Forgiven of Much

Luke 7:47-48 says, “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. Then He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ ”

This story starts off in verse 36 when a Pharisee named Simon asks Jesus to come eat at his house. Jesus accepts the offer and begins to dine with Simon. When the sinful woman heard of Jesus and Simon’s meal, she brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil in order to wash Jesus’ feet. Simon questions the authenticity of Jesus’ claims because he reasons that Jesus really knew who this woman was, he wouldn’t allow her to come near. However, Jesus instead goes on to explain that because she has been forgiven much, she loves much.

This passage has meant a lot to me personally through out my life. I have dealt with a lot of different sins and struggles, some of which I steal deal with. To know that God has completely washed me clean of that sin is something I can’t fully comprehend. I understand that because of the Fall of Man, we were cursed. That curse we don’t have the communion that we could of had with God the Father. In fact, we were even made enemies in the site of God.

Paul wrote a letter to the Roman church and in it is a very strong summary of the Gospel and Theology. He wrote it with the intent of explaining all of Christianity to those in Rome who had not completely grasped the concept yet. He explains in chapter 5 that because of Adam and Eve, we were all born into sin and there was no way out of it, except for a perfect, divine, and human sacrifice to cleanse the earth of its sin.

I love to think about the immensity of our sin because of the beauty of redemption. Romans 5:20 says, “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” On our way to Church Youth Camp last week, we watched The Incredibles. The villain of the movie wants to become a hero, so he makes the most evil robot the world has ever seen and puts it in the middle of the city. The villain’s hope is that the robot will destroy everything in sight, and before it completely demolishes the people of the city, he will destroy it, looking like the hero who has saved the day. His plans are foiled and the real heroes defeat the robot and are renamed the best.

Those who have seen this movie relate to it and see the bad guy as a selfish human being who doesn’t care about anyone else. Anyone like this leaves a bad taste in our mouths. However, I wonder if this the way God works. Obviously, His love is vast and He truly does love us, but not more than Himself. For Him to love something more than Himself would mean that there is something out there that is better and worth more. For God to love Himself means that He is the ultimate, and there is nothing even close to being better than Him.

With this description, we could say that God is a jealous God. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Some people will take this verse and say that God will do anything and everything to give us the best that we need. In saying that, they mean the things that they want, which are desires of the world. However, we know that God’s will is unchanging because of the power of His predestining. Anyone who has His will lined up with God’s will see the will put into action, not because of the man willing it, but the man choosing God’s will over his flesh’s will.

All of this is important to note because without it we know that if God is not selfish then we cannot be sure of His existence as the Supreme Being of the Universe. If this is not true then we have no reason to have faith in His death and resurrection. If this is not true, then the whole idea of Christianity is false and in need of “repair”. But because God desires adoration more than anything else, we can have assurance that He will get it through everything that happens because of His sovereignty. Thus we can trust Him, if we indeed seek after Him, when we go through struggles and persecution.

2^nd Corinthians 12:7-10 says, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Right now, I want you to understand that God forgives because God loves adoration and He wants everyone to be apart of it. This is the true sign of love because when all life is centered on giving God praise and He offers the most intimate praise possible, it is a true act of love because we are fulfilling our purpose as human beings. God used sin in the world to make us realize that we are stuck here on earth. Without a Savior or a way out, there is no way we can possibly live and do what we were meant to do as humans.

I think it’s funny how Jesus says that this woman has been forgiven of much and kind of points out that Simon doesn’t love as much because Simon thinks that he isn’t such a bad guy. It’s not that the woman, without God, would have been sent to a lower level of hell than Simon because of her deeper sin, but it is simply that she recognized how much she was in need of a Savior. Simon had yet to realize that.

I pray we all understand just how much sin we have been saved from, and then maybe we would begin to love God more. – Forsake All