Turning in our Bible again to
Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. I have thoroughly
enjoyed these last few days looking this portion of Scripture over
in Luke chapter 7, verse 36 to verse 50. This story is only
given here in Luke. It's not given in Matthew, not
given in Mark, not given in John. There's another story similar
to that in the town of Bethany, but this is the only place that
this particular story is given. I'm taking the title for the
message from verse 48. The title of the message, the
Lord said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. Thy sins are forgiven. Can you imagine the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking that to you? Your sins, which are many, are
forgiven. All forgiven. The Lord speaks
to this sinful woman and declares for all to hear, for all to read,
that her sins, which are many, are gone. They're forgiven. Not by her merit, Not by her
love, but rather totally by His love, by His free and sovereign
mercy, by His free and sovereign grace. We read just a moment
ago, Romans 3, 24, being justified freely by His grace to the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That was this poor sinful woman's
Total hope of having her sin put away. Not by the deeds of
the law. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Think of it for just a moment.
Our Lord says down here in verse 50 to this woman, Thy faith hath
saved thee. Now how can that be? The just
shall live by faith. Therefore, we conclude that as
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. We read
that a moment ago. Thy faith hath saved thee. Go
and go in peace. Go in peace. What peace and joy
would we all have in our heart right now to hear the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is none other than God Almighty, who has the sole
and sovereign right and the only one to speak and to say to any
sinner, thy sins are forgiven, and they're forgiven only because
of his blood sacrifice to put away our sin, only by his blood
sacrifice by which he justifies the ungodly. To him speak to
your heart and say to you, your sins which are many are forgiven."
Pardoned. That's exactly what the gospel
message is to every sinner who looks to the Lord Jesus Christ
for pardon of sin. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from Most of my sin. Thank God it doesn't
say that. He cleanses us from all our sin. The Lord said, look unto me and
be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. I
am God and there is none other. I'm the only just God and Savior. How do I look to the Lord Jesus
Christ? How do I look to Him? By faith. By faith. Faith, saving faith,
it's a gift of God. And then the fruit of that is
peace. Peace with God. Reconciled to
God in Christ. Now let's look at some of the
details of this gospel story and the character of these three
people. The Pharisee, Simon, and then the sinner, this woman.
We don't even know her name. Now the Lord did, but it's not
given. This sinful woman, and then,
of course, the only one who can forgive sin, and that is the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He's the friend. Remember what
we read last week? He's the friend of sinners. He
came to justify sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Now notice, first of all, the
character of this Pharisee whose name is Simon, verse 36, and
one of the Pharisees desired him. Remember back in verse 30
of Luke 7, the Pharisees and the Lawyers rejected the counsel
of God against themselves, but this particular Pharisee desired
an audience with the Lord Jesus Christ, that he would come to
his house and eat with him, and the Lord did. He went to the
Pharisee's house and sat down to a table full of good food,
meat. And they were interrupted. They
were interrupted. Here comes an uninvited guest. This woman. She just kind of
elbows her way in there and up to the table. Behold a woman
in the city, which was a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at meat in this Pharisee's house, She brought an alabaster box
full of ointment, this perfumed bottle. Now this man, Simon the
Pharisee, had much religion, but he was lost. He had a form
of godliness, but remained ungodly. He had all the outward credentials
of outward piety and self-righteousness, and yet he showed no pity. He
showed no mercy. He said, this woman, She'd never
touch me. You letting this woman lay hold
on you? You see, he had a form of godliness,
but denying the power of God to save sinners. Simon was always
going about as a Pharisee to establish a righteousness based
upon the doing of the law. Matter of fact, he thought he
kept the law. Hold your place there, and let's find the book
of Romans one more time. Romans 10, turn there. Romans 10. I pray you don't have
the religion of the Pharisee. Because look what it says here
in Romans 10 verse 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is they might be saved. Religious Israel,
for I bear them record they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
What is the righteousness of God? Christ. He's the Lord our
righteousness. For in Christ, for Christ is
the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He's
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. When Simon the Pharisee saw this
