Him because He spoke with authority about Scripture, claimed to be God, and gained a lot of popularity with the people.

Bringing the woman to Jesus was a setup for His arrest. According to Mosaic law, anyone caught in adultery had to die (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). But according to Roman law, you couldn’t execute someone without the governor’s permission.²

If Jesus had followed the one specific piece of Mosaic law that they wanted Him to in that moment and had her killed, He would have been in violation of Roman law and could have been arrested. On the other hand, if Jesus had followed Roman law, they could say He was in violation of Mosaic law, and the Pharisees could arrest Him.

The plan was pretty diabolical.

And when we understand the whole situation, we see that this entire ordeal wasn’t really about the adulterous woman at all. She was the pawn that the Pharisees were using against Jesus “that they might have evidence to accuse Him” (John 8:6, CSB).

But if the Pharisees indeed “brought a woman [before Jesus] who had been caught in adultery” (John 8:3, ESV, emphasis added)…how could they have possibly known exactly when to catch her in the act unless the whole ruse had been planned? In order for this to really work, it seems like the man would’ve had to be in on it, too. It all sounds pretty suspicious.

And speaking of the man…where was he, anyway?

The Mosaic law that the Pharisees were referring to states, “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death,” (Leviticus 20:10, ESV) and, “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman” (Deuteronomy 22:22).

If this was really about following Mosaic law to the letter, the Pharisees would have brought the man before Jesus, too. And the fact that he wasn’t there shows that the Pharisees were in violation of Mosaic law right from the beginning.

Jesus understood this, and more.

And His two-part response to the situation is one of the greatest examples of God’s love found in the Word of God.

1. Cast the first stone

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Jesus showed everyone that there was a bigger issue at hand. Bigger than trying to carry out one specific portion of Mosaic law. So He had an announcement for everyone who had gathered because of this spectacle:

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7, ESV).

He encouraged humility and repentance on the part of the accusers.

Initially, Jesus ignored the Pharisees and stooped low to write on the ground with His finger (John 8:6).

There is a lot of speculation about what Jesus wrote in the dirt. Some say that the fact that He wrote on the ground at all, in that moment, suggests that He was ignoring them altogether—that “this was a common method of signifying intentional disregard.”³

We don’t know exactly what He wrote, because it wasn’t recorded. But whatever it was, it got the attention of the crowd of Jews around Him and they pressed on even more, demanding that Jesus pronounce judgment on the adulterous woman (John 8:7).

This time, Jesus didn’t ignore them. He instead shifted the story away from her and onto the accusers. He acknowledged the law of Moses’ instruction to stone adulterers…but He also showed how she was equal to her executioners, and said only the sinless could throw the first stone (John 8:7).

Jewish law “specified that in punishment by stoning, the witnesses in the case should be the first to cast a stone.”⁴

The Pharisees were using Mosaic law to trap Jesus, and Jesus used Mosaic law to reveal their treachery. The crowd had no choice but to think about themselves and their own sin. As they did, they slowly, one by one, left the scene until “Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him” (John 8:9, ESV).

What a remarkable way to embody biblical law! Jesus didn’t minimize her sin or say she hadn’t sinned—if He had, He wouldn’t have said “cast the first stone” at all because there would have been no action to correct. But at the same time, He didn’t condemn her. Instead, He demonstrated great compassion for her and her accusers.

His ultimate goal was to bring everyone in that crowd closer to the glory of God. Publicly shaming and killing this woman wouldn’t have done that—but true repentance of sin would.

Jesus beat the Pharisees at their own game. Not only had Jesus not broken Roman or biblical law, He was also the only person in the entire crowd who was sinless and could have thrown a stone at her.

And ultimately, a death did occur for this woman’s sin, and everyone else’s sin, too—it was His death, not hers (1 Peter 3:18).

With the accusers gone, the woman was the only one left with Him. So Jesus turned His attention to saving her—not just from immediate death, but from ultimate death, or the “wages of sin” (Romans 6:23).

2. Go and sin no more

When Jesus instructed the accusers to cast the first stone, He was trying to save the woman’s life from being cut short. But when He said “go and sin no more,” He was providing a way for her soul to be saved for eternity by drawing nearer to Him in mind and action.

The Pharisees had an entire plan that included a setting (the temple), a cast of characters (the adulterous woman, themselves, and Jesus), and an objective (the arrest and death of Jesus). Jesus took that same context and changed the cast of characters so that He and the woman were the only people left.

“Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more’” (John 8:10-11, ESV).

He took a desperate situation and infused it with hope.

So when He said “Go and sin no more” to the woman as parting words, it was a testament to His love. It was a call for her to respond to the compassion and total forgiveness Jesus had given her with no questions asked about what brought her into the sinful circumstances she was caught in.

