If a man or woman is known for their great acts of love for people throughout life, either in acts of charity or the sacrifice of time, energy, even health, is God obligated to grant them forgiveness of their sins? Do religious works warrant forgiveness from God? Can you earn God’s forgiveness by a life characterized by love for the less fortunate?

Recently a taxi-cab driver in Columbia, South Carolina told me that, if he wanted to go to heaven, he would need to do a great deal of good things in his life. His religion taught that the road to heaven required great acts of charity. But even then, even if one’s life was known for great acts of love, one never knew where they really stood with God until after death.

To someone familiar with the teaching of Scripture about God’s forgiveness of our sins, the taxi-driver’s beliefs are wrong-headed and lead to a tragic ending. Forgiveness for our sins is not earned or granted to us by God because we practice great acts of love. God does not reward sinners with forgiveness of sins as an obligation because they lead lives of virtue and love.

But occasionally, even the New Testament may appear to teach this do-it-yourself type of forgiveness. One example can be found in Luke 7:47.

The matter of God’s forgiveness of our sins, when addressed by Jesus in Luke 7:47, can be confusing in our English Bibles. It appears that forgiveness from God for our sins can be earned. That sounds so confusing and contradictory when we consider what other Scripture passages have to say about how our sins are forgiven. It’s a serious issue, one that will not necessarily heal itself as long as we only depend on English Translations of the Bible. We need some clarity.

 

Examining Luke 7:47

So, let’s examine the passage in question. Why not read the entire story for yourself in Luke 7: 36-50. And, then carefully observe 7:47:

 “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But the one who forgives little, loves little.” NIV. See also RSV, NASB.

“Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven for she loved much…” A.V. (KJV)

Do you see the problem?  

In English translations, it appears that Jesus’ assurance that the woman is forgiven of her many sins, is because she loved much. In other words, the basis of her forgiveness by God was her many acts of love for Jesus. So, her great love warrants her forgiveness by God. “She earned forgiveness by loving much” appears to be Jesus’ basic message. But appearances can be deceiving and this is the case here. 

The idea of “earned forgiveness” is contradictory to the message of God’s grace (undeserved forgiveness) in Scripture (see Ephesians 1:3-10). Despite the obvious contradiction, some of our English Bible translations seem to support the idea. Its confusing. What did Jesus really say in 7:47? Was the woman forgiven because she was a great lover? Or, was Jesus teaching us something else about forgiveness?

To press the issue further, can we earn God’s forgiveness for our many sins by doing great acts of love? If so, then, what good was Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross? Who needs the death of Jesus on the cross as the basis for God’s forgiveness if we can earn it on our own?

A “do-it-yourself” type of forgiveness and salvation would understandably appeal to many. But do Luke and the remainder of Scripture really mean to offer a “do-it-yourself” (DYI) forgiveness?

 

Examining Key Terms in Luke 7:47

Let’s examine some of the key words in the verse.

First, a look at the word “forgiven.”

“Her sins, which are many, have been forgiven.”

Jesus demonstrates that he truly knows this woman. His onsite critic, Simon, assumed that Jesus could not be a prophet. If Jesus was a true prophet of God, Simon assumed that he would not allow the sinful woman to touch him (7:39). But in the view of Simon, since Jesus did allow the woman to touch him, he must not be a genuine prophet of God.

But Luke shows that Jesus does indeed fulfill the role of a prophet. He did truly know the woman. He knows her many past sins. He also knows that those many past sins have been forgiven and remain so.

How did I come up with those claims? Well, the Greek verb “forgiven” in 7:47 is in the perfect passive form. The passive element indicates the woman’s sins were already forgiven by God. She did not forgive her sins herself. It was God who granted her forgiveness.

The perfect tense of the verb “forgiven” indicates that her past sins have already been forgiven and remain forgiven, right up to the time of Jesus’ speaking. Jesus did not say, “your sins are now forgiven.” Instead, the nuance of the perfect tense of the Greek verb reads: “Your sins--at some time in the past, however recent--are forgiven.”

So, according to Jesus, she is living in a state of forgiveness. Her sins, though many, have already been forgiven by God and remain forgiven.

Second, the next phrase has caused the confusion: “for she loved much.” That small connecting word “for” in our English translations, appears to provide the basis for her forgiveness. God had forgiven her of many sins “for” she loved much. In other words, it seems that her love was the basis for her forgiveness. Her love warranted the forgiveness of her many sins. She earned forgiveness from God by loving much.

