Should We, Like Jesus, Tell the Sick That Their Sins Are Forgiven?

We should tell both the sick and the well that their sins are forgiven!

Luke 24:47:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

We are to preach everywhere that Jesus’ sacrifice purchased forgiveness for all our sins.  (However, this is not the same thing as saying that YOU can forgive a sick person’s sins independently, which will be covered below.)

Our message is one of reconciliation between God and man because of what Jesus did for us:

2 Corinthians 5:18-21:
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Our message to the lost is, “Jesus forgives you.  Call on Him to be saved.”  It is not, “Jesus condemns you, you wicked sinner.  You deserve to burn in hell.”  The second half of that is true, but it is true for us too, and thank God, grace has provided something much better than we deserve based on our personal track records.

Jesus said that we would do the works that He did (John 14:12), and He told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven (Luke 5:17-26 and elsewhere).  That caused quite a stir among the religious people who questioned Jesus’ authority to say that, and it would ruffle the feathers of the religious today who will question your authority to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.  However, you have all the more right to proclaim forgiveness of sins today, knowing that Jesus already purchased forgiveness for all our sins.  That is what the apostles proclaimed.

Acts 5:31:
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 13:38:
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Acts 26:18:
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Notice that Paul didn’t say that they could obtain forgiveness of sins – he said that they could receive forgiveness of sins.  It has been granted and only needs to be received by becoming a follower of Jesus.

So yes, you can tell the sick that they are forgiven, and that may inspire confidence in them to receive healing.  It is liberating to hear what Jesus did so that we could be forgiven for all our sins.

Some may wonder, “If everyone’s sins are forgiven, doesn’t that mean we all go to heaven regardless of what we do with Jesus?”  However, heaven’s entry requirement is not that you be forgiven, but that you be born again.  You are forgiven because of what Jesus did, but you can only be born again as a deliberate act of your will to receive Jesus.

John 3:3-7:
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Thus, people of the Muslim ignorance or the Buddhist ignorance or the Jewish ignorance or the Hindu ignorance cannot be in heaven with those of the Christian faith unless they become born again, thus becoming those of the Christian faith themselves.  But it is still right to proclaim forgiveness of sins to people, though it is only available through Jesus.

It is worth noting that YOU are not providing forgiveness or forgiving the sins yourself.  Some have taught that John 20:23 gives you the right to do that, but that is disproved elsewhere (see the section on Bound Sins).  At first it might seem that if Jesus could forgive sins, we could do it too because we can do His works (John 14:12), but you can see above that the apostles proclaimed forgiveness of sins through Jesus; they did not initiate forgiveness of sins.  We should follow their pattern.

It is important for the sick to know that they are forgiven, since they will have no boldness to receive healing as long as they believe in error that God is mad at them and is holding their many sins against them.