Grace and the Prostitute

Grace is like the air we breathe, there’s an unlimited supply. Everyone gets the amount that they need. It sustains life, and it’s free. Why, then, is grace so difficult to embrace? 

The Apostle Paul’s simple explanation of grace in Ephesians 2:8-9 states that by grace, we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, not of works, lest anyone should boast. The message of Jesus is also grace-filled. Twenty of His 31 parables directly teach about grace, and His teaching on the kingdom of heaven leaves little doubt that His references to the kingdom of heaven are references to grace. 

Like grace, the kingdom of heaven is a suspension of cause and effect. The kingdom of heaven, or grace, makes the last first and the first last. It turns the other cheek and gives your coat as well as your shirt. In the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of grace, gravity is suspended, and we fly away. The blind see, the lame walk, the dead come to life. In the kingdom of heaven, as with grace, you don’t get what you deserve, but you get, thank God, what you don’t deserve. 

But still, despite the ubiquity of grace and its price, it’s puzzling why it’s so difficult to accept. A Pew poll of religious Americans in 2017 found out that more than 500 years after the Protestant Reformation, 81% of Catholics and 52% of Protestants believe that we’re saved by both grace through faith and our good works. Martin Luther, the purveyor of sola fide (faith alone), would be amazed. Philip Yancey wrote a book asking the question, “What’s so amazing about grace?” I think better questions would be: Do you have a place for grace? Can you accept the grace that God has for you, and can you be transformed by that grace? Will you allow yourself to be freed by grace? Given grace all around, the question is, what do I do with grace?

From the story of Simon and the sex worker, I hope today to show you what it means to fall in and out of grace. 

The story of Simon the Pharisee and the woman who anoints Jesus with perfume is found in Luke 7:36-50. However, there are similar accounts in the other gospels—Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, and John 12:1-8—that provide additional context and details of the story. Integrating these accounts can give us a richer narrative, although we must be mindful of the fact that they involve different settings and characters. I hope that you see from the story a new way of looking at falling in and out of grace and maybe never see the story of Simon and the sex worker in the same way again.

Jesus had been teaching and performing miracles throughout the region, gaining followers as well as critics. One day, Simon, a Pharisee, invited Jesus to have dinner with him. Jesus accepted the invitation and went to Simon’s house, where He reclined at the table with other guests. As they were eating, a woman from the city, known in the Bible as a sinner, learned that Jesus was dining at Simon’s house. She brought an alabaster box filled with expensive perfume and entered the Pharisee’s home.

The Bible doesn’t say how she knew that Jesus was at the Pharisee’s house, how Simon the Pharisee knew that she was a sinner, or how she gained access to the house uninvited. But overcome with emotion and reverence for Jesus, she stood behind Him at His feet, weeping. Her tears fell on Jesus’ feet, and she wiped them away with her hair. She kissed His feet repeatedly and anointed them with perfume from her jar. Notice that she says nothing at all to Jesus, and He says nothing at all to her, yet she senses from His presence a tone of grace. Simon, observing this scene, thought to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching Him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner, a prostitute, a sex worker, a whore.” Jesus, knowing Simon’s thoughts, said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, Teacher,” Simon replied. Jesus continued, “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii and the other 50. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not pour oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Jesus then said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Some of the disciples, led by Judas Iscariot, were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did so to prepare me for burial. Truly, I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” And the fact that we are studying this story today indicates that Jesus’ prophecy was correct.

Probably she had heard what Jesus had said about prostitutes and tax collectors. He had said that it was easier for a prostitute and a tax collector to enter the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 21:31, He said, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, afterward, you did not change your mind and believe him.” This statement emphasizes that outwardly religious people like the Pharisees often fail to recognize their need for grace, whereas those considered sinners, such as tax collectors and prostitutes, are receptive to the message of repentance, redemption, and grace.

In the story of the woman anointing Jesus with perfume, the monetary value of the alabaster box and perfume is not explicitly stated. However, it is described as a costly perfume, indicating its high value. The Gospel of John mentions that it was a pound of pure nard, an aromatic oil derived from flowering plants native to the Himalayas, which was very expensive in ancient times. Judas Iscariot, in the Gospel of John, estimates the value of the perfume as 300 denarii, roughly equivalent to a year’s wage for a laborer. This gives us a sense of the extravagant cost of the perfume.

