THE PRODIGAL SON
I have desired to write about this powerful parable of forgiveness found in Luke 15. I am not supporting Legalists, Puritans or Antinomians, but God’s view, by understanding the correct measure of grace found in those verses.
It is neither cheap grace or conditional grace, but free grace. This is not an excuse to continue dwelling in sin or an exhortation to be impure in every part of your life. Some consequences of forgiven sin remain, whether temporarily or eternally.
This is to encourage you in your faith that God forgives even when men do not. This parable shows the minimum, not maximum, level of repentance. Do not take God for granted but lower your pride because He gives grace to the humble but opposes the proud (James 4:6).
Let’s look at some terms from Wikipedia.com,
The central tenet of Puritanism was God's supreme authority over human affairs, particularly in the church, and especially as expressed in the Bible. This view led them to seek both individual and corporate conformance to the teaching of the Bible, and it led them to pursue both moral purity down to the smallest detail as well as ecclesiastical purity to the highest level.
Legalism, in Christian theology, is a pejorative term referring to an improper fixation on law or codes of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of pride and the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God. Legalism may also be alleged, in Christian theology, in criticism of theories which are perceived to be excessively dependent upon legal concepts. It represents the opposite extreme from antinomianism, the claim that moral laws are not binding on Christian believers. Simply put, legalism is belief, stated or supposedly implied, that law, not faith, is the pre-eminent principle of redemption.
Antinomianism (Koine Greek αντι, against, νομος, law), or lawlessness (Koine Greek ανομια), in theology is the idea that members of a particular religious group are under no obligation to obey the laws of ethics or morality as presented by religious authorities. Antinomianism is the polar opposite of legalism, the notion that obedience to a code of religious law is necessary for salvation.
Now let’s look at Luke 15:11-19.
Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.
And the younger of them said to his Father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So He divided to them His livelihood.
And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my Father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
I will arise and go to my Father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before You,
and I am no longer worthy to be called Your son. Make me like one of Your hired servants.”’
The young man sinned, yearning for the worldly pleasures found outside his Father’s house. He went his way, without thinking of turning back at any point of his journey to a far country.
He went deep into sin and enjoyed it so much he gladly gave up his possessions for them. I want to highlight to you that possessions are talking about God-given gifts. When you sin, you are going to lose your gifts. Trust me when I say I have experienced the loss of confidence and ability to use a particular gift, for example teaching, songwriting and love.
Jesus said in John 10:10,
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Sometimes sin deceives us, saying it is for us, when it is against us. It rewards us with evil pleasures at first but then it harms us by bringing us into bondage, the moment we have lost all as many gifts as the devil had intended. A slave to the devil, that citizen of Sin city, gets fed with nothing but pigs’ food.
Another interesting thing is that the motivation for the man to go back to his Father was hunger, want and desperation from the consequences of his sin. He never even thought of his wrongdoings or the need to repent, as puritans and legalists might think is a requirement for repentance.
The only reason he went back is because he realized that being with his Father was definitely much better than being with sin and the devil. All we need to realize, in the first step of true repentance, is the consequences of not being with and obeying God. We need to understand that God is always right and when we disobey Him, we are always wrong. This wrong brings forth consequences to our harm because we stray away from His protection.
The man’s repentance was hypocritical and insincere. He rehearsed a speech that was two lines long. He even had the audacity to think that his Father would take him back, even as a servant who was paid wages. We would think that a man who was really sorry would be crying out with thousands of apologies but that, in actual fact, is not true repentance. I will reveal at the end what true repentance is.
Now let’s look at Luke 15:20-24.
“And he arose and came to his Father. But when he was still a great way off, his Father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
And the son said to Him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in Your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called Your son.’
“But the Father said to His servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;
for this My son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
God ran to him when he was still far from repentance and righteousness. All He needs from us to forgive us is to see that we have decided to come back to Him, even if we were still halfway home, undecided between dwelling in guilt and shame or going back to Him. All the Father ever wanted was for us to make a choice to go back to His sphere of protection.
James 4:8 says,
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
He was not disgusted by how dirty or smelly His son was from the consequences of sin. He hugged and kissed him despite of the disparity between His perfect holiness and his dirty sinfulness. He was not even the slightest interested in an apology.
He gave His best for our worst. God our Father will never treat His prodigal son who goes back to Him as a slave or servant.
1 John 4:8 says,
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
The moment we return to Him, He restores us fully to our status as His son, with most of our rights regained. I dare say, however, that certain gifts and property were not restored to him immediately. He was tested on his faithfulness before he got to handle any more money. He would have been so tempted to run away again.
