PARABLES OF THE BIBLE :

The following two paragraphs were added to my original study as a prefice for my thoughts at the start of the study. These comments appear in newspapers as well as TV and radio broadcasts nationwide everyday. As our country slips further into blindness, which is a judgment of God against it, its' lack of wisdom in affairs of jurisprudence will become more evident.

--- I read a newspaper article about the jury selection for the Oklahoma City Federal building bombing. One of the prospective jurors stated that she had her reservations about handing out the death penalty in this case. She then quoted the teaching in John 8:7 as, only those without sin should cast the first stone. She said she couldn't live with herself if she had to decide if someone was to be put to death. Like it or not, people quote the Bible everyday.---

---This also became an issue in the New Jersey trial of a man named Jesse Timmendequas who was found guilty of sexually assaulting and then murdering a little girl named Megan Kanka (Megan's Law resulted from this case) and then sentenced to die for his crime. Many talk show programs covering this case had angry callers saying the death penalty is cruel, others simply stated we are not allowed to put someone to death, only God has that right.---

For many years now, I've listened to the world (and the church) misinterpret John 8:7. Their meaning for this verse is to say that no one has the right to point the finger at someone else's sin. Nowadays, people even use this verse to imply we are all alike, and no one can see any difference in anyone else. If I sin, no one can tell me it's a sin, after all, we are all sinners. Basically, they are stating that we are all blind. After all, "only God can judge us, who are you to say that there is a obvious distinction between right and wrong". And of course the popular worldly teaching, "whatever is right for you", implying, it might not be sin if you have a reason to do it.

They are playing God by telling you that you have no sin (in their eyes what you do is your business, it's right for you) when in fact they are sinning by saying no one can determine just what is sinful (God tells us what is sinful in the Bible). It seems they are building up their own confidence by trying to convince you and me that they are correct. According to the unsaved; who are blind to God's word; no one has the right to judge someone else since we are all sinners, and this is true, we are all sinners. But their goal is to silence God's word by silencing you and me. After all, we are (according to them) not allowed to judge right from wrong, so don't tell us what is sin. The very nature of the Gospel is to tell us we are in fact sinners. So they are really telling us to silence the Gospel, do not tell us about our sins. But is this what God is really teaching here?

This is not possible, I can quote one verse alone that will contradict this thinking. Turn to 2 Cor 6:14 and read God's words. He states that we who are saved are not to be yoked with those who are damned. That is the meaning of the verse. Different from what you've been taught but it's what God is saying. Read the next few verses. As the same thought continues, God compares it to Christ (righteousness, light, God, clean, sons and daughters) and Satan (unrighteousness, darkness, idols, unclean, bastards - Heb 12:8). You can't get around it, God says there is a difference between believers and unbelievers and the Christian is told that he must make a determination (based on God's word alone) about someone, "do not be yoked to a unbeliever". It is a command from God Himself. God says the believers are not to be yoked with the unsaved.

If according to some, we cannot judge, then why does and how can God tell us to make a judgment among mankind in 2 Cor 6:14? What is the correct interpretation of God's word, the Bible, can we know for sure?

Of course the key word is judgment. There are two types of judgment. My judgment about whether something is right or wrong is one type of judgment. God damning someone to Hell is another type of judgment. God clearly states in the Bible that we can know right from wrong. It is ingrained in all of us at creation. Many want to deny this but it will do no good at all, God's word stands (Psalm 19:1-3). If we now look closer at John 8:7 we will see something we may have missed. Look at verses 10 and 11. I want to look at two words in this passage that I feel are very important. The words condemned and condemn are both from the same Greek word. They are #2632 in Strong's Concordance, "katakrino". The root words are #2596, kata and #2919, krino. The Greek word #2632 is translated in our KJV Bible as, condemn and damn. It is translated as condemn in the following places: Mt 12:41, Mt 12:42, Mt 20:18, Mt 27:3, Mr 10:33, Mr 14:64, Lu 11:31, Lu 11:32, Jn 8:10, Jn 8:11, Rom 2:1, Rom 8:3, Rom 8:34, Heb 11:7, 2 Pe 2:6, 1 Cor 11:32, Jam 5:9, and 2 Pe 2:6. It is translated as damn in Mr 16:16.

