Luke 7:50
And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

And Jesus says these same words to us if we have brought our sin before Him, bowed at His feet, recognized our need, and believed that Jesus could forgive, that it had to be Him or else we would go away the same as we had come—still broken, still lost, still condemned.  It is our faith that has saved us—not anything we had done, not any act of worship, not any sorrow or mourning, though those things can have value.  Our faith has saved us, and faith alone, because it was faith in Jesus, faith that understood His holiness and truth, faith that understood His power and authority, faith that believed in Him as the Son of God who can actually take away our sin.

And we can go in peace, because the burden of guilt has been lifted.  The fear of death and hell and punishment is gone.  The unrest of being separated from God is cast out.  Because now we are His.  We are set free, forgiven, redeemed, and adopted into His family.  And if that can’t produce a great peace within us, then nothing else in this life would ever be able to.  And we can go in peace without hesitation because Jesus’ power over sin is immediate, complete and sufficient.

This woman came with sorrow and heaviness, but she could go away lighthearted and joyful.  She came under condemnation but left with freedom.  She came with a heavy burden and left with the peace of God in her heart.  She came full of guilt but left forgiven.  She came in unrighteousness but left redeemed.  Because God sees our faith when others only see our sin.  The Pharisee would have condemned her, multiplied her guilt and cast her away.  But Jesus made all the difference for her, and He will do the same for us.

What a glorious thing it is to be saved.  May it not be just a word or a vague concept to us, but something that has an impact on our hearts and lives.  Surely this woman was never the same again, and hopefully we are truly changed by the experience we had with Jesus upon our own salvation.  Hopefully we’ve cultivated a deeper intimacy with our Lord that has transformed us from the sinners we once were into grateful, humble servants.  Hopefully Jesus’ blessing to go in peace has not sent us back to the sin we were delivered from, but into a life now dedicated to following Him.