Of Faith and Forgiveness

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 20th of January, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  All services and activities for the 13th were canceled due to an impending ice storm.  Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Some weeks back, when we looked at how our faith prompts us to love and leads to peace, I mentioned the “sinful woman” who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  Jesus told her to go in peace, that her faith had saved her, that her sins were forgiven.

I’d like to return to that story this morning as we look at how closely our faith is linked to forgiveness.  Please listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 7, verses 36 through 50, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

--Luke 7:36-50 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, by our faith and our belief in Your Son Jesus we are forgiven of our sins and saved.  But Father, too often we don’t want to change our behavior.  Help us be more obedient to Your word while staying strong in our faith so that we not fall back into our old ways.  Speak to us this morning that we might hear Your voice, Your word, and Your message.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus.   Amen.


In his book, I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church's integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin.  It is a change in belief without a change in behavior.  It is revival without reformation, without repentance."

Jerry Bridges, author of The Pursuit of Holiness, adds: "Faith and holiness are inextricably linked.  Obeying the commands of God usually involves believing the promises of God."


Bridges says that our belief in God and our voluntarily setting ourselves apart for Him are, or at least should be, linked together.  If we truly believed in the words of God, the promises of God, then it would be pretty dumb of us not to obey the commands of God, wouldn’t it?

But Morley tells us that sometimes we are dumb.  We want to believe in Jesus and in God’s promises, but we don’t want to turn away from our sins and live as God would have us live.  We want to be saved, but we don’t want to change anything in our lives, our behavior.  We don’t want to inconvenience ourselves.  We don’t want to love the unlovable.  We want Jesus in our lives, but we want our favorite sin too.

The world sees all this, and calls us hypocrites.  And you know, the prophet Daniel would probably agree.  In his book of prophecy, chapter 9 verse 8 through the first part of verse 10, Daniel writes…

8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God…”

--Daniel 9:8-10a (NKJV)

Daniel says, “Shame on us!”  God offers us forgiveness, yet we do not obey Him.  We sin against Him.  Jesus, who was without sin, took all our sins upon Himself and left them in the grave when He rose again from the dead.  Unfortunately, too many of us dug them back up again, or found new ones to replace them.


Looking at our scripture reading again, in verse 49 we see where the guests at the dinner party questioned just who this  was that would even forgive sins.  Indeed, there were a number of times when the Pharisees and others questioned Jesus' authority to forgive sins.  The Apostles, including Paul, make it clear just where that authority comes from.  Listen to what Paul said in his letter to the Colossians, chapter 1, verses 13 and 14…

13 [God] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

--Colossians 1:13-14 (NKJV)

We are redeemed through the precious blood of Jesus, who died so we could be forgiven of our sins through our belief in Him, our faith in God.  By our faith, we are forgiven.

Last week our good brother Jim Neese shared his insight into the Lord’s Prayer.  In that prayer, we ask God to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  We ask for the same measure of forgiveness that we ourselves give!  I’m afraid for some, that wouldn’t amount to much forgiveness.

If we want God’s mercy and His forgiveness of our sins, we must be willing to forgive the sins of others.  It is not our job to judge – that’s way above our pay grade.  It’s our job to love and to forgive.


And speaking of forgiving others, in just a few minutes we will share Holy Communion with our Lord.  In chapter 11 of his 1st letter to the Corinthians, Paul warns us not to come to the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner.  We are to be right with God.

One way to be unworthy is to come to the table while still holding a grudge against someone.  To avoid being unworthy in that way, simply forgive them for whatever they did.  We don’t necessarily have to go up to them and tell them, just silently, in our heart, release them from whatever debt we feel they owe us.  Just as Jesus told of the creditor and his two debtors, release them, forgive them, and come worthily to sup with our Lord.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You gave us a means to be forgiven of our sins and to again find favor in Your eyes.  You gave us Your Son, who took away our sins by His sacrifice.  Thank You, Father, for showing so much mercy to us pitiful sinners.  Please forgive us when we fail to continue to live as Jesus left us – clean of our sin.  Forgive us when we return to our old ways, even if only temporarily.  Please help us turn from our sinful ways, to repent and be more righteous in Your sight.  Help us be more loving, more forgiving of others.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness for our disobedience…

Lord Jesus, You brought light into this world, but too many prefer the darkness.  You forgave us of our sins, but too many simply return to their old ways and sin-filled lives.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving us another chance.  Forgive us when we fail to obey You as our Lord, when we want the salvation You offer but don’t do as You command us.  Please have mercy when we seek Your forgiveness but find it difficult to forgive others.  Please help us to fully believe, fully obey, fully love.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and Master.  Amen.