In the narrative of the woman anointing Jesus with a costly perfume, there are layers of symbolism and profound human interaction that unfold. This biblical account not only showcases the transformative power of grace, love, and forgiveness, but offers profound insight into the skill set and human experience of a sex worker.

At the core of the story lies the woman’s act of anointing Jesus with perfume—an act of deep reverence and devotion. It is quite likely that this aromatic oil that she anointed Jesus with was one of the tools of her trade, using it as she might with sexual body massage. In understanding the skill set of a sex worker, we can discern parallels between the intimacy shown here to Jesus and the care the woman displays toward Him and the skills inherent in her profession.

First, the act of kissing is central to the exchange between the woman and Jesus. In her culture, kissing was a gesture of respect and honor, but only between men. A woman would never kiss another man who was not a relative. For a sex worker, kissing is a part of the profession, a means of establishing intimacy and connection with their clients. In the context of this story, the woman’s kisses are imbued with sincerity and reverence, symbolizing her deep devotion to Jesus.

Additionally, the act of touching plays a significant role in the narrative. The woman not only anoints Jesus with perfume, but also washes His feet with her tears and dries them with her hair. This act of touching is laden with intimacy and vulnerability, reflecting the profound connection between the woman and Jesus. In the realm of sex work, touch is a fundamental aspect of the job, but here it transforms and transcends mere physicality, becoming a symbol of love and forgiveness.

Letting down her hair further emphasizes the woman’s vulnerability and willingness to go to great lengths to honor Jesus. In her culture, a woman letting down her hair in public was considered a scandalous act, truly equivalent to being naked, yet she does so without reservation, signifying her complete surrender to Jesus and her desire to express her love for Him without reservation.

Intimacy permeates every aspect of the woman’s interaction with Jesus. Her willingness to disregard social norms and express her love and devotion so openly speaks to the depth of their connection. In her profession of sex work, intimacy is often commodified, but here it becomes a sacred exchange, a channel through which grace and forgiveness flow freely.

Moreover, the fact that the money used to purchase the perfume was acquired through sex work adds another layer of complexity to the story. The costly gift serves as a poignant reminder of the woman’s past, yet it becomes a symbol of redemption and transformation. Jesus accepts her efforts not because of the monetary value of the gift, but because of the sincerity and love with which it’s offered. He recognized the woman’s unspoken repentance and acknowledges her worthiness for forgiveness, regardless of her past deeds and her occupation.

The story of the woman anointing Jesus with perfume offers profound insights into the human experience of sex work and the transformative power of grace. Through her actions, the woman demonstrates the depth of her devotion to Jesus, utilizing skills inherent in her profession to express her love and reverence. Jesus, in turn, accepts her effort with grace and compassion, recognizing her worthiness of forgiveness and redemption. It’s a powerful reminder that no one is beyond the reach of God’s love and mercy, regardless of their past actions or profession.

The story teaches us a profound lesson about grace, particularly in the context of the woman’s actions. Despite never explicitly repenting, the woman’s actions speak volumes about her understanding of grace and her response to it. Grace, in Christian thinking, is often defined as the unmerited favor and love of God toward humanity, regardless of our shortcomings or past mistakes. In the woman’s case, her act of anointing Jesus with costly perfume can be seen as a response to the grace she has received from Jesus.

Throughout the story, there is a palpable sense of transformation and redemption. The woman, though never explicitly repenting, demonstrates her deep love and devotion to Jesus through her actions. By anointing Him with perfume, she symbolically acknowledges Him as her Lord and Savior, expressing her gratitude for the grace she has received.

Obedience, in this context, takes on a nuanced meaning. The woman’s obedience is not rooted in fear or obligation, but in love and devotion. She willingly disregards social norms and risks ridicule to honor Jesus with her extravagant gift. Her obedience stems from her understanding of who Jesus is and her desire to express her love for Him in the most profound way she knows how. She has no resources—no water but her tears, no towel but her hair, no servant but her own hands, nothing to give but her own body.

In a broader sense, obedience in the Christian faith often entails aligning one’s will with the will of God and following His commandments. However, the story of the woman anointing Jesus challenges conventional notions of obedience by highlighting the importance of authenticity and sincerity in our actions. The woman’s obedience is not defined by adherence to religious laws or regulations, but by genuine love and devotion to Jesus.