sinful woman at the Lord's feet, she came in, verse 38, and stood
at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with
tears, did wipe them with the hairs of her head, kissed his
feet, anointed them with ointment." What is she doing here? She's
worshipping the Lord. She's at His feet as a sinner,
reverencing His holy name. When the Pharisee sees this going
on, verse 39, Simon, which had invited, bidden the Lord to come
to his house. When he saw this, he speaking
within his own heart, he sang, this man, this man, if he were
really the prophet, he would have known what manner of woman
this is that touches him, for she is a sinner. A sinner. When he saw this sinful woman
at the Lord's feet, honoring Him, worshipping Him, he was
horrified, wasn't he? He would not have allowed this
woman to touch him, lest he be defiled. Simon thought himself
somewhat better than this sinful woman. No, he's worse off. You
remember, turn to Luke 18. He's actually worse off. You
see, your sin will never keep you from Christ. You know what,
Will? Your self-righteousness. You'll
never flee to Christ for mercy, as long as you think you can
do it on your own. The Pharisees had this idea,
Luke 18, verse 9. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, they were
righteous, and look at these next words. Isn't this what he
did? Despised others. That's where
self-righteousness leads to. Luke 18, 9. Despised others. Two men went up to the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a Republican, a sinner.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank
you, I'm not as other men. Really. I'm not an extortioner,
I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulterer, I'm not even as that publican,
I fast twice a week, I get tithes of all that I possess." He's
really bragging on himself, isn't he? Is he praying at all? No. The publican standing afar
off would not lift up so much his eyes to heaven, smote upon
his breast saying, God be merciful to me, thee sinner. I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.
For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted. He also does not regard, back
in verse 39 of Luke 7, Simon also does not regard the Lord
Jesus Christ as a true prophet, does he? He said, if you were
a prophet, if you were really the man of God, You would know
something about this woman that touches you. You remember what
the people were saying? Look back in Luke chapter 7. When the Lord spake in verse
15 to the young man that was dead. Young man, I say unto thee,
arise. And he that was dead sat up and
began to speak, and he delivered him to his mother. A fear on
all, they glorified God, saying that a great prophet is risen
among us, that God had visited his people. You see, that was
a rumor. Simon saying, if that rumor were
true, you would know you wouldn't let that woman come near you,
for she's defiled, she's a wicked streetwalker, a prostitute, a
harlot. You know salvation for sinners? even though Simon desired that
the Lord would eat with him, yet all that time he was profoundly
ignorant of the holy nature of Christ and totally ignorant of
the gospel of God." This is the true prophet of God. This is
the one that came to seek and to save the lost. Our Lord Himself
said to Simon, you gave me no water for my feet, you gave me
no kiss, my head you didn't anoint with oil, There was one great
defect that he had in his heart. No love, no reverence, no respect,
and no worship toward the Lord Jesus Christ. What a contrast
between this sinful woman and Simon. She loved much. She reverenced
his name. She worshipped him. She loved
him much. Simon is going on through the
motions in his religious way. We would do well to remember
the case of Simon the Pharisee. It is quite possible to have
much religion and miss the Lord Jesus Christ all together. Now I know about much religion.
False religion. I cut my teeth on works religion. I grew up that way. I grew up
that way because I was taught that way, that salvation was
dependent upon me. What I did, I never heard until
I heard the gospel. of the Lord Jesus Christ, that
salvation is dependent upon Him, His grace, His mercy. So it is
quite possible to have much religion and miss Christ altogether. It
is quite possible to have much knowledge of doctrine and miss
the message of Christ. and his doctrine. Salvation by
his grace all together. Saul of Tarsus is another Pharisee
that's a good example of that, isn't it? Turn to Philippians
chapter 3. Hold your place there. Saul of
Tarsus, he had so much religion. He was full of religion. Saul
of Tarsus was a Pharisee, wasn't he? Just like Simon. Probably
went to the same school. Probably had the same teacher,
Gamaliel. Philippians chapter 3. You remember His testimony
here, verse 4 of Philippians 3, Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof
he might trust in the flesh, I would have more. Circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, the most valid circumcision,
of the tribe of Benjamin, favorite tribe, Hebrew of Hebrews, his
daddy was a Jew, his mama was a Jew, As touching the law, a
Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, he said,
I'm blameless. That's what Saul of Tarsus thought.
