Sin, Faith, and Forgiveness

Luke 5:17–26 NKJV

17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. 20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 25 Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

The Scene: A certain day, pharisees, teachers of the law observing Jesus teach.

Many there to learn

many there to be healed and delivered

Some were there to mock, or criticise

The crowd was large, it must have seemed impossible to get to Jesus.

Now, this crippled man, having come all this way, could not make it to Jesus

Sometimes the hardest part of our journey is when we are almost there

you may be one more step from your breakthrough; if you don’t quit

It may have seemed like a waste of time

Some people might have thought of turning back

so many Christians do turn back when the mountain is in the way

An Act of Faith!

Faith brings action: Believing enough to act like you believe

Faith is synonomous with believe. Truly believing leads to action

Consider the heroes of faith from ; who by faith did...

James said faith without action (works) is dead being alone

This man had friends who had faith

They believed that God had brought them there to see their friend be healed

No crowd of people was going to snuff out their faith

are you letting the crowd kill your faith?

These men had faith in Jesus, they had to get to Him.

Imagine their faith.... climbing up on top of the house and cutting a whole in the roof

letting the man down with ropes?

Most people would be afraid of an adverse consequence

but their faith was in Jesus; They knew all they had to do was get to Him

When He saw “Their” Faith

Notice the wording here

So often Jesus mentions “faith” as a cause in bringing healing and deliverance

The bible mentions this often

In this case, it was not the faith of the sick man that brought the results

When Jesus saw the faith of his friends…

Thank God for the faith of praying grandmothers, and mothers, and others

Jesus sees their faith

We don’t know if the sick man had any faith at all:

He may not have even been a believer

Maybe he was too tired to exercise his faith; worn down, in despair, hoplessness

Maybe it had been so long he gave up

Maybe he thought himself unworthy - perhaps filled with guilt over past sins, failures and disappointments

we don’t know.

But we do know that he was sinful man

What kind of people does Jesus Help

Here we see this man receive healing, through no merit of his own

Jesus mentioned the faith of his friends

But there is nothing in this man that contributed to his healing.

His own faith was not mentioned

he could not get himself there, had to be carried

he didn’t have any special righteousness, in fact, his sin is mentioned

Don’t lose faith for those you are praying for

Your sins are fogiven

Jesus said: Your sins are forgiven

Think about the implications here

The fact that Jesus could forgive sins at all was a really big deal to them there

But everyone here is already familiar with the concept that Jesus forgives sin, so I won’t belabor that point.

But the implication is that this forgiveness of sins is somehow related to whether or not the man can be healed

Somehow sin seems to have to do with sickness, or other troubles

Or at least the guilt of that sin

In this case, Jesus equated being forgiven with being healed

Forgiveness breaks the power of sin over you, your body, your spirit, and your life

We receive forgiveness by faith

Do you believe that you have been forgiven the same way this man has?

through no merit of your own?

If it depends on you, it is over the first time you miss the mark

If it depends on HIM it is everlasting

Jesus emphasized the importance of forgiveness and linked it with faith and miracles:

Mark 11:24–26 NKJV

24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Mark 11:24–25 NKJV

24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11.

If we do not forgive then we are not forgiven

We often relate this to salvation, but it should also be related especially to this life

If you do not forgive, then you are not released from so much

Many Christians perhaps remain in sickness and bondage as a result of forgiveness.

Though they pray, and have faith,

Many people expect their own sins to be forgiven while holding everyone else in condemnation

But Jesus said we must forgive

Not so that He could take away our right to justice, but rather so He could give us something so much more valuable.

Forgive, and be forgiven

One of the best ways to grow in your Christian walk is to practice forgiveness

What does that look like?

Practicing forgiveness, means part of our daily walk, not just a few big things

So many people can list a few major things that they have forgiven people for, but yet, they hold grudges and harbor anger about people every day.

Some people are fooling themselves, forgiving loved ones of offences when it really benefits them anyway

Yet they fly off the handle in an instant if someone cuts them off in traffic, or disappoints them, or offends them

Practicing forgiveness should become your nature

Arise!

Being forgiven meant that this man could arise and walk

Receive the life empowering forgiveness of Jesus today

arise from your circumstance also

Extend this same forgiveness to the world around you and grow in your faith, and power