The root word krino is translated as damned in 2 Thessalonians 2:12. We must read all the above passages and carefully compare them. In the Matthew 12:41, 42 passage, it's clearly speaking of Judgment Day and the damnation of the unsaved. The verse states that the men of Nineveh and the queen of Sheba will be there at Judgment Day and will condemn/damn the unsaved with God. Notice the number two involved here, Nineveh and Sheba, this points to the church as judge with God at the end of time. This is taught in 1 Corinthians 6:2, the saved will sit and judge the unsaved with God. Remember at that time we will now be perfect as God is perfect and then we can judge the unsaved with an eternal judgment (Rev 21:1, 4, 8). There were saved people in Nineveh (Jonah 3:4, 5) and the queen of Sheba is a figure of the church, the bride of Christ. Here God uses them to signify the believers sitting in judgment with God at the end of time.

The word judge in 1 Corinthians 6:2 is the word krino, that is, damn. Now that we are starting to see how God uses this word let's look at John 8:7 again. If we change the wording to "hath no man damned thee...neither do I damn thee", the verse comes across in a very different way, it's no longer a moral judgment but a spiritual one. Read Romans 2:1-3 where God warns us about His future judgment and the fact that we cannot judge anyone now. We too are sinners, we commit the same sins. But while we do not tell someone they are damned as if we have the authority to put them in hell, we can tell right from wrong and we can see sin in others lives and we are commanded to warn them of Judgment Day.

Could it be that the church of Christ's day was misusing it's power? They may have thought they could determine someone's fate. Remember that this incident started at the temple. It was the church that Christ is dealing with in John 8, not those outside the church. It was the scribes and Pharisees that brought the woman to Jesus, the number two can represent the church both in the OT and the NT era. God addresses this for the church in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13. Within the church body we can make a more serious judgments. Those who call themselves believers should then walk according to God's rules for them, they should now be able, to a greater degree, see their sin and understand what God calls sin. God is teaching that once saved and under the rule of a church body, we must abide by His will. The world does not understand this. They are still responsible for their sins but God will hold us; within the church; to a higher standard, if we are unsaved within the church and under the hearing of the Gospel, we will come into greater damnation then the worldly person will.

Can we make a judgment? Look at these verses yourself. 2 Jn 1:9-11, Mt 7:15-20, you (the believers) will know them by their fruits. Mt 12:33-35, Jn 15:1-8, we can look at the type of fruit the tree yields and know something about the tree. Isn't that an interesting view, a tree as a picture of mankind? Read God's own words as He describes us as trees in Ps 1:3 and again in Ps 92:12. In Mr 8:24; another parable; "I see men as trees, walking". We are trees known by our fruit. A tree can be seen by all. The fruit it bears is obvious. One can eat an orange but one bite of a lemon and you'll not eat it again. God was very true with His analogy of men and trees. But keep in mind that while I can look at a tree and see if it's dead or alive, and see what type of fruit it bears, good or bad, I cannot see inside the tree.

God is only telling us that we can make a moral, earthly judgment, not a perfect one like He can. That tree may look alive and even have fruit but in fact its' root structure may now be dead and in a short time it will start to die outwardly. We would only know what we saw at that first observation and unless we passed by that tree again later, we would never know it was dying all along. A case in point is the tree in Mr 11:13, 14. Jesus was hungry and when he found no fruit on the tree he cursed (vs 21) the tree forever and spoke to it, as one would speak to a person, it would never again bear fruit. Yet nothing happened immediately, Christ's disciples saw no difference, yet Jesus knew there now was a difference. It was after they had journeyed to Jerusalem and back (verse 20) that the disciples now saw what had happened to the tree! Only Christ as judge knew the tree was cursed. Only he knew it would not bear fruit. Man could not see the fruition of Christ's curse until some time after the fact.

But all those with Jesus at that time heard him utter his curse upon that tree. God had revealed something to them that would become more evident at a later time. The judgment was all Christ's, yet he made his judgment known to his disciples. All believers are Christ's disciples, he reveals to us what he wants us to know. But that's the key, he tells us, we can't see things on our own, he has to guide us and it's Christ's good pleasure to tell the church what he hides from the unsaved.

