But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.”

-Luke 19:8-9, NIV

Restitution is linked to salvation here.

Notice that Zacchaeus is not shamed into offering restitution. His offer is spontaneous and generous. He does not stop at a simple restoration but goes to fourfold restoration.

Cheaters who are truly sorry and want to do better will not gripe over basic restitution.

That said, I find it interesting that Jesus does not mention forgiveness in this story. Instead, he brings up the topic of salvation. A bigger picture matter is at work here.

Zacchaeus is turning his life around from thieving to Kingdom-affirming behavior. He has stepped from the broken kingdom of “man” into the Kingdom of God by this behavior.

Why isn’t forgiveness mentioned here? I think it is implied by Jesus’ words.

Can we experience spiritual salvation without forgiveness? No.

Zacchaeus recognized that the right thing to do is right his relationship with his fellow “man.” He did this by paying restitution. Jesus blesses this effort by stating salvation has come to Zacchaeus.

A change had taken place in Zacchaeus’ heart. He no longer sought to use his “rights” and power as a tax collector to wrong his fellow Jew. Instead, he used his wealth to bless those that he wronged.

I think this story is very instructive as it comes to discerning genuine cheater repentance:

A cheater really interested in repentance and doing right is not afraid of generous restitution. This is not pulled out of them reluctantly. Instead, they are eager to provide it as their heart has changed.

In other words, a truly repentant cheater is obviously so. You don’t have to read into every little move. They behave in generously opposite ways like Zacchaeus.