Ultimately, the story of the woman anointing Jesus with perfume serves as a powerful reminder of the transformative power of grace and the depths of God’s love for humanity. It reminds us that we should never underestimate God’s grace. It challenges us to re-examine our understanding of obedience and encourages us to respond to God’s grace with love, devotion, and generosity, as the woman did.

But there is another player in this story, and that’s Simon the Pharisee. This story teaches us what it means to fall in and out of grace. The phrase “fall from grace” is often used to describe someone who has lost their standing or favor, particularly in a moral or spiritual context. Biblically, this concept is primarily discussed in the New Testament, especially in the letters of Paul.

The primary passage where this phrase is found is Galatians 5:4: “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” Paul is addressing Galatian Christians, some of whom were being influenced by Judaizers who taught that Gentile converts to Christianity must observe the Mosaic law, including circumcision, to be truly saved. Paul argues vehemently against this, emphasizing that justification comes through faith in Christ alone, and not by works of the law (Galatians 2:16). Those trying to be justified by the law, he says, are effectively cutting themselves off from the grace offered through Christ. They’re turning away from the gospel of grace and relying on their own effort.

Simon here represents the equivalent of what we’ve talked about before—putting a bag of plastic over your head and depriving yourself of oxygen. Here we see that falling from grace is the elimination of spiritual oxygen from our breathing.

Grace refers to the unmerited favor of God, freely given through faith in Jesus Christ. The law represents a system of earning righteousness through human effort. To fall from grace, Paul says, is to abandon the reliance on God’s grace for salvation and to try to earn it through keeping the law. Falling from grace does not necessarily mean losing salvation, because grace is always grace, but rather it indicates a shift from relying on Christ’s completed work to relying on human effort. It’s a serious theological error that undermines the essence of the gospel.

In Philippians 2:12-13, Paul talks about working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We’ve often thought that was a way of providing the works necessary for our salvation. What I believe it means is that it is risky business to try to work out your own salvation. We must rely on the grace of God. Ephesians 2:8, as mentioned earlier, talks about not the result of works, lest no one should boast. In Romans 11:6, it says, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.”

The New Testament frequently warns against turning back to legalistic practices after receiving the gospel of grace. Paul’s letter to the Galatians emphasized that believers must stand firm in the freedom Christ has won for them and not be burdened by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). Hebrews 12:15 says, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” Believers are encouraged to continue in the grace of God and to rely wholly on His provision rather than falling back into self-reliance and legalism.

We honor God by accepting His grace. And how do we do that? Here we see in the story of Simon and the sex worker how we go about honoring or dishonoring God.

John 3:16 reminds us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. But accepting grace is not taking grace for granted. It is not living in freedom from sin. Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound? God forbid! We who died to sin shall no longer live in sin. Grace, you see, is a death to sin.”

We honor God also by passing on the grace to others. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Matthew 6:14-15 states, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” 1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” Ephesians 2:10 adds, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Falling into grace, apparently, is a maturing process. David talked about the Old Testament grace a few weeks ago and how it went from individuals to nations. 2 Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”

The story of Simon and the sex worker is a story of falling into and out of grace. It contrasts Simon’s self-assurance and lack of humility with the woman’s deep humility, repentance, faith in Jesus, and acceptance of grace. Simon, as a Pharisee, represented a position of religious authority and perceived righteousness. However, he failed to show hospitality and basic courtesy to Jesus, whereas the woman, despite her sinful reputation, demonstrated profound humility, repentance, faith in Jesus, and acceptance of grace.

The phrase “falling from grace” can be applied in several ways. Simon, as a Pharisee, was expected to uphold moral and religious standards. However, his judgmental attitude toward the woman and his lack of understanding of Jesus’ mission reveal a fall from grace in terms of compassion, mercy, and humility. Despite her sinful past, the woman experiences grace through Jesus’ forgiveness and acceptance. Her act of devotion demonstrates her restoration to grace through repentance and faith.

Simon’s self-righteousness contrasts sharply with the woman’s humility and faith. His failure to recognize his own need for grace and his judgmental stance highlight a spiritual fall from grace, whereas the woman’s repentance and devotion restore her to grace. She falls into grace. Simon’s story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of self-righteousness and judgmentalism, while the woman’s story exemplifies the transformative power of repentance and faith in restoring one to a state of grace.