While God already knows the eternal fate of each one of us, outward signs, the things about us that reveal what we are really like, give others a clue as to what is in our heart. You can only fool someone for so long before they truly see the real you, in the fruit you bear. But not until Judgment Day will everything be known. Remember Christ's analogy with the Pharisees and the sepulchers in Matthew 23:27. He points out that our human eye "sees" the appearance of righteousness, just like we can see the tree and its' fruit. But note that while He says that those who are saved can see more clearly than those who are unsaved, only He knew what was inside those beautiful to look at tombs. We cannot see inside to the soul. He tells us that they appeared righteous to men based on their outward appearance in this world. They were even leaders in the church itself (your position in life does not save you). We within the church should be able to see who in the body is following the Gospel of the Bible and not some other Gospel. God gives us guidelines to follow to openly show others if we are following His word.

In 1 Corinthians 11:18, 19 we read about some problems within the church body. It seems that God is saying that this certainly started long ago, problems w/i the church right at the start of the NT era. But I see the word heresies; which is translated as such in 2 Peter 2:1; pointing to the fact that those who hold the true gospel will be obvious simply because we will know them by their fruits (gospel) and those who have another Gospel will also be known by their fruits. People will react in a nasty way if you tell them that their gospel is not the same as the one in God's word. But this points back to Deu 6:6-8 where God states that His words are written upon our hearts. He again mentions this in Rev 7:3 when He talks about the believers having His mark (word) in them. He continues to explain how people are marked by the gospel they believe in Rev 13:16-18 but this time it's Satan's mark. Notice that it is the same type of marking. Satan mirrors the true gospel, it's no surprise that his people are marked like God's people. This way we can tell something about someone by his gospel. Since our gospel is ingrained upon our hearts, when we express our beliefs we show the whole world what "mark" we have upon us. God does this to make it easier for those of us who trust Him and have His gospel to make a judgment about others. We cannot be easily fooled. 2 Corinthians 11:12-14.

A serious problem w/i the churches today is to try and convince everyone that all churches are really one (in spirit). "Forget your differences, join with us for the good of the Gospel". Yet God tells us to separate ourselves from those with another Gospel (2 John 10). Read 2 Thessalonians 3:6 where God is talking about the church. God will judge/damn people to hell one day. We at that time will join Him in judgment. Until then our only judgment is worldly. We can know right from wrong. We can make a judgment about others. As this world moves further away from wisdom and finds no fault with anyone no matter what crime or offense they commit, don't fall into their snare for you. Do not believe the lie that we cannot make a judgment. God has opened our eyes, Satan wants them closed. The world is becoming more blinded by the day, this is God's judgment on them for their sin of unbelief. This is a sign to us that we are at the end of time (Dan 12:8-10).

The moral/spiritual side of this passage makes it clearer. To stone someone was a picture of cursing them with eternal damnation. God instituted stoning for within the congregation of Israel. Notice in Deu 22:21 that if a woman was found out to be a whore, she was to be stoned. In the John 8 account, these people looked like they were doing God's will. Why would Jesus fault them? He was talking about the spiritual stoning or damnation not the literal punishment for her actions. Just as we punish someone for a crime he commits now, one day God will also punish him. Let's look at some verses on stoning and make a comparison before taking the above though any further.

When God instituted stoning it was for those within His church body, the congregation of Israel. When someone had violated certain of God's rules for the congregation, they were to pay a price, the ultimate price was to be killed. By removing them from the congregation God was removing someone that may cause another to sin (Nu 25, especially vs. 2, and Nu 31, especially vs'. 14-16 where God teaches that sin can come into the congregation and be spread by the members). If you read the Exodus thru Deuteronomy books, you'll find many a passage whereby God warns Israel to keep sin out of the congregation. But God was dealing with the congregation not the world. God was teaching a spiritual picture of eternal damnation of those w/in the church body. He still continues this theme in the NT. But we no longer stone people, we excommunicate them, this is the equivalent of stoning them. The point was to remove them from God's people so they would realize that they were outside God's salvation and repent. Mt 18:15-17 shows us the church's role in this. God never told the NT church to stone someone but by removing them from the congregation with excommunication, He is saying the same thing. In Eze 18:26-28 God explains this to us. He states that the man was righteous but sinned, now he is called unrighteous. Once he repents of his sin, his righteousness is restored. He wasn't stoned, perhaps he should have been. But God said that he did in fact die in verse 26, he died in his sin. Here God points to the spiritual death that the scribes and Pharisees should have understood.

