Who can Forgive Sins but God Only? (Part 1)

If you have been a Christian for some time, you are no doubt familiar with the account of Christ’s healing of a man “sick of the palsy” (a paralytic). This pitiable soul is brought to Christ by four kind friends, lowered through a roof that he might overcome the crowds and encounter the Lord. Brought before Christ, we read of the following exchange:

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
⁶ But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
⁷ Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
⁸ And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
⁹ Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
¹⁰ But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
¹¹ I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
¹² And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
(Mark 2:5-12)

There’s a rhetorical question asked in the hearts of the scribes which actually hits upon a matter of important truth: who can forgive sins but God only? Rephrased as a statement, the scribes are quite aware that God alone is able to forgive sins. They’re starting out with good doctrine, even though their application of it will be soul-damning.

There are two primary reasons to recognize the sole ability of God to forgive sins. First, we see in this passage that Christ as God is able to see into the hearts and minds of all men. He is that same Lord “which knowest the hearts of all men” (Acts 1:24) and is alone able ultimately to distinguish true faith and contrition from the outward show of so many hypocrites (cf. Prov. 15:11).  He alone may possess the knowledge requisite to the forgiveness of sins.

Secondly, Christ as God alone has the authority to forgive sins (v. 10, “power,” ἐξουσίαν). All sin is sin because it is committed as an act of rebellion and treason against God Most High. With David, we must recognize, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight” (Ps. 51:4). While we surely must see that the first four commandments involve offenses committed directly against God, how often do we meditate upon the offense of all sin as it represents an assault upon our Lord’s honor? To rebel against lawful authorities is to rebel against the authority of the Lord who ordains them (Rom. 13:1). To unlawfully slay a man represents an assault on the image of God, fallen and marred though that image may be (Gen. 9:6). Covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5). One could go on, but the point seems clear enough. The heinousness of sin derives from the offended party, God Almighty.

It is thus as debtors to Jehovah that we must judge any such claim to forgive sins. In this, the scribes were fundamentally correct. Even one who serves as a mediator alone has no inherent authority to pronounce absolution. Imagine the scene in a civil court if mediators began to take it upon themselves to forgive debts apart from the consent of creditors. Mayhem would ensue quickly. Likewise, someone must be more than a mediator alone to solemnly pronounce, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Here is what the scribes failed to see in their partial apprehension of God’s truth. More than yet another mere mortal priest or prophet, the Anointed One is Jehovah himself suddenly coming to his temple (Mal. 3:1). In his capacity as the God-Man, Jesus is not only able to reconcile us to God but also to directly give us the word of absolution in divine speech.

Here we might simply pause and meditate upon this wondrous gift. The immortal, invisible God put on mortality so that mortals such as we are might put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53) and he brings this glorious word of salvation to his people personally! The salvation which he has brought is not concealed behind a veil and heard of only in rumor. Here is a prophet greater than Moses (Heb. 3:3), one who does not merely speak for God but as God!

Friend, consider this day what a grace it is to hear from the lips of God himself that your sins are forgiven. This is the sure and steadfast promise which no other savior may offer. In the person of what other Mediator may we also find both parties to be reconciled? In Jesus Christ, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:10). Dear reader, this is the most sure of absolutions, the most steadfast of promises. There is no higher authority than our Lord, no greater standard of justice, no remaining accuser who may stand. He has blotted out all that was written in the book of the law “that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Col. 2:14) and has written our names with indelible ink in the book of life. Here is no temporary reprieve, here is no second-hand pardon. The offer of grace comes directly to you and the testimony of pardon will sound with personal immediacy to the souls of the forgiven:

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
(Isa. 1:18)

(Stay tuned for part 2 on Rome’s usurpation of Christ’s divine prerogative)