No one could charge me with an outward offense. breaking the
law of God, but what things were gained to me, now I count everything
lost for Christ." You see, when the Lord taught him the gospel,
one time he thought all those things gained him God's favor,
or at least removed God's wrath. Now that he knows Christ, he
counts all that as garbage. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dumb." Do you understand the meaning of that
word? That's what you flushed down the commode this morning.
Rubbish. That I may win Christ and be
found in Him. not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ." There's that same statement we read in Romans 3. The faith
of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith in Him. So there's the character of the
Pharisee. He had much religion, but he
was lost. Here's the second character.
Here's the character of this woman. This nameless woman, sinful
woman, verse 37, behold a woman in the city which was a sinner. She came uninvited. Simon didn't invite this woman.
She intruded and invited herself and came to the Lord and worshipped
Him. Weeping, broken hearted. Now
we know absolutely nothing about this woman, about her, except
this one great fact that the Lord gives us. She was a sinner. She was a sinner. Does that offend
you? If I would call you a sinner,
does that offend you? A lot of people it offends. I
call myself the chief of sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation to the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. She was a sinner who trusted
the Lord Jesus Christ for all of her salvation. She was a sinner
who was forgiven all of her sin. She was a sinner who loved the
Lord Jesus Christ much. She was a grateful sinner, wasn't
she? She demonstrated that love for
Christ. She came to Him and she worshiped
Him in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. Can't you just imagine this picture?
She's at His feet, weeping tears, bathing His feet with her tears,
wiping them dry with her hair, and then anointing His feet,
and then kissing the Lord's feet. That's worship. I want to be
found at His feet, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. You see,
she's in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. She loved our Lord because
He first loved her. She thought nothing too much
to do for Him. She felt deeply grateful to our
Lord. She thought no mark of gratitude
too costly to bestow upon her. She heard that command the Lord
gave, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I
will give you rest. She heard that command and she
came. She came worshiping the Lord
Jesus Christ. Her love was the effect of the
forgiveness that she received. Her love was the effect of forgiveness,
not the cause. The only cause of forgiveness
of her sin is Christ and Him crucified, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches
of His grace. Her love was the consequence
of her forgiveness, not the condition. The only condition is His grace. That's the only condition for
forgiveness. His blood, His righteousness, God who saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
God's own purpose and grace. Her love was a result of her
forgiveness, not the reason. The only reason was His blood and His righteousness. Her love was the fruit of forgiveness,
not the root, cause, or the foundation. Here it is love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and gave Himself for our sin. You see, she loved Him because
he had forgiven her. We love him because he only first
loved us. Believers are motivated by grace
and gratitude and love, not threat of law, no promise of reward,
or hope of recognition, but believers are constrained out of love. The love of Christ constrains
us. You see, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
Gentleness, meekness, temperance, faith. Galatians 5, 22. Romans 5, 5 says the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We only love
Him because He first loved us. There's the Pharisee. There's
the woman. Now, here's the Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly, notice carefully the
gracious and powerful character of our blessed God and Savior
Our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 40 down to verse 50,
the Lord is going to teach Simon a very important lesson about
forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of our debts.
What are debts? Our debts are sins against God,
aren't they not? Are they not? The Lord is going
to teach us a lesson about gratitude and love. in this parable that
the Lord gives here in verse 40 and verse 41. And the Lord
answered Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. And he said,
Master, teacher, teach me. And the Lord in verse 41, 42,
there was a certain creditor which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence, or we're
going to use dollars, and the other owed $50. And when they
had nothing to pay, when the bill came due, when the bill
came due, they had nothing to pay. He frankly forgave them
both. Now tell me, which of them will
love the most? And Simon rightly answers, I
suppose he to whom he forgave the most." And he said, thou
hast rightly judged, rightly judged. The Lord is going to
teach us a very lesson, a very important lesson about forgiveness,
forgiveness of sin, love and gratitude. In this parable here
are two sinners, and of course the two debtors represent who?
