Have You Been Forgiven Much?

"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." 

Luke 7:47

It is no surprise to us that when judged according to God's perfect standard all are proved sinners.  God does not judge using a curve:  we are either righteous or unrighteous, holy or polluted, pass or fail.  There are two ways to gain entrance to heaven.  The first is to be born without a sin nature and remain perfect in thought, word, attitude, and deed without a single stumble, obeying the Law given to Moses in every tiny detail.  This means avoidance of all sin, offering the appropriate sacrifices at the right times, eating foods deemed clean under the Law, keeping the Passover, and on and on.  This is certainly impossible for everyone since we all have a human dad, the Temple is no longer standing, and we have all made countless mistakes!  The other way (and only way!) to be declared innocent by God is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ by grace through faith.  When we repent of our sin and trust in Jesus for salvation, we are forgiven, our sins are atoned for by the blood of Christ, we are proclaimed righteous, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us. 

Jesus, however, was conceived in a virgin by the Holy Spirit.  He kept the Law and was flawless in word and deed.  His sacrifice on the cross was therefore acceptable before God, being the Lamb of God without spot, pure and holy unto God.  He once for all died for the sins of the world so whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.  A Christian is someone who has recognised their doomed condition due to sin and has owned it for the sake of forsaking it.  A self-righteous person is convinced that because there are people who appear to be greater sinners than him, repentance is not necessary.  He is proud, refusing to admit his need to be forgiven and reconciled to God - if there indeed is a God!

Prior in the Luke passage, Jesus had been invited to eat with a self-righteous Pharisee, a teacher of the Law.  A woman who was known as a great sinner came to Jesus, anointed Him with fragrant oil, wept as she wiped his feet with her hair and kissed them.  The Pharisee was indignant and judged Christ negatively, questioning the permissive response of Jesus:  "If this man is truly a great prophet, He would never allow such a sinful woman to touch Him."  Jesus, knowing the self-righteous and judgmental heart of Simon the Pharisee, called him out in front of all the dinner guests.  Simon didn't see himself as a great sinner.  Because of that, he had been only forgiven little.  The result of his lack of repentance was little love for God.  He had not been forgiven much, so he loved little. 

The result of repentance is an increase of love for God.  Having grown up in the church, I know a lot of "churchy" people.  I have seen it to be true that many who grow up in the church and live a "clean life" by worldly standards lack the repentance of those who have been great sinners.  I used to be one of these people.  All people are great sinners, but self-righteous folks don't see their own sin properly.  Because they do not deem their sin as grievous, they neglect and resist repentance - thinking it is a sign of spiritual weakness - or fearful of judgment by other self-righteous church people.  The end result?  Little love for God.  This lack of love results in little labour for God and judgments of others.  A lack of repentance brings a man to be a Pharisee who invites Jesus over for a meal but refuses to make the sacrifices great sinners freely perform with great joy.

If you love someone, you will do something about it.  Proverbs 27:5 reads, "Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed."  Because I love you, dear reader, here is a gentle rebuke:  if you do not do much for Christ it is because you do not love much.  If you do not love much because you have not been forgiven much.  If you have been forgiven much you will love much.  Much love results in much labour and sacrifice for God's glory.  Love for God will compel you to give up what is most precious to you for Him without hesitation.  Instead of being depressed about our faults, let us confess them and repent, agreeing with God once and for all.  The more our sins are forgiven the more reason we have to love Jesus and remain loyal to Him.  Our sins are great, but our God is greater.  May our love for Him increase so all will know we are Christians by our love!