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Luke 7:45-47
Gina:
"You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."
Hi All
I hope all is well with everybody today. I wanted to share this verse because I've been meditating on it a lot over the past few years.
I think to myself, you know, it's really only because the Pharisee was blind to how much he had to be forgiven for that he loved so little. Even the apostle Paul loved very much and with a purer love too because he could see how much he had done and therefore how much he had been forgiven.
People might say all sins are the same since all sin ends in death and therefore all will love equally in the end. But I don't know if that's really true, because Paul said he was chief among sinners - the worst sinner to have ever been born.
Jesus said certain individuals would receive the greater condemnation for certain sins implying their sins are greater, but that doesn't mean that they will not love in the end.
And so I've wondered -- doesn't that mean that their love for God and His ways, when all is said and done, be exponentially greater when they see how much they have been forgiven? And I wonder who might be in that class of people who love much. I think it's kinda neat to think about these things.
Dave in Tenn:
Let me tack this on:
Mat_6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Mar_11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Seeing that those who have not forgiven are not forgiven...that is, those who HAVE FORGIVEN, ARE FORGIVEN...it completes the circle. Who loves much? The one forgiven much. Who is forgiven much? The one who forgives much. Who loves little? The one forgiven little. Who is forgiven little? The one who forgives little.
Does 'forgiveness' equal 'love' then? Or are they different but dependent on one another?
Seems to me that its best to get on with this 'forgiving' thing. I don't know how we all 'end up'. I suspect by the time God is All in ALL, we "all" will have forgiven everything. But I believe in resurrection into the coming age we will not all be 'equal'.
Gina:
--- Quote from: Dave in Tenn on July 13, 2015, 06:29:45 PM ---Let me tack this on:
Mat_6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Mar_11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Seeing that those who have not forgiven are not forgiven...that is, those who HAVE FORGIVEN, ARE FORGIVEN...it completes the circle. Who loves much? The one forgiven much. Who is forgiven much? The one who forgives much. Who loves little? The one forgiven little. Who is forgiven little? The one who forgives little.
Does 'forgiveness' equal 'love' then? Or are they different but dependent on one another?
Seems to me that its best to get on with this 'forgiving' thing. I don't know how we all 'end up'. I suspect by the time God is All in ALL, we "all" will have forgiven everything. But I believe in resurrection into the coming age we will not all be 'equal'.
--- End quote ---
I see what you're saying. No, I don't believe forgiveness equals love. Not to say that it is not a loving thing to do. It's just that she wasn't kissing the pharisee's feet. It was Jesus she loved much. Forgiveness is only a step in the right direction. Forgiveness alone doesn't get the sin out of the sinner.
Sinners are forgiven first by God. Then, if they repent, they are cleansed. Her great love is a sign that she had repented of her many sins as great as they were. She recognized her own sins were sin and were great by the light of her Savior's great love. Jesus wasn't commending the woman for loving / forgiving the Pharisees. Which isn't to say that she had not forgiven him. But I imagine if she had a great love and respect for this Pharisee above that of her Lord and Savior she wouldn't have marched into that man's house and kissed Jesus' feet in front of that man.
Gina:
42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.”
I see it like this: He was saying that because the woman recognized how great her sin was that she could love Him (not others, not this Pharisee) more because she could see for herself that her sin (against God alone have we sinned)) was greater than this Pharisee's.
I believe if anything is a sign of love for God and our Lord and Savior, it would be repentance of sins, not forgiveness. After all, thieves and robbers love (forgive) thieves and robbers. Repentance of sins is a greater sign of love for God than forgiveness of other sinners, because it leads to God's good works (kissing [symbolically] the feet of your Lord and Savior-over and over and weeping over past sins and feeling great joy over having been set free to do right -- even in the presence of those who would condemn you for loving Jesus so much).
I guess I'm just really thinking of the future of those men and women who are similar to this woman, who will one day recognize how much they have sinned and how much they have been forgiven and when I think of how much they will love the Lord and His ways and in turn HIS PEOPLE, it just gives me the warm and fuzzies.
I have been watching testimonies of ex-gays and ex-porn stars, and man do they love God. Unlike this Pharisee, I am thrilled beyond measure to see them loving God so much (by repenting of their sin and trusting Him with their lives in the face of so much hostility).
I probably didn't say that right, but I bet some can see where I'm coming from.
Gina:
I suppose we can get on with the forgiving thing when God gives us the ability to. Carnally minded people don't have that ability.
Jesus said, When they couldn't pay the debt, He frankly forgave them both, implying that they could see they had a debt to pay. The way it comes across to me is either the pharisee could not see he had a debt to pay, or maybe he thought his debt wasn't as great. Maybe his debt wasn't as great. Jesus basically said, The reason you don't love me like this woman here does is because her sins are greater and she can see that for herself, as well as you can see her sin. But the difference between the pharisee and her was, she agreed with God about herself. She wasn't so preoccupied with the pharisee's sin that she forgot her own sin. (Personally, I think her sins were greater than the pharisees seeing how she owed God the larger debt.)
I'm just wondering if in the end the pharisees will love Him even more than this woman seeing how the pharisee would have had time to rack up more debt. Which would be very, very cool. His love for the Lord, I mean. I could go for that. You know, because where's the harm in that? When you love the Lord, after you see He is so kind to you, all you want to do is be at His feet and serving Him out of a pure heart. And I just think, wouldn't that be great when the pharisee is humbled and loves God that way -- when he/she too is very sorry and repentant and become like the little child (unpretentious, as Ray says)? Anyway, that's all. I just think it's a good thing to think on.
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