The Pharisee and this sinful woman. Both owe a debt to the
creditor. Both could not pay. Both were
broke. God, we know, is the creditor,
right? All of us are in great debt to
the great God. We're in debt over our head. We're head over heels in debt
to God. We've sinned against God. We're
in debt to His holy law, to His holy righteous justice because
we have all sinned. We wrote that just a moment ago,
Romans 3, 23. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. You see, sin is a transgression
against the law. We're sinners. Through and through. In Adam, we've all sinned. And
in your own personal life and experience, you came forth from
the womb speaking lies. Born in sin, shaping in iniquity,
let's face the facts. We're sinners through and through. When the creditor came to collect
the debt, verse 41, when the bill came due, both debtors had
nothing to pay. No money, no merit, no credit. Yet the creditor, when they had
nothing to pay, verse 42, he frankly forgave them both freely
and The creditor, because he was
gracious, long-suffering, freely and fully forgave both of them. The creditor, we know, is our
great God and gracious God and our Savior. We are the debtors. It doesn't matter if you sinned
a little bit or if you sinned a lot. There's no such thing
as little sin. We've all sinned greatly against
God. And we have nothing to pay, nothing
to satisfy the debt, no way to clear or cancel our debt before
God. We're in the hole. We're bankrupt. We're in debt. We have no merit,
no righteousness to cause Him to cancel our sin, forgive our
sin. We are spiritually bankrupt. poor, on the dunghill, without
God, without hope, and without Christ. That's us by nature.
You ever been there? A sinner stripped, broken, beaten
in debt. Yet the Lord, because He is gracious,
because the Lord paid our debt to law and justice with His own
blood, with His own sacrifice, now He can freely and justly
forgive His people for whom He died. We read it a moment ago
in Romans 3, 26. Now He can be just and the justifier
of them which believe. How can He do that? That's the
mystery of the gospel. How God can remain holy and sovereign
and not compromise His holy character and yet save sinful, guilty men
not at the expense of His justice, and in doing so, magnify His
mercy. He can be a just God and Savior
only through the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
obtained eternal redemption for us with His own blood. He put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Now the Lord asked this
question, who will love the most? Who will love the most? And Simon
rightly answers, the one who the Lord forgave the most. If you were in debt of 500 million
dollars and your creditor said your debt
is cancelled, here's another man that owed 500 dollars. And
the same creditor said, your debt is cancelled. Which one
would be more appreciative? The one who had the larger debt.
Now they were both thankful. They were both thankful the creditor
forgave the debt. This woman is a prime example
of how and why God forgives sinners. Look at verse 47. Verse 47 of
Luke 7, Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many,
are gone, forgiven. And because they're all forgiven,
she loves me much. But to whom little is forgiven,
The same will love, but maybe not quite as strong. He said to her, thy sins are
forgiven. Thy sins are forgiven. Why? for Christ's sake. We're told
to love one another and to forgive one another even as God for Christ's
sake has forgiven us. God only forgives us for Christ's
sake. We're not forgiven because of
our faith. We're not forgiven because of
our repentance. We're not forgiven because of
our love. We're only forgiven because of
His blood. He put away our sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Her sins, which are many, the
Lord said, are all forgiven, freely forgiven, eternally forgiven,
fully forgiven. Not because she had done anything,
but rather because the Lord is gracious. You see, He came to
save sinners, and the Lord is demonstrating that He is God
alone who can forgive sin. They complained, verse 49, they
that said it meet with Him began to say within themselves, Who
do you think you are? Who do you think you are? Who
is this that forgives us sins also? Turn back to Luke chapter
5. Do you remember the story of
the four men who brought their paralyzed friend down through
the roof right before the Lord Jesus Christ? In Luke chapter
5 verse 20, when he saw their faith, he said unto them, Man,
thy sins are forgiven. And the scribes and the Pharisees
began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemy? Who can forgive sin but God alone? And the Lord Jesus perceived
their thoughts, he answering them, What? Reason in your hearts. Whether it is easier to say,
Thy sin be forgiven thee, or to say to this man who is paralyzed,
Rise up and walk. that ye may know that the Son
of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He saith unto the
sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy
couch, and go into thy house. And immediately he rose up before
them, and took up that which whereon he lay, and he departed
to his own house, glorifying God." He loved much, didn't he? He was forgiven much. You see, she loved much because
she had much to be thankful for. She did not love to be forgiven.
