"YOUR FAITH HAS SAVED YOU!"
Luke 7:50

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At the conclusion of the account recorded in Luke 7:36-50, Jesus Christ said to a certain sinful woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." (This incident is not to be confused with that recorded in Matthew 26:6-13 / Mark 14:3-9 / John 12:3-8.)

There is no mention in all this passage that this woman believed in Christ. But He nevertheless saw evidence of her faith and declared that it had saved her. Christ does not say "Your act of faith has saved you"; many who perform an act of faith prove themselves to be possessors of mere temporal faith that saves no one (see Matthew 13:20f). Neither does Christ say "Your work of faith has saved you"; to believe in Christ is "the work of God", not man (John 6:29), although it is a work of God in man (Philippians 2:13). Neither does Christ say "Your confession of faith has saved you"; there is no indication in this passage that this woman uttered a single word, much less a confession of faith. In reality, it was not this woman's faith per se that saved her, but rather the object of her faith, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom also all her works here recorded were directed. Faith in any other person or thing, regardless how great that faith may be, is not saving faith.

Saving faith is an operative grace. That is, it is not a meritorious ground for salvation, but rather a gracious result of salvation, and one that is evidenced in the believer (see Ephesians 2:8-10). Consider:

I. Saving faith is not necessarily evidenced in one's words. As we have already observed, not a single word is attributed to this woman in all this passage. This is not to imply that this woman failed to obey the command to "confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus" (Romans 10:9) - for we assume she afterward often confessed her faith in Christ and called on Him. But in this passage, the evidence of this woman's saving faith was not found in her words, but rather in her works.

II. Saving faith is indeed necessarily evidenced in one's works. It is evidenced not so much in what one says before men as in what one does before God. James declares that "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead," and may be nothing more than the mere mental assent to the truth that even the devil and his demons possess (James 2:17ff). James says also that in the true believer "faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect" (v.22). No honest reader of the present passage would deny that this woman performed an abundance of works toward Jesus Christ. Her faith was not dead faith.

III. Saving faith is not evidenced in every kind of works. Saving faith is not evidenced in the "works of the flesh", for "those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21). It is not evidenced in the "works of the law", for these are contrary to saving faith (Romans 9:30-33; Galatians 2:16; 3:10f). It is not evidenced in the mighty and even miraculous works of which men boast of having done in Jesus' name, for He will reject many who make such boasts (Matthew 7:21-23). Furthermore, saving faith is not a meritorious work, for God saves sinners "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy" (Titus 3:5). Many who claim saving faith in their words prove themselves to be liars in their works. Christ spoke of such when He said, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:8, quoting Isaiah 29:13).

IV. Saving faith is evidenced in certain kinds of works.

1. Saving faith is evidenced in the work of repentance accompanying it. Saving faith is always accompanied with saving repentance (Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21; Hebrews 6:1). The tears of this woman, with which she bathed the feet of Jesus Christ (vv.38, 44), were evidence of her "godly sorrow [that] produces repentance leading to salvation" (2 Corinthians 7:9-11).

2. Saving faith is evidenced in the work of love accompanying it. Paul speaks of it as "faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). Such was the faith of this woman: Jesus commended her works of faith (vv.44-46) and then said that "her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much" (v.47).

Will your faith save you?

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