I just want to say that if you are prodigal all the days of your life, your faithfulness with what God gives you is small. And when you go to Heaven, little things will be entrusted to you because you were unfaithful, even with little.
Now let’s look at Luke 15:25-32.
“Now His older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because He has received him safe and sound, your Father has killed the fatted calf.’
“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his Father came out and pleaded with him.
So he answered and said to his Father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving You; I never transgressed Your commandment at any time; and yet You never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.
But as soon as this son of Yours came, who has devoured Your livelihood with harlots, You killed the fatted calf for him.’
“And He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with Me, and all that I have is Yours.
It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”
The prodigal son’s brother was jealous and angry, seemingly for a good reason. This character actually represents legalistic and puritan Christians who subconsciously believe that salvation and even grace is by the law and deeds.
We can try to obey God in every part and do many good deeds, but this obedience must not be based on a competition to outdo others to gain more rewards and blessings. If you have that heart, you should know that you are subscribing to pride.
We should do good and obey God because we want to please Him, regardless of what other men do. Our only audience is Him and we perform our deeds for Him only. We are not running after titles, honour, glory, fame or even rewards.
We are not overcome by anger and jealousy because God and angels rejoice over one sinner who repents than 99 just persons who do not need to repent. God had to plead with the older son to rejoice with Him.
Whether you are just or sinful, be thankful that God is gracious to sinners. You never know when you might need that grace. Do not judge others, but only yourself, lest you fall. The righteous have their own reward; all of God's inheritance.
Do you rejoice when a backslidden brother or sister comes back? We should be but often we are not showing our joy to that person. No wonder they go back to that far country after returning for a while. We do not do what we should to make him/her feel comfortable and look at them with judgmental eyes.
Dealing unrighteously with the unrighteous is self-righteousness. It is not our right or duty to judge because we do not know everything or judge justly in the correct measure.
James 4:11-12 says,
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Luke 6:35-41 expands and expounds on that.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
A student is not above his Teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
God our Teacher wants to train us His disciples His righteousness found in the type of forgiveness found in 1 Peter 4:8.
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
You realize that God gives His all to sinner and saint alike. He shines the sun and pours the rain on both groups daily. I want you to be encouraged by His grace and be empowered by this faith that He is a friend of sinners.
Lastly, go learn what this means.
2 Corinthians 7:10 says,
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
World sorrow leads to condemnation, guilt and shame. That is not repentance. You can cry, be filled with sorrow and even commit suicide but guilt and shame will only bring death, not life, to you. Judas was not forgiven because he committed suicide out of guilt, was he?
Godly sorrow is understanding God’s sorrow whenever we sin. Repentance is reacting to how God is saddened by your unfaithfulness. He had wanted to give you more gifts and responsibilities but you just were not a good steward of His possessions.
He is confused and hurt by why you left His grace for sin's harm and why you gave up the priceless for the worthless. He wonders why you are so fascinated by the deceptive beauty of sin when holiness and purity is true beauty.
God is amazed by how you let yourself be bound time and time again. He is saddened when you are hindered and discouraged in your faith when you sin. He knows the devil is laughing at you, blinding your eyes from knowing the truth.
God feels sorrowful that His relationship with you is tainted by sin. He knows you have lost many gifts and responsibilities. He is dying, and has died, to use you for His purposes. However, He cannot restore you fully lest you think that sin brings no consequences.
He sees that you are dying daily and is pained because you are becoming less and less like Him. His work on the Cross seems to have diminished. He asks Himself, "Is my grace not sufficient? Will My sons not be made clean?"
He does not want to force you to do good. It is not in His character. He draws us close and hopes we draw close to Him. However, sometimes we react in pride and anger. We say, "How could a perfect God not kept me from sinning? I wanted to please Him so much."
He sees us talking less and less to Him in prayer. God wonders who will replace us as His watchmen, praying and interceding for others. He sees our worship to Him become all talk, no walk. He discovers we no longer feel passionate about Him and have forgotten Him, our First Love. He sees we read and obey His Word less, if at all. He knows every moment we are sinking deeper into lies because we can no longer bring ourselves to believe in the truth. I wonder how knowing all that must feel.
On the other hand, the devil blasphemes His holy name as a result of our shortcomings. He has to endure that humiliation as when David sinned. The saddest thing for Him to do sometimes is to punish the fruits of wrongdoing.
2 Samuel 12:14 says,
However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”
I bet the devil was taunting Him and saying, "How righteous are You if You let David's illegitimate child survive?"
This are just some of the dilemmas He has to face. I am privileged to even know so much. Let us thank God for His mercies which are renewed and fresh every day!
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