“And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven’” (Matt. 9:2).
The greatest value of faith in Jesus Christ more than other things is the receiving of the forgiveness of sins. It gives life to man born in the flesh. It is the basis to live eternally; a basis for true freedom, the luxury without reference to sin. Having it means a person no longer needs to constantly bear the burden of living in the flesh. A detailed story to the above verse is in Mark 2:3-12. Deducing from it those men, especially the paralytic, had acute faith in Jesus as the Son of God, Messiah, God and Savior. They believed in Him, in His unapologetic teachings and works unlike others who restrained themselves from believing.
The premier point is Christ forgives sins by faith alone or forgiveness of sins is received from Christ by faith alone. In other words salvation is only by faith in Jesus (Acts 4:12; 26:18).There’s no other way to it. His act of forgiveness is grace. So, the Spirit in Paul guided him to say that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). Many defer to other ways for forgiveness of sins misreading Jesus’ words in the gospels and the words of the apostle Paul and Peter, who also spoke and wrote at the instruction of the Spirit of Jesus. They neglect that the right to forgive sins exists solely with Christ by substituting it with bodily works. The Spirit never contradicts Jesus nor does Jesus lead the Spirit into it. Therefore, the apostles too cannot say contrary to the eternal and living words of Jesus. But the selfish ambitions in some make them use Christ’s words and the apostles’ writings to set aside the only formula for forgiveness of sins.
Receiving forgiveness of sins results in being born again and it is only by faith. [When Jesus was on earth and the Spirit was in Him, all who were saved by faith in Jesus was the work of Jesus and the Spirit. It is the same after His departure as well except that Jesus is now in the Spirit]. Once a person’s sin is totally abolished he or she is new because of the annulling of the eternal consequences of sin. Christ, then and now, has the authority for making it happen on earth (Mk. 2:10). So, he told the paralytic to pick up his pallet and walk. In doing so, He established that He is God (Mk. 2:7). Forgiveness of sins is not any easier than healing the paralytic for man. But Jesus did them both to show He is the Son of Man.
An interesting matter is that all four who let down the paralytic from the roof top had faith. Jesus saw their deep faith in Him but only announced forgiveness of sins to the paralytic. It was because the paralytic’s need to get healed by faith in Christ was a physical necessity by inward repentance. Jesus made it known to all. One who wants to get well in the body must first get well on the inside. When we please Christ through repentance, He works for us. For example, look at Matt. 8:2. A leper “bowed down before Him” and said “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” If we read these words mindfully, the leper repented in order to get well. Jesus saw it and so, can we see it with a purified heart.