During His ministry, Jesus said “Come, follow Me” more than a dozen times. He said it to His disciples (Mark 1:17; Matthew 9:9; John 1:43), the rich young ruler (Luke 18:22), and anyone who serves Him (John 12:26).

“Come, follow Me” was a call to discipleship and learning directly from Him.

But to the woman, Jesus said “Go.” But go where?

Jesus knew she had sinned, just like we have all sinned (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23). He didn’t say, “You’re free to go back to whatever you were doing before! No need to change or grow!” He essentially said, “Go, live your life as a person changed by this experience. Keep walking with God.”

He didn’t give her any specific instructions on how to do that, which suggests she knew that what she was caught doing was wrong. So “go and sin no more” wasn’t about returning to something…it was about turning away from what she was caught in, and instead doing something new and better.

And since our actions are closely connected to our thoughts, it was a call to change the way she thought about her life, too (Romans 8:1-9).

But sometimes there’s a difference between what we know is right and what we choose to do. Paul explains this phenomenon in Romans 7:15-20:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (ESV)

It’s one of the paradoxes of the human condition. Sometimes we do what we know we shouldn’t do, maybe because of societal or family pressure, or because we want to be liked, or because we want to avoid specific consequences in some way. Or maybe just because it seems easier.

God calls us to a bigger, deeper way of thinking and a life characterized by growth and positive change. And He sent the Holy Spirit to “help us in our weakness” (Romans 8:26).

The Bible doesn’t say how the woman responded to Jesus. But the Bible does say how we can respond to Jesus.

What can we learn from this encounter with Jesus?

Photo by Stanley Morales

The story of the adulterous woman is relatable to all of us in some way. And the call to “go and sin no more” is a call for us, too.

Think of it like this. If Jesus was walking around today and we were caught and brought before Him for any sin whatsoever—be it cheating on taxes, physically hurting someone, spreading a rumor, robbing someone at gunpoint, or even just harboring jealousy—His charge to us would be the same: “Go and [cheat/harm/lie/steal/hate] no more.”

Move on. Grow. Change. Don’t let this sin define your life. Be careful not to fall prey to it again.

Just like we saw in John 8, Jesus won’t sentence us to death if we bring our struggles—whatever they may be—to Him. Instead, He inserts compassion into the situation for an opportunity to save us. An opportunity to course correct as we grow in faith (John 3:17).

It’s all about relationship. And there are several lessons we can learn from Jesus’ response to both the Pharisees and the adulterous woman.

No one knows our hearts like Jesus

The Pharisees were trying to get Jesus in trouble by publicly exposing the sin of the woman they put in front of Him. But instead, Jesus exposed the guilt in their own hearts.

Jesus challenged the Pharisees’ true intentions with His response. He essentially said, “Yes, she’s guilty of the sin you accuse her of. Yes, according to that part of the law you’re citing, her actions warrant stoning…but only those who haven’t sinned can carry that out.”

Jesus looked beyond the specific sinful action and targeted the real culprit of the day: the hearts and intentions of everyone involved.

The Pharisees wanted to see if Jesus would fall for their bait, but they didn’t count on Him using love to humble and expose them before Himself, the true Messiah and Savior of the world.

No one knows us like Jesus does, and no one can lift us from our guilt like Jesus can.

Jesus’ love exposes us but also lifts us up

The law condemns, but love restores. And there is no struggle or sin so deep that Jesus can’t handle it.

The Pharisees wanted to condemn Jesus by way of another’s sin, but little did the Pharisees know that they were actually bringing her to the only Person who could completely save her from sin.

And Jesus forgave her first, then told her to repent—to change her life, and to guard against what had previously led her astray.

This means she didn’t have to promise to change before Jesus forgave her. He didn’t make “sin no more” a condition for His forgiveness.

Because His ultimate goal was to lift her out of something rather than make her feel farther away from hope.

“Go and sin no more” was a gentle yet earnest call for change. It was a call for her to lift her head up from shame and follow His example with courage.

Thinking back to an earlier example, let’s consider the parent dropping their child off at a social event, calling out, “be good!” while the child bounds out of the car. But let’s say the child misbehaves in some way and gets in trouble.

The parent might be disappointed, yes, or even frustrated if this is a repeated offense. But that doesn’t change the relationship or the love that parent has for their child. That parent doesn’t want that relationship to end just because of what their child did. They want it to be restored! They want to help their child learn and grow and move on.

The situation also doesn’t change the relevance of calling out “be good!” as a reminder the next time the parent drops the child off at a get-together. It’s still good advice because the parent loves them and wants what’s best for them, even if the child messes up or makes a bad decision.

