This blog post is a transcript of a teaching that someone made about Step #7 in our discipleship process, It is also the first of the Eight Commands of Masih, which is a simple way of understanding what Hazoor Isa al Masih desires for His disciples. Click here to return to the previous step in this discipleship process.
Aslammu Alaikum, my friends.
This teaching marks the beginning of a new set of eight teachings on following Hazrat Isa al-Masih. We call these teachings the Eight Commands of Hazrat Isa al-Masih.
In our previous teachings, I shared about the birth, miracles, and teachings of Hazrat Isa al-Masih. Many prophets prophesied the birth of Hazrat Isa al-Masih. Angels also told Hazrat Miriam (PBUH) and others about His birth. Hazrat Isa al-Masih was born of a virgin. He came into the world to save us from our sins through His death on the cross. Did any other prophet have a birth that special? Hazrat Isa al-Masih healed the sick and raised the dead. By His miracles, Hazrat Isa al-Masih showed His love towards sinners. He has such great authority and power that He can forgive sins and perceive our secret thoughts. Did any other prophet work so many miracles? Hazrat Isa al-Masih said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to God the Father except through me.” To begin a relationship with God, we must hear and obey the teaching of Hazrat Isa al-Masih.
So, Hazrat Isa al-Masih had a unique birth, performed great miracles, and had great teaching. But these are not the most extraordinary things about His life. The most unique thing is that Hazrat Isa al-Masih gave His life on a cross to forgive our sins. He was buried and, three days later, He came back to life. He came out of His grave and ascended to heaven! Now Hazrat Isa al-Masih sits in heaven and will return on the day of judgement.
Because Hazrat Isa al-Masih is so great, we must be careful to obey His commands. He told His disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commands” (John 14:15). While Hazrat Isa al-Masih gave many commands, these lessons focus on the most important. These commands are to:
- repent and believe,
- take baptism,
- pray,
- study the Injeel Sharif,
- go and make disciples,
- love your neighbors,
- take the Lord’s supper, and
- give.
Do not worry if you do not understand all these things immediately but learn them and apply them to your life. There is no benefit of knowing the commands of al-Masih unless we apply them to our lives. We will use a story from the Bible to teach each lesson.
Today’s lesson on repenting and believing comes from Luke 7:36-50 from the Injeel Sharif. Before we read this story, I want to explain the term “Pharisee”. The Pharisees were the religious leaders during the time of Hazrat Isa al-Masih. They knew the Taurat Sharif and would teach others how to obey the teachings of Hazrat Musa alaihissalam. Hazrat Isa al-Masih often accused the Pharisees of appearing very religious outwardly while being very far from God inwardly. This story is one example of a Pharisee being far from God, although he seemed very religious.
Then one of the Pharisees invited Hazrat Isa al-Masih to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Hazrat Isa al-Masih was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume 38 and stood behind Him at his feet, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the perfume.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him — she’s a sinner!”
40 Khudawand Isa al-Masih replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
He said, “Say it, teacher.”
41 “A creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave more.”
“You have judged correctly,” He told him. 44 Turning to the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You didn’t anoint my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. 47 Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 Those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
From this story, what do we learn about Hazrat Isa al-Masih? First, we see that He loved sinners. Even though He knew that this woman was sinful, He was happy to receive her. He did not receive sinners to sin with them. Instead, He received sinners so that He could help them to repent and believe. We also see that Hazrat Isa al-Masih knew about this woman before meeting her. Our Khudawand Isa al-Masih knows all things. He knows our hearts and if we are close to God or far away. Hazrat Isa al-Masih changed this woman’s life by declaring her forgiven of sins. He said, “Your sins are forgiven” and then “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” When this woman came to Hazrat Isa al-Masih, her life was broken. However, Hazrat Isa al-Masih is so powerful and loving that He restored her relationship with God.
Hazrat Isa al-Masih also taught using a short but powerful parable in this story. He said, “A creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?” A denarii was one day’s wage for a laborer at that time. So, both debts were significant.