Therefore, falling from grace and into grace, as seen through the stories of Simon and the sex worker, underscores the importance of humility, repentance, and faith in obtaining and maintaining one’s relationship with God and avoiding moral decline. It invites reflection on our own attitudes toward others and our recognition of our need for God’s grace.

How then do we honor God by accepting His grace? How do we take our resources? Simon had significant resources. He had water, he had towels, and he had servants. He provided a meal and hospitality to Jesus, which was culturally appropriate but not particularly exceptional. His attitude, however, was judgmental and self-righteous. He honored Jesus outwardly, but lacked genuine love and respect for Him.

The woman, on the other hand, had limited or no resources. She only had water from her tears, hair for a towel, and her own arms as a servant. The perfume was likely her most valuable possession. Her actions of washing Jesus’ feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and anointing them with the perfume demonstrated deep humility, repentance, and love. Her lavish use of her limited resources showed her profound honor and love for Jesus. Simon’s actions were driven by social norms and a desire to appear righteous. His heart was not truly aligned with honoring Jesus. The woman’s actions were driven by sincere gratitude and recognition of Jesus’ mercy and forgiveness. Her heart was fully devoted to honoring Him.

Jesus contrasts the woman’s actions with Simon’s neglect of common courtesies—no water for His feet, no kiss of greeting, no oil for His head. He highlights that the woman’s actions, though socially unconventional and even scandalous, are a true honor to Him because they come from a place of genuine love and repentance. Jesus acknowledges the woman’s sin and forgives her, emphasizing that her faith and grace have saved her.

So from the story, we have looked for answers to several questions: what is it that we do with our grace? We honor God by accepting our grace. We must take the resources that we have, even our prostituted bodies and skill sets, to honor God. He takes whatever we have if we give it to Him with sincerity and love.

Falling from grace is the opposite of what we might think. It’s the opposite of our spiritual intuition. It means that we don’t help God by helping ourselves. We help God by relying upon His grace.

How then do we honor God? How do we accept grace? Can’t you see that we are all like Simon the Pharisee, falling out of grace, but we are also all like the woman in the story, falling into grace?

What is our role in the God-grace equation?

C-J: As a woman, when I think about the temple harlot and the trade, I see indentured servitude. No woman, by choice, would embrace that as a profession, and I don’t even think that those people even saw it at that time and place in history as a profession. They saw that as a limited-use money maker. And as you were reading it today, and I hadn’t thought of it in the past, let’s just go large on this. And let’s say she was a symbolic messenger to Jesus, in the sense that she was a temple harlot, and here’s a Pharisee judging her and in terms of training for her profession or craft. Who did that, who told her how to behave when she was with the other half of the population? 

I don’t think people understand, even today, how women are perceived, whether they’re on a street corner or $5,000 a night, or to use your word, that those people ever think that this is going to be a lifetime gig with benefits? It’s servitude, and it’s just the type of servitude that robs you of your soul. This woman who came—I’m going to say, let’s say she was a temple harlot because otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten near the door. Somebody did know her, but maybe it was inappropriate for her to be there. 

Let’s look at this from the woman’s perspective. You can lift me up and put me out, but this that you have asked me to earn for your temple, I am going to put on the feet of this man because I have received revelation. Her tears were not of shame, her tears were of hope that there is grace and mercy for somebody who might have been stolen, maybe had been a wife, and there was no other way she might have had a child to support herself or her children. Not uncommon. 

And let’s also understand that at that time in history, women were circumcised so that they did not have a pleasurable experience. It was just a performance and not having any control. When I have read things of documentation, what is written on walls of areas that were what we would call a brothel, these are young girls saying, excuse me for what I’m going to say next, and I’ll say it politely, excrete my bodily waste in the same place that I sleep. 

So you may, as you’re very young, be brought into a temple and given a room with a basin to wash before and after. You might even get your regular customers. Yes, you might even be protected from people who have perversions in terms of what you called intimacy. I can assure you that there isn’t a single sex worker that would use the word intimacy in the same sentence with what they feel they have no other choice, because nobody wakes up at 12 or 14 years old and says, I know I can make a lot of money, especially if I look like X, and they will parley that until they medicate themselves just to tolerate or they get sick. And back then they didn’t have medication. So once you were sick, you were worthless. In fact, you were very expensive to have around. Your children were taken from you, either sold or killed. And that goes all the way into the Renaissance period for the women that were assaulted in convents who had gone there because they couldn’t support themselves. 