When we encounter Jesus’ love, the best response is change

The only way we can stand face-to-face with Jesus is on the basis of His compassion, mercy, and grace.⁵ And when we do, He challenges us to grow—to change the way we live (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22-24).

Early 20th-century evangelist Oswald Chambers says, “[Jesus’] salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness….”⁶

When we choose to follow anything, we make it a priority. So naturally, following Jesus is the same (Ephesians 1:3-6; Galatians 4:4-7; Romans 8:17). No matter who you are, when you choose Him, change is necessary. No one can choose to follow Jesus and live exactly the same way they lived before. It would hardly make sense.

(Think about when any good thing comes into our lives. How many times have we heard people talk about how meeting their spouse or their best friend changed their lives for the better? And how their lives were never the same since?)

So now, let’s think about what this means for us. How can we change and “go and sin no more”?

How can we “go and sin no more”?

The Bible doesn’t say what the woman did after Jesus told her to “go and sin no more.” We hope that she turned away from the sins that ensnared her before. We hope that she declared to her family, friends, and community what Jesus did for her that day. But we really don’t know.

But we can decide how we will respond to Jesus’ call to “go and sin no more.”

It goes without saying that praying and having Bible study or devotional time are all great ways to strengthen a relationship with God. But what about after we say “amen”? What do we do once the Bible is closed?

Here are six ways we can live out Jesus’ famous call to action.

We can ask God to reveal our sin to us

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David pleaded with God when he said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24, NKJV). David knew that no matter how well he knew himself, there were still things he would be blind to that only God could see and reveal.

Remember that sin is anything that separates us from God, and we have all sinned in our lives (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). So if there are things in our hearts acting as a barrier between us and God, the first thing we can do is ask God to shine a light on them so that we’re aware. Then, we can move on to the next step.

We can confess our sins

When we confess our sins with a sincere heart, God promises to forgive us (1 John 1:9; Ephesians 1:7-8).

Confessing sins is a part of restoring relationships all throughout the Bible (Leviticus 16:21; Nehemiah 9:2; Ezra 10:1-3; Psalm 32:5; Mark 1:5; and Acts 19:18 describe a few examples), and it still stands true for us today.

This is a difficult road to travel and we need God to help us! Mark Pearce, director of the Seventh-day Adventist Research Centre, reminds us that “The outward actions indicate the inward condition. That’s what Jesus came to resolve and why I need Him every moment of every day.”⁷

When we confess our fears, embarrassments, challenges, struggles, and shortcomings to God, we experience His compassion toward us as He forgives us. And we can pay that forward.

We can demonstrate compassion

When we experience the grace and mercy of God, we are more likely to extend it to someone else because we understand what it’s like to be exposed and then forgiven (Micah 7:18-19; Hebrews 8:12).

Jesus and the Pharisees agreed that the woman had broken the law and that her offense called for the death penalty, so to speak. But they disagreed on how to handle the situation, or how thoroughly to apply that very law.

The Pharisees wanted swift, harsh judgment. Jesus opted for compassion, and we should do the same with humility. Not only because it’s the example that Jesus gave us, but Matthew 7:2 also says, “For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use” (CSB).

Theologian R. C. Sproul says, “Usually, we are not exercised or offended if somebody says that we should show compassion for somebody in pain or in great suffering and try to feel what they are feeling. But sometimes we resist the idea of having a sense of compassion for someone who’s involved in gross and heinous sin.”⁸

It almost feels unnatural, in a way, to show compassion to someone who’s clearly in the wrong. But when we remember that we are also sinners, our hearts should scream compassion for those who are “caught in the act” of sinning. After all, it could happen to any one of us. We all have our secret struggles.

With that in mind, when we remember how Jesus saved us while we were still in the midst of sin (Romans 5:8), “It should be easier for us to relate to the wicked than it is to the virtuous.”⁹

Showing compassion doesn’t mean you’re overlooking the effects or the significance of the sin, or the consequences. Someone did die as a result of the adulterous woman’s sin. But it was Jesus, not her. And that fact alone can fill us with compassion when we see someone else dealing with their own struggles with sin. Jesus died for us, and He died for them, too.

Jesus introduced humility and compassion into the law, and we can infuse our relationships with this same humility and compassion.

We can build spiritual relationships

The Bible encourages us to look out for one another. Sin is everywhere, and God can place people around us who can help us reflect His character. We can lean into those relationships for strength, support, and accountability (Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 10:24-25; Colossians 3:16).

Sin doesn’t just affect us; it affects others around us as well.¹⁰ We’ve already said that the adulterous woman wasn’t committing sin alone. The act of adultery requires more than one participant.

