RESTORATION
Galatians 1:1 – “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

Everybody who attends church is not spiritual. Everybody can’t do this; that is why Paul specifically says, “those who are spiritual restore such a one”.
“Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” The word “restore” means “to bring back to its original condition”. How do you do that? The woman caught in adultery brought to Jesus is a great example.


John 8:1
1: Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.


2: And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.


3: And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,


4: They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.


5: Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?


6: This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.


7: So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

8: And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.


9: And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.


10: When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?


11: She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.


It was a favorite tactic of the Jewish religious leaders to try and trip Jesus up on matters of the Law. They felt if they could catch Him misinterpreting, or violating, the Law of Moses, they would have grounds to discredit Him and accuse Him before not only the people but before the Sanhedrin as well.
They tried to trap Him once with a concocted story about a woman who had married each of seven brothers in succession after the one she was married to die. Whose husband, they asked Jesus, would she be in the resurrection with? Jesus' answer to them was that they erred because they didn't know the Scriptures—there is no marriage in heaven (Matthew 22:29-30).


In another instance, they tried to trap Him on the subject of paying taxes to Caesar, but His answer totally confounded them: Give Caesar what is his and God what is His (Matthew 22:21). They were never able to trap Jesus with their tricks.


But the trap they laid for Him with the woman caught in adultery was perhaps the most serious test He had been given. While He was teaching a group of people in the temple courts, the Pharisees and scribes pushed their way through the crowd and made the woman stand before them. Jesus knew better than to think they were there because they hated sin, hated immorality, hated unrighteousness, or hated the woman. They were there because they hated Him, and wanted to trap Him in failing to do what the Law of Moses prescribed.


Here was the trap: if Jesus said to stone the woman, He would be taking it upon Himself to pass a sentence which by the law of the land, he could do, and He would be violating His own principles of mercy.
On the other hand, if He said, "Let her go," He would be violating the Law, which required that she be punished. The Law was very clear that evil was to be kept out of the land, and certain types of sin were to be punished by death.


This was a difficult situation for Jesus to deal with because it was, in essence, the fundamental problem underlying all biblical theology: How can God be just (maintain the standards of holiness He Himself has set) and at the same time a justifier of the ungodly (show mercy and forgiveness toward sinners). How can Jesus love the sinner and hate the sin?


The first part of Jesus' answer to the scribes and Pharisees was nonverbal: He bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger!


Can you imagine the scene—the frustration of the scribes and Pharisees? But then He broke the silence. Jesus answered them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first" (John 8:7).


At these words, they were convicted and one by one dropped their stone and departed. They brought a poor woman whose sins they were parading before all present, and they ended up having their own sins enumerated instead.


The woman's sin they wanted Jesus to judge was suddenly hard to see in light of the enormous sins that remained unconfessed in their own lives. In trying to destroy the credibility of Jesus, they had only weakened their own credibility.


As the accusers leave, Jesus is left alone with the woman. She was guilty as charged, but her accusers have left under the condemnation of their own guilt.


When Jesus looked up he asked, where are your accusers, she replied, I have none. Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you, Go and sin no more.


Earlier I said that “restore” means to return to its original condition. Jesus told the woman that He did not condemn her. This is an example to us, His body, on how to restore each other. When Jesus told her that he did not condemn her, He restored her back to her original condition. She was free from being labeled by her accusers and herself a sinner.