So I believe that I understand your intention about grace, but the way the story was unfolding habitually in that narrative about the inadequacy, the lacking of this female half of the population who didn’t make that as a choice most likely, and seeing her shame, her lacking spiritually because her soul literally was sold for a price. But when she went to this man that she believed was the Messiah, she came with such humility, there was nothing left. Except for, if not this, it matters not. She would rather die whatever they decided was her value. 

But Jesus said, Leave her alone. She could never have earned a year’s wage without being in a temple as a temple harlot. She couldn’t earn that on a street. She couldn’t even get that with a madam or a pimp. A year’s worth at her disposal in her hand would have been impossible during that time. It would have been stolen from her. She would have needed to be protected, guarded, and she, herself of great value, was a tool for somebody else’s profit. 

So yes, I am emotional about this because I have lived with people who, in the beginning, may have had a choice, but in the end did not, and great harm was given to that person, and they wore their scars where nobody could see. And you can’t change that, except for by the grace of God, and it shouldn’t be remembered anymore. It should be handled gently, no differently than if she had been beaten with scars visible on her back or burned, or, you know, one of her eyes plucked out because she no longer had value, and it was a different symbol. You know, don’t look at me if the veil didn’t cover her face. Whatever. 

Being a woman in that situation, you know, going back to Simon and his perception to me is meaningless. What about this woman’s perception of herself? I don’t care about Simon because he was a Pharisee. I care deeply about this woman who cries herself to sleep and cannot escape her thoughts, her shame, her unworthiness because her soul has been taken from her. Thank you for that, allowing me to say that graciously.

Donald: It’s horrific to think about prostitution as a method by which money is earned. I wrote down, “Wonder if the method by which the money was earned was not prostitution,” because it is loaded. It plays into what we think of this being presented in the Bible. Wonder if in today’s society, instead of a prostitute, it was somebody that earned that money by gambling. Would the response be the same? Would somebody look at someone that earned that money by gambling legally nowadays, and then have someone like Simon look on and say, “Well, that money was just earned by you doing this, not in an illegal way, but in a way in which you were not responsible, you hedged your bets to get that money.” Would the response be the same? Would the response be as violent as prostitution? That was something I had put down stars on it just to make a remark. 

The second thing that I wrote down was we often hear about cheap grace. It’s not earned, it’s just cheap. So I googled it while you were talking, and cheap grace, according to the definition that I looked at, is basically recognizing grace and going, “Since it’s available, I don’t even have to reach; I don’t have to change my behaviors. It’s just cheap. It’s going to be there whether I earn it or not.” And then lastly, the third point that I wanted to express: Would we actually prefer having to earn our salvation and God’s favor? That’s the way we do life. Once your health is gone… But generally speaking, if we’ve got it, we earned it, we deserve it. And it seems like that’s why we have such a difficult time with grace is because the whole way in which we go about doing life is going, “I earn this.” And “If you earn it, then you can waste it.” It’s an amazing thing. It’s a mentality that, “I earn this, I deserve it, I can waste it, you don’t tell me how to live.” And so free grace just goes against everything we think. 

Some people seem to earn it, and then it just keeps coming. And that doesn’t seem appropriate, either, but we’re looking at the opposite end of the spectrum here with this woman, and I wonder how it would be between two men, rather than this behavior that this woman is involved with. How would it be that I could come in as a guy, and Simon would question, would that be the gambling example? Would he even question it (“I don’t care how you earned it”). And then lastly, to have Christ respond and say, “I’m here for a short period of time, you’ll always have the poor with you.” Those are some complex life challenges.

Carolyn: It seems like we always are challenged. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can have grace, and it’s done in various places in the Bible. I would like to know what the word “believe” actually means, and how we can take it personally, because that’s where the balances are. We must believe. And I believe this woman believed in Jesus, and He was her savior. So to me, the word “believe” means something, but I’m not sure if we all know the same answer.