In Deu 21:22 we find the man is put to death, then hanged, double death. Eze 16:40, stone them with stones, then thrust them through with the sword, double death. Deu 13:9, the witnesses first, then the congregation next, double death. By doubling up on judgment (saying it twice) God is pointing in this case to Deu 17:6 and Judgment Day and double death. Turn to Rev 2:11 and 20:6, 14 where God explains the second death. The moment we sin we die spiritually in our soul existence. Genesis 2:17 confirms this along with Gen 3:6. Yet neither of them died! The only way to understand this is to realize that God meant our soul died in its' sin, He is talking about two types of death, spiritual and physical. Ephesians 2:5, 6 show us that we were dead in sin but now are raised up a new creature.

There is more truth in verse 7. Jesus tells them that the person who is without sin should cast the stone at her. Here is where many people make their mistake. He is not saying we cannot know sin, He is saying that we are all sinners while on this earth. But according to 1 Cor 6:2 there will be a day when we will judge others, then we will be without sin and be allowed to follow through on Jesus' words of "he that is without sin...cast a stone at her". That is a very important point. It ties in with the OT spiritual teaching that stoning is the equivalent of damnation. Jesus is getting the point across about our sinful estate while we are on this earth. But once we reach Judgment Day, we will be without sin and then we will stone the unsaved and kill them with eternal damnation as we judge them along side of God. Indeed, they could not stone her because they were all sinners too. But God is giving us a glimpse of what was going on inside the hearts of these people back then, instead of just showing us the tree's fruit, He reveals things much deeper inside.

It is the spiritual stoning where they thought they were as God that Christ faults them on. It doesn't mean we cannot make a judgment but that we cannot judge as God while we are on this earth. The easiest path to explain John 8 is the spiritual path. But not all of God's people have a clear understanding of parables, so I looked at the circumstances surrounding the account. God had the meaning right within this account. The church thought it had the authority to damn someone to hell (Lu 5:21), the Roman Catholic denomination thinks it has this type of authority even today. It was not true in Jesus' day, nor is it true now, only God can be The Judge of eternal fates.

The church of Christ's day misinterpreted the scriptures, Christ dealt with this in John 8:7. Worth noting is the way I think verse 9 can be reworded. "...and the woman in the midst (way) standing (abiding)". In the parable of Acts 4:14, the healed man now stands. He was lame in Acts 3:2 (Isa 35:6, Jer 31:8) but salvation came. The word standing in Jn 8:9 is the same Greek word and might point to the fact that she is standing before Christ (as Judge). He finds no fault in her because he has redeemed her and paid for her sins. Spiritual language in the Bible tells us that the unsaved cannot stand before God but are stooped down. In Deu 10:8 we stand before the LORD to minister to Him (servants minister). In Deu 18:6, 7, the Levites are the priests and so are we, Rev 1:6, 5:10, 1 Pe 2:9, Psalm 132:9. Unfortunately the unsaved also must stand before God but at that time He judges them, Rev 20:12, 15.

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen and stand upright" (Psalm 20:8). (Ps 5:5, 122:2, 130:3, 135:2, Pro 12:7 Eze 22:30, 31, Dan 12:13.) "O Jehovah God of Israel...we are before Thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before Thee because of this" (Ezr 9:15). Only the saved elect can stand before God the judge faultlessly.

The world wants us to think like them and forget God and if changing God's word (which they know deep down inside we listen to and follow) is the way to change us, then they will try to do this. Satan is working very hard at trying to destroy God's people, remember that this is a spiritual war, Ep 6:11-17. As we come closer to the end of time, Satan's attacks will be much more violent, his time is near. I pray he will not assault you. But if he does, turn to God's only written words to us; the Bible; and find truth there, not in the world's understanding of the Bible. Neither the church nor Satan has any eternal authority over our soul, only God does. He gives the church the commission to send forth the Gospel but that's all. Yes we can make a "judgment" about someone. That is, God has already in the Bible explained sin to us, and His word never changes. If someone sins; as God calls it sin in the Bible; then it's sin, we can know that it is because God has told us, He made the judgment for us, the believers. We merely follow through because we now have spiritual eyes to see the truth, we can judge right from wrong.

Rev 12:12, 17
Mt 24:33