Did that someone else have a family? Were they a religious leader or someone prominent in the community? How did their involvement in this sin with her affect other parts of their life? Or other people in their life?

The Bible doesn’t answer these questions for us, but we know that sin spreads like a disease unless it’s stopped in its tracks (1 Corinthians 5:6-7).

Righteousness and love spread quickly, too. When we live our lives like Jesus did—in constant communion with God—it affects our own lives profoundly, and this can spread to those around us.

We can call out the destructive sin in our spiritual communities (with love and humility)

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This one’s tough. But believe it or not, it’s part of being a member of the kingdom of God.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean loudly calling attention to people’s flaws, failures, or struggles. Far from it! This is about integrity, accountability, and stopping harmful behavior that could affect your community.

This also doesn’t mean we have to concoct plans to catch people red-handed or set up spiritual sting operations. That’s exactly what Jesus got after the Pharisees for!

We can consult biblical guidelines for dealing with tense situations, which we can find in Matthew 18:15-20. Our first step can be to speak to someone privately and tell them our concerns in love, gentleness, and humility, since we sin, too.

But even so, it can be so uncomfortable pointing out where someone has gone wrong. Often we’re scared, because we don’t want any backlash or to be viewed in a negative light. We want to be seen as a good person, and good people don’t cause trouble…right?

But if we are going to follow Jesus’ example, we have to follow all of His example, not just the parts that are easier for us.

In 1 Corinthians 5:8-13, Paul addresses a sticky church situation by explaining how and why we should reserve our judgment for the benefit of those inside our spiritual communities:

“For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the evil person from among yourselves” (verses 12-13, NASB).

This goes back to the point before—the relationship matters in the process of redirecting someone.

Jesus says, “If your brother sins, rebuke him” (Luke 17:3, ESV). But calling out sin doesn’t mean walking around with a gavel and bullhorn loudly pronouncing “judgment” on everyone around us. It seems like this is what the Pharisees delighted in doing (Matthew 23:1-4). But Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” (ESV). The word “brother” in these verses is telling; it’s all rooted in relationship.

Jesus didn’t let sin burrow and fester when He was around. But He only publicly called out sin when it had to do with those who should have known better, or those in positions of influence—whether they were religious leaders or people who spent considerable time with Him (like the disciples). But He also healed people from their struggles during personal interactions, and He defeated sin’s forever grasp on this world when He sacrificed His life on the Cross for us.

According to Jesus, the two greatest commandments are to love God and love others. Loving others includes guiding them away from thinking patterns, emotional traps, or dangerous behaviors that put a wedge between them and God, or that cause harm to people around them.

For example, you might pull your best friend aside and let them know they aren’t being kind to someone else, or even to you. If you’re a parent, you might let your child know you’re concerned about some habits you see forming. You take a deep breath and do this out of love for them, not because you relish the chance to call them out. Far from it.

And that’s because the calling out of sin isn’t supposed to be the end result. Ultimately, it’s about leading people to Jesus. One commentator notes, “Those who help to save the life of a criminal, should help to save the soul with the same caution.”¹¹

So the way we call out sin makes a big difference.

But if we are part of God’s community, we can build each other up as we prayerfully protect our hearts, homes, or communities for things that could get in the way of our relationship with Him (James 5:16). We can show the same forgiveness to one another that Jesus showed to the woman the Pharisees brought to Him (Colossians 3:13).

And to tie it all together, we can live by the same charge Jesus gave in John 5 and in John 8, pursuing a changed mind (Romans 12:2), a new life (Ephesians 4:22-24), and a new nature (2 Peter 1:4-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Want to keep learning about living a Christ-centered life defined by love?

Related Articles

1. “Hamartia,” New Testament Greek Lexicon – NAS, BibleStudyTools.com. [↵]
2. Keener, Craig. “Notes on John,” NIV Cultural Background Study Bible, p. 1826. [↵]
3. “John 8:6,” Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers. [↵]
4. White, Ellen G, The Desire of Ages, “Among Snares,” p. 461. [↵]
5. Sproul, R. C, “The Adulterous Woman: Face to Face with Jesus,” Ligonier Ministries. [↵]
6. Chambers, Oswald, “All Efforts of Worth and Excellence are Difficult.” [↵]
7. Pearce, Mark, “What in the Word: Sin,” Adventist News Network, 2021. [↵]
8. Sproul, R. C, “The Adulterous Woman: Face to Face with Jesus,” Ligonier Ministries. [↵]
9. Ibid. [↵]
10. Pearce, Mark, “What in the word: Sin,” Adventist News Network, 2021. [↵]
11. “John 8,” Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Biblehub. [↵]

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