What attitude should Christians have towards immorality and those who practice it?

In this message I propose to present the position of our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore, what is and must be the position and attitude of every Christian towards any form of immorality and towards immoral people.

Last week was a difficult one for our country because the representatives of the gay and lesbian organization from Moldova organized a festival and insisted on going out in public to promote the immorality they practice and thus encourage society to accept the evil they practice. Due to letters sent by citizens, the City Hall banned public demonstrations by these people. However, they insisted on going out in public and giving a press conference, going on TV and even seriously violating the country’s Constitution, by officiating the marriage of two homosexuals. This confrontation between immorality and society is growing.

Because all of my statements will be based on the text of the Gospel of John 8: 1-11, I will share this passage in its entirety:

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” (NASB)

The first thing that seems contradictory in this text is that Moses said that such women should be stoned to death, but Jesus did not condemn this woman and no one else was able to condemn her. Why? Most people believe that when Jesus said to those in the crowd, “Whoever is without sin should throw the first stone,” he was referring to the sinful and imperfect condition of every human being. Not exactly. Jesus referred to this specific case and all those who brought the woman to Jesus were to blame in this specific case. Why? I noticed in the text how it is twice specified that the Lord Jesus was writing on the ground as people insisted on receiving a sentence for this woman from Him. What did the Lord Jesus write on the ground? Perhaps what is written in Deuteronomy 22:22:

If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. (NASB)

The Word of God says very specifically that both the man and the woman who committed fornication must be killed in order to cleanse such an evil from the midst of Israel. However, although those who brought the woman to Jesus said, “this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act,” they brought to Jesus only this woman who was apparently a victim. The man who committed adultery with this woman was not brought. We don’t know what the reasons were. Maybe he was one with influence, money, etc., but there was a reason why they, the religious leaders of that time, behaved with bias and overlooked this sin. In that case, weren’t they equally immoral since they were protecting an immoral person? Just to look good in the eyes of the crowd, they were ready to sacrifice the helpless victim twice. They claimed to obey God and want to cleanse society of evil, but by their bias they showed that they accepted immorality and under the shadow of their religion immorality developed even more. Jesus Christ does not accept immorality in any form.

Jesus did not say anything against the commandment given by God through Moses in the Old Testament, specifically in the book of Deuteronomy, but said that no one was able to condemn this woman because those who accused her claimed to be faithful but in fact they were immoral, biased and ruthless. By His actions and words the Lord Jesus condemned immorality in the life of the woman’s brethren and in the life of this woman when He said to her, “From now on sin no more.” If this woman’s fornication was to be condemned, how much more is the sin of sodomy to be condemned?

But someone will reproach and say that if the Lord Jesus did not condemn this woman, why should we condemn the immoral? To condemn means to give a sentence that must be carried out. In the case of this woman, her defendants were waiting for her sentence to be stoned to death. The fact that Jesus did not condemn this woman does not mean that her sin was not to be condemned according to God’s law, but that the Savior gave this woman a chance to be reconciled to God, to repent, and to live worthy of God, without sinning and being immoral. By this decision the Lord Jesus once again demonstrated the character of His Father who, as it is written in 2 Peter 3:9(NASB):

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 

Jesus gave this woman a chance to save her life. If you are immoral, do not take the fact that you are still alive as if God does not see and condemn the sin in your life, but realize that in this way He gives you another chance. Or as the Word of God says, maybe somehow

“do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds.” (Romans 2:4-6 NASB)

The woman who was caught in adultery did not apologize to God but waited for the punishment for her sin. The silence and then the answer show that this woman has acknowledged the sin in her life. This is what God expects from those who live in immorality and sin. This is where true repentance begins. But, as described in the Bible, most immoral people prefer to walk cunningly and crookedly to tempt, and then be able to blame those who confront them with the truth of God’s Word. Read the biblical passage again to see with what intentions those who caught the woman in adultery came to the Lord Jesus. If you read the letters of that gay man I referred to, it will not be difficult to glimpse the author’s motivation – by no means to know and live the truth of God.

Based on the biblical references from above, I want to leave these exhortations to anyone living in immorality of any kind, including sodomy. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ who can give you full healing and deliverance from the sin you are currently living in. Draw close to God and He will draw closer to you. Read the Bible, believe in the Lord Jesus, and dedicate your life to Him. Then look for a church where God’s Word is preached and where people live according to what is preached to them. Get involved in the life of this church and make friends who have chosen to live holy before God.

If you are a Christian, choose to follow the example of Jesus. Confront immoral people with the truth of God’s Word, in the love of the Lord Jesus and without being biased. Respond in a God-worthy way to those who through cunning and wickedness seek to ruin God’s Word in order to defend the immoral and promote immorality. When you talk to immoral people don’t forget to tell them about their chance with the Lord Jesus if they return with repentance. Do not side with the many when they corrupt the Word of God. Remain faithful to God and His Word at all times. Do not be overwhelmed by the hatred that exists in society. Immoral people show a lot of hatred for others who live in another form of immorality. Do not be infected by this hatred but also by the indifference with which you do not tell the immoral the truth of God’s Word and the forgiveness they have in the Lord Jesus and who, if they will not accept it, await eternal loss, too.

May God work full repentance in the lives of all immoral people and sacrificial love in the hearts of Christians.

Translated by Olya Trikolich