In the same way, Hazrat Isa al-Masih was making it evident that both Simon and the sinful woman had debt. In this parable, their debts represent their sins. Hazrat Isa al-Masih could forgive the sins of both Simon and the sinful woman. But it was the sinful woman who loved Him because of it. She is the one who wept, washed His feet with her tears and hair, and anointed His feet with her perfume. In contrast, Simon did not even provide water for Hazrat Isa al-Masih to wash His feet. The point is, the more sin a person has, the more grateful they are to receive forgiveness.
In this story, what do we learn about people? We see two main characters in this story besides Khudawand Isa al-Masih: (1) Simon the Pharisee and (2) the sinful woman. These two characters are very different. Although Simon is a sinner – probably the one with the 50 denarii sin debt in the parable – he does not feel that he is a sinner. Instead, he is a religious leader and does not feel he needs anything from Hazrat Isa al-Masih. Today, some people feel no need for forgiveness of their sins because they do not realize how sinful they are. The Injeel Sharif says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This means that even religious leaders, like Simon, need to come to al-Masih to find forgiveness of sins.
In contrast, the sinful woman was very sinful, probably the one who owed 500 denarii in the parable. The difference between this woman and the Pharisee is that she was ready to repent and believe. She recognized that she was far from God and needed to come close to Him. The sinful woman saw that she could do this through Hazrat Isa al-Masih. Today, there are some sinful people like this woman. They want to be close to God and are ready to repent and believe when they hear that Hazrat Isa al-Masih died on a cross for our sins. Like this woman, people far from God are often the most repentant and the most grateful for their salvation.
In this story, what sins do we see that we should avoid? The primary sin that we see is pride. While the woman was called a sinful woman, we are given no details about her sin. Instead, the pride of Simon the Pharisee is the focus here. Simon’s primary sin was that he did not repent and follow Khudawand Isa al-Masih, even though He was in Simon’s home! Instead, Simon tried to judge Khudawand Isa al-Masih for allowing this sinful woman to come to Him. Simon did not enter the kingdom of God, and he tried to hinder the sinful woman from entering the kingdom of God as well! When we believe that our lives are without sin, we should beware that we might be like Simon and far from God in reality.
Finally, what examples do we see in this story that we should follow? While we can learn much from the example of Hazrat Isa al-Masih, let us focus on the example of the sinful woman. What did she do? In simple words, she repented from her sins and believed in Hazrat Isa al-Masih. She repented by turning away from her sin and coming to Khudawand Isa al-Masih. The Injeel Sharif says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), meaning that all of us need to repent of our sins. To repent means to completely turn our lives around. It is as if we were going on the wrong path with our lives, and we need to make a U-turn to get on the correct road. Like this sinful woman, we all need to repent and come to Hazrat Isa al-Masih for forgiveness. He purchased our forgiveness by giving His life on the cross for our sins.
Also, this sinful woman believed in Hazrat Isa al-Masih. He told her, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” In the same way, we can find peace by believing in Hazrat Isa al-Masih to save us from our sins. Repenting and believing cannot be separated. Repenting focuses on turning away from sin. Believing focuses on turning towards Hazrat Isa al-Masih. Repenting and believing is the first step to becoming a Hazrat Isa al-Masih disciple. To become His disciple, we first turn away from our former life and its sins and give ourselves entirely to Hazrat Isa al-Masih.
Today, I want to invite you to follow Hazrat Isa al-Masih, as I have. He can change your life. He can forgive your sins. He can give you peace. Are you ready to repent and believe?
Let me share a passage from God’s Word to help understand sin. As I read this passage, please allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you about any sin in your life. Make the decision today to turn away from any sin in your life and to follow Khudawand Isa al-Masih.
“Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of Khudawand Isa al-Masih and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
I hope that God is showing you what sins you must repent from. Please remember that Khudawand Isa al-Masih gave His live on the cross to pay the penalty of all these sins. As this verse states, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of Khudawand Isa al-Masih and by the Spirit of God.”
Khuda Hafiz, my friends
No Cousins Left 
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