She loved much because she had been forgiven all her sins. Finally, the Lord said to this
woman, who was weeping, washing his feet, kissing his feet, anointing
his feet, worshipping him, the Lord says to her three things. Number one, Verse 48, Thy sins
are forgiven. What good news! Thy debts are all paid. They no longer exist. That's exactly what the gospel
of our blessed Lord teaches us. In Hebrews 10 verse 17, He said,
Their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. You know why? He appeared once
in the end of the age to put away their sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. We read in Psalm 103, He has
put away our sin as far as the east is from the west. How far is that? You know east
never meets west? It just keeps right on going.
Infinitely so. Our sins no longer exist. Isaiah 44 said, they're blotted
out as a thick cloud. Isaiah 38, he told Hezekiah,
they're cast behind thy back. Jeremiah 50 verse 20, In those
days and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of
Judah, for they shall not be found, for I will pardon them
whom I reserve. The sin of God's elect have been
put away. Call His name Jesus, He shall
save His people from their sin. Micah 7 verse 19, the Lord said,
I've cast all their sin into the depths of the sea. The depths
of the sea is, how much light's down there in the depths of the
sea? None. Total darkness. Our sins are
gone. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
put them away. Thy sins are forgiven. The second
thing he says in verse 50, don't miss this now. Thy faith hath
saved thee. Thy faith hath saved thee. Now, notice it's thy faith. It wasn't mama's faith. It wasn't
daddy's faith. Where'd she get this thing? Where'd she get this thing? Man
by nature loves darkness, not light. Where'd she get this faith?
How did she arrive at this place of worship and believing Him
and looking to Him for all forgiveness of sin? Where'd she get this
faith? Faith is a gift of God, not of works, that any man should
boast. This faith is called precious
because it's the gift of God. Thy faith hath saved thee. What is the object of saving
faith? Looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ,
who's the author and finisher of our faith. We look to the
Lord Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before Him,
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on
the right hand of God, saving faith, looks to the enthroned,
exalted Lord Jesus Christ. Not to a weak, pitiful, peanut
Savior who want to and can't, but to a victorious, conquering
King. He's King of kings, and He is
Lord of lords. She is saved by faith, and her
faith received the Lord Jesus Christ and all that comes with
Him. And we have all things in Him.
We're blessed with all spiritual blessings and heavenlies in the
Lord Jesus Christ. By Him all that believe are justified
by all things which we could not be justified by the law of
Moses. Man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law, the just shall live by faith. You know
what saving faith does? You remember Romans? Chapter
4, Abraham was strong in faith, giving God all the honor and
glory, being fully persuaded that all that God has promised,
God was able to perform. Saving faith honors Christ, gives
Him all the honor and glory, and looks to the Lord Jesus Christ
alone for all of salvation. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith We can read it this way too, justified
by Christ without the deeds of the law. The Lord honored the
law for us. And then the third thing he says,
number one, thy sins are forgiven. Number two, thy faith has saved
thee. Saving faith doesn't accomplish
salvation. Saving faith received the Lord
Jesus Christ who did accomplish salvation. Now, the last thing
he says, You go. You go home. Go in peace. Go in peace. Go in peace. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners are reconciled
to God through Christ. We have peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. He made peace for us. He made
peace for us with His own blood. Now don't ever be guilty of this.
We hear a lot of people like Simon the Pharisee, they would
say, I've made my peace with God. Don't ever say that. That's a terrible thing to say.
You can't make peace with God. Who do you think you are? It's
only the Lord Jesus Christ that made peace with God for us. You
see, He reconciled us to God. God was in Christ, reconciling
us unto Himself. 2 Corinthians chapter 5.