If we only possessed an English translation of Luke 7:47, we could be forgiven for coming to that conclusion. It seems warranted by the text. But did Luke intend to communicate the message of a works-based, self-earned forgiveness of sins, even if that “work” consists of acts of great love?

To answer this question, we must observe the short clause that comes immediately afterwards. Let’s look again:

“Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, have been and remain forgiven, for she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little, loves little.”

 

The Message of Luke 7:47

When the entire verse is observed, including the clause that immediately follows, we can start to see Luke’s true meaning. The man or woman who is forgiven little, is thus also not able to love much. But the woman’s great abounding love for Jesus, her great love, is evidence that her multitude of sins have been forgiven. The next clause then, explains the prior statement: “here’s how we know her many sins were forgiven: she loved much.” But where few sins have been forgiven, very little love is able to be shown.

The Christian Standard Bible (formerly HCSB, now CSB) communicates the right idea in 7:47:

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why[1] she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.”

 

The Basis for the Woman’s Great Love for Jesus

 Why did this woman love Jesus much? She loved Jesus much because God had forgiven her much. That isn’t very good grammar, nor is it a smooth translation, but it sure gets Luke’s message across about the basis of the forgiveness of sins. The woman was not forgiven of her sins because she was a great lover of Jesus. She was a great lover of Jesus because God was first her great forgiver. The experience of being forgiven by God for her many sins became the motivation and enablement to love Jesus much. We love Jesus in proportion to the forgiveness we’ve already received from God.

Let me paraphrase Jesus’ discussion with Simon about the woman who loved him much.

Simon, what I am saying to you is that this woman’s sins, which are many, have already been forgiven. Do you want evidence of her forgiveness? Well, have a look at the evidence displayed right in front of your own eyes. She wept at my feet. She dried her tears with her hair. She kissed and anointed my feet. What do you think this shows? Where does all this love spring from? How do you explain this gush of love for me?

You yourself know that when a debtor has been freely forgiven of a great debt of money, that person, a man, or a woman, will feel deep, emotional gratitude and love for the generous creditor. That gratitude will issue in a fountain of love. This woman indeed piled up a load of debt with me with her sin. But have a look at her deep gratitude and love for me. Isn’t that sufficient evidence that she had already experienced forgiveness for that large debt? She loves me so much because she experienced so much forgiveness from me.

So, let’s recap. The forgiveness of our sins is not a matter-of-do-it-yourself. Forgiveness of sins cannot be earned by extra-ordinary good behavior, even by being a great lover of people. Good religious works do not warrant acceptance with God. Good religious works, such as loving the unlovely, are the fruits of being forgiven by God in Christ. The woman loved Jesus so much because she experienced so much forgiveness from him. Her deep love was visible evidence of experiencing the deep forgiveness given by Jesus.

 

In Sum 

We’ve examined Jesus’ words in Luke 7:47 about the forgiveness of a woman’s many sins. She was a great lover of Jesus. But the secret to understanding her abounding love for Jesus was to realize that it was proportionate to the forgiveness she had experienced by God, the forgiveness of her many sins. She was forgiven much. Guilt was a prison which barred her from loving Jesus. But when she experienced full and free forgiveness by God for her many sins, the prison door swung wide open, freeing her up to love Jesus much.   

 

Observe how the apostle Paul presents the basis for God’s forgiveness of our sins: the basis or foundation of our forgiveness is not the poverty of our love, but the riches of his grace, the undeserved, unmerited love and favor God extends to us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

 

God was not obligated in any way to show us grace. It was a free-gift from God, entirely undeserved, depending upon God’s own will alone. There is not the slightest breath of censure possible toward God if he did not grant us grace. So, God’s grace is his spontaneous, selective, unconditional, uninvoked love for underserving sinners. Grace is a wonder. It is truly amazing. And Paul is the supreme expositor of grace and the one who experienced it in a personal way (see his testimony in 1 Tim 1:12-17):

 

5 God did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will— 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.  7 In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. Ephesians 1:5-8.

 

Thank you for reading.

NOTES:

[1] Luke use of the connector “for” (ὅτι in the Greek text) as an evidentiary connector (as a means of introducing evidence in an ensuing clause) can be seen elsewhere in Luke 1:22, 6:21; 13:2. See also the discussion of Luke 7:36-50 in Darrell Bock’s Luke (BECNT), Vol. 1, pp. 689-709.