The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 7:50,
"Jesus said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'"
This is the woman who loved the Lord so much because she had been forgiven of so much. As a sinful woman who lived in this town, her sinful lifestyle was well known to all who lived there. A Pharisee, who had apparently done little in the way of sinning in his life, demonstrated little love for the Lord when he had him to his home for dinner. But the sinful woman manifested in her great love of the Lord due to the great amount of forgiveness she had received. Jesus told the Pharisee, "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little." Luke 7:47.
I note it was not the expression of love for the Lord that brought salvation to her, but the faith that manifested her love of the Lord that saved her. So many people have so much confusion about this issue of faith. It is by faith we procure salvation from the Lord. The greatest confusion most have is the notion that being a do-gooder is what gets you there. The Scriptures tell us that a person's good deeds, or lack of bad deeds, thoughts, words and actions cannot get us into heaven. Faith that may produce good works will. The Lord clearly told this woman who so publicly demonstrated her love of the Lord, it was her faith that saved her.
We all live by faith. The nature of life requires faith for our existence. I have to believe the ground will hold me up when I get out of the bed in the morning. I don't prove that fact each day before I roll out of bed. I simply assume it in an impulse of faith because it has held me up every other day I got out of bed. We all place our faith in something or someone. When I was confronted with the gospel I can recall understanding that if I didn't trust in Jesus - that would be an act of faith in itself. Should I place my trust in Jesus Christ or do I "believe" I don't have to? Either response has to be an act of faith. We all exercise faith.
I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ. How about you? What are you trusting in?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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