Sin On More?

   There are collections of bible translations know as Bible Errta that are a much sought after find for book collectors.  They are Bibles that were made famous because of a print error or mistranslation that caused a humorous or unique mistake.  When these errors were discovered the printers were force to destroy most copies making them a rarity.  Such examples included the Wicked Bible of 1631 that left out the “not” in the 7th commandment and the “Printers Bible” of 1612: in which some copies of Psalm 119:161 reads “Printers have persecuted me without a cause” rather than “Princes have persecuted me…” Another famous one is the “Sin on Bible" of 1716 where John 8:11 reads "Go and sin on more" rather than "Go and sin no more". 

   I was reminded of this mistake when I was recently teaching in John 8 and the women caught in adultery.  Even though the text is correct in all other versions, some still try to make that print error fit in the text.

   You may remember the story.  In an effort to trap Jesus, the scribes and Pharisee bring to him a woman caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says adulterers are to be stoned, but what will Jesus say?  The trap is to either force him to break the Law of Moses or to make him look like he is hypocritical in his teaching about saving sinners.  Jesus doesn’t fall into the trap, rather he writes in the dirt.  Then he makes a very pointed statement:

"He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  

   One by one, oldest to the youngest the accusers disappear leaving no one left to accuse her.  Jesus then tells her, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."

   Some look at this story and try to use it to show that Jesus isn’t worried about sin.  Jesus didn’t condemn her, so how can we condemn someone in sin. You can continue to live in sin and God will forgive you.  Once you have been saved it doesn’t matter if you continue to sin, his grace will cover you. You can “go and sin on more”

   That however isn’t what Jesus said or what the Bible teaches.  Jesus doesn’t need to judge our sin, we already stand judged (John 3:17).  He came to save us from sin not to save so we can sin.  As Romans 6:1-2 tells us, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  His command to her is the same for us “Sin No More”.

   We should never mistake the grace of God as tolerance of sin (Romans 3:5-8).  His mercy should never be turned in a license to sin (Jude 4).  To do so would put us in a worst state than we started in (2^nd Peter 2:20-22).  Sin corrupts and traps (2^nd Peter 2:19).  The faithful must end sinful actions (Galatians 5:24).

   We can’t “go and sin more”.  Sin comes at too high a cost (Hebrew 10:26-29). Others may not condemn us for our sin but God will in his righteousness will, if we don’t turn away from it.