C-J: I think believing has an element of faith, with or without evidence to the contrary. I choose to embrace this idea and live accordingly, whether it’s politics, faith-based belief, a story we read in a book. To believe something requires examination. But even if I pause and I go, “This doesn’t make sense,” I’m buying the whole package, or I haven’t fully committed in the act of faith. If I say, “I believe in Jesus,” it’s got to be all in for me, the name or the person. 

This may sound blasphemous to the people present. I wasn’t there, but I know that the spirit was, and that’s what’s touched me. I don’t have an image of what Jesus may have looked like, only through literature and circumstance. Do I know what torture being crucified was? I know how important this time was, but there had been others who were asked the question, “Are You the Messiah?” I think, without the Holy Spirit, maybe when I was younger, very young, but I believe there was something beyond that for me as a child, and most definitely today, without the Holy Spirit being resident within me, I probably would have said, “Well, there’s something great beyond myself, but I have no idea what it is.” 

But the relationship I have with God requires faith, actively engaged with this grace. I can’t do it on my own. I don’t have a singular relationship. It’s not a one-sided relationship. If God didn’t change who I am and continue to reveal, I can’t… I use the language of the Judeo-Christian faith. I self-identify as a Christian, but I believe the same God that I love is the same God that other belief systems have different names for, different rituals, because their experience and their understanding… they may not have a written text, they may not have anything other than an oral tradition, but God revealed to them through nature or some other way, the love a mother has for a child, circumstances of grace. 

You know that nobody was hurt during a terrible flood. I believe God is always present, but the narrative may change. All I know is I’m very grateful for the grace I’ve received and the restoration, but I think that’s why it’s easier for me to not be in a box. I try to be very open to others and to be a good witness of that relationship active in me.

Donald: I think Carolyn’s question is an interesting one. I had a baby brother who died as an infant. Obviously the infant did not believe, didn’t know. I think of a four-year-old, and they’re being taught in kindergarten or in cradle roll, or somewhere in church. What’s the difference between, “I think, I believe, I know?” I think we throw around the word “believe” pretty casually, and I just heard a podcast a week ago about loving. We use the word “love.” I love my car, I love this, I love that. Can you love something that doesn’t love back? Well, there’s a big difference between saying, “I believe,” and saying, “I know.” 

You may know, but somebody else thinks what you know is not accurate. So even the idea of “Do we have to believe in order to receive grace?” And there are a lot of people out there who really don’t examine what we think we know. I believe that there are lots of people out there who have not examined a faith journey. I don’t know that you could say they don’t believe. They just are careless about examining that. 

So I think we’ve got to be real careful about even words like “think,” “believe,” and “know,” and what we think we know, somebody else is going to say, “You don’t know. You think you know.” And when I say, “I believe,” no one can tell me that I’m wrong because that’s what I believe. But is there a difference between thinking and believing? I think “think” means less than “believe.” I don’t know.

C-J: Thinking is a process. When you get to believe, it’s the end game. You know that was your final conclusion. I choose to believe. But thinking is a process. Yes, no. What pile are you going to go into? Sometimes absolutes are very hard to come by.

Don: I think that because of God’s grace, what you believe is not as important as His grace. The story of Simon and the sex worker is really a story about Jesus, not about Simon and the sex worker. It’s about His acceptance of even those who would be considered by society the lowest of the low. He accepts and brings us to the equation that we should never underestimate God’s grace.

David: I would go further and say it’s not even about Jesus; it’s about grace. Jesus, in this story, is a metaphor for grace. The woman just recognizes and is receptive to the grace around her, and that’s what makes her break down in tears of remorse and gratitude as well. That’s the lesson—that there is grace all around us. 

Carolyn’s question is central. It’s not belief, it’s not thinking, it’s not any of those. It is simply acceptance. She accepted that she was a sinner and that she needed grace, and she saw grace there, and she accepted it. It’s a simple message, and I think we’re in great danger of overanalyzing it.

Carolyn: I wonder after you say, “believe,” is it something? And because the whole start of this message today was falling from grace also, so you could believe, but then I would like to have the measure of falling from grace. Is that something we have a choice about? That’s our choice? Or when we do accept grace, and we believe in Jesus Christ, and we ask daily to be part of this kingdom, what is the measure of falling from grace?

