Discussion Questions for Sermon Series The N Commandment Week 2 - Sin Not
 

When Jesus rose from the dead, it changed everything. The early church had a “resurrection religion.” They couldn’t go back and embrace a temple model that focused on sacred men in sacred places with special interpretations of sacred texts. Instead, they had one new commandment: love one another as Jesus had loved them. 
 

Jesus gave his followers another commandment related to the commandment to love one another: sin no more. But how are we supposed to do that when we’re so imperfect? 
 

1. Have you ever tried to change a bad habit through willpower alone? What happened? 

2. Why do you think it’s so natural for people to assume that God is quick to judge and condemn them? To what extent has that assumption shaped your relationship with God? 

3. During the message, Jon said, “If God sent his Son to die for you, God is for you.” How might the world be different if the church reflected that kind of unconditional love for people? 

4. Read John 8:1–11. Is it easier for you to identify with the crowd or with the woman caught in adultery? In what ways are you convicted by Jesus’ actions and words? 

5. Is it difficult for you to believe that, through Jesus, you have the power to leave your sin behind you? Why or why not? 

6. Think about your answer to the question, What is your sin? (You don’t have to share specifics with the group if you don’t want to.) What stands in the way of you deciding to leave that sin behind? What can this group do to help you make and follow through on that decision?
    

Jesus, who would eventually allow our sin to kill him, says to us: stop sinning. Once it becomes evident that he is on the side of sinners, his words sound completely different—freeing not limiting. We shouldn’t avoid sin out of fear that God will punish us. We should avoid sin because it kills us. It causes us to hate us. Remember that sin is not your master. 
 

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
John 8:10–11 
 

Pray