Don: Falling from grace, according to Galatians, is simply relying on your own law-keeping rather than relying on the Savior.

Carolyn: We all try to do it ourselves. That’s human to me, and therefore, do we have to acquire again another session of believing, or do we just ask forgiveness and continue on, but we never really fall from grace. There’s that section right there that I’m not quite clear on.

Donald: I think we get in our own way because we explore ideas, we think about ideas, then we turn our ideas into beliefs, and then we call them truth and tell somebody else, “What you don’t know is what I believe.” And so then we start questioning other people’s behaviors. David has expressed multiple times, how does the organized church, by trying to define itself, start describing what, how you would describe the church as truth? And when you do that, now we know because the church then has said this, this, this, and this. And so we can check it off. We’re back to the idea of “it’s not grace, it’s earned.” And we’re not very generous with each other once we establish our own beliefs. How far the distance between? How many times have we seen that this week? How many? What’s the distance between belief and truth?

David: Maybe it’s just the difference between intellect and spirit, that’s all. We believe things because we’ve got an intellect that looks at things, weighs them up, and makes a judgment, which it then believes. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is also inside us, but it does not weigh things up: It just tells us the truth. It’s our conscience, and we recognize it—when we are receptive to it. 

We are schizophrenic. We don’t want to recognize it, so we put a bushel over it. We hide it, we try to get away from it, but every now and then it breaks in upon us and overpowers our intellect. To say that grace is all around us all the time is the same as saying that the spirit is inside us all the time, as it was for this woman, and that’s all the story is about. To me, it’s just a simple, beautiful story that there’s nothing you can do. Jesus didn’t approach the woman. Grace did not go to her because it was already there. She simply recognized it and accepted it. But she had to be in a receptive state. She had to suppress or empty her intellect. 

Supposing she wasn’t feeling at all guilty. Suppose she was in this business because she wanted to be. Would she have been quite as ready to recognize and accept the grace that was there for her? Wasn’t that the problem with Simon? His intellect told him that he was okay, that he didn’t need grace, so of course he was not receptive to it. He didn’t see grace as clearly as this woman did.

Don: That’s the essence of the story.

Anonymous: I don’t know how people could talk about anything if they haven’t experienced it. It’s not a matter of knowledge. It has to come from the experience and out of my own experience. I compare myself before and after—before I came to Jesus or understood His grace, and after—and that’s a big difference. So even the definition of words becomes different. 

For me, the word “believe” before, before grace, or before I came completely to God, it was, “Yeah, of course, I believe. I’m a Christian. What do you mean? I believe. I do believe because I’m a Christian.” But that didn’t mean anything. I realized later that my behavior didn’t say that I believed, even though I thought I did. So in everybody’s life experience, these definitions can come to different meanings. 

It’s not a rule, I think, to be born again. That’s all the difference. Because one thing kept coming to my mind: I tried to be good, I tried to be right, I tried to keep the commandments. And it was easy for me to say, “Well, I’m doing it all right. I’m not doing anything wrong. Why do they mean when they say the law cannot be kept? Here I am, I’m keeping it.” But after grace, after growing into God, into grace, into understanding, into a rebirth experience, it started to mean something else. Before, I could look at my husband or my friend or my daughter and say, “My measure of being good is not followed by you.” So if I know from the Bible you shouldn’t be calling people names, for instance, or swearing by God’s name, I see it so bad coming out of other people. But if I were in a certain situation, I might have behaved the same way they did. So, when you have grace, you start seeing yourself in them, as in need of grace, poor, bad, defiled, everything’s wrong. So there’s no way I can see somebody according to my old measures anymore, because of grace. 

Falling from grace, in my experience, is very similar to Paul’s definition, which is, if I think myself good enough. And the word salvation doesn’t even come to mind, because I’ve never thought, “I’m doing my best to get salvation or to be saved.” That wasn’t my understanding of salvation. So falling from grace would mean, back then, pointing fingers at people who are not measuring up to what I know. Now I know it’s right through the Bible, not to limit it out, but to know it. I know it, and I know they’re not following it, therefore I think I’m good and they’re bad. That’s falling out of grace. But of course, a better definition is to think that I’m good by my own efforts. 

What I’m saying is that it is all from my own experience. That’s how I understand it. After grace, everything changed. Belief changed, measures changed, everything changed.

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