The Prodigal Son
Before you begin your Bible study, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, be
sure you have named your sins privately to God the Father.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(Known, Unknown and Forgotten sins) (1Jn 1:9)
You will then be in fellowship with God, Filled with the Holy Spirit and ready to
learn Truth from the Word of God.
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth,"
(John 4:24)
What is a parable?
Before you can understand one of the most familiar parables in the
Scriptures, it is necessary to know something of the literary nature of a parable.
The parable is a short, fictitious narrative which illustrates a Principle of Truth.
“Parable,” derived from the Greek PARABOLE, is a compound word: PARA,
meaning “beside,” and BOLE, “to throw”; together they denote “to set
alongside.” In other words, in order to understand the Spiritual aspect of a
parable, one must match up the story with the Principle of Truth. For example,
in the parable of the prodigal son, the father represents God the Father and the
two sons are analogous to believers in various stages of carnality and
Spirituality. The interpretation of the parable requires deduction compatible with
known Truth.
All parables are derived from the mode of life as it was at the time the
parable was written. The characters and incidents are figurative or typical, and
proper names or specific geographic locations are never used. For example,
the story of Lazarus and the rich man is not a parable because specific names
and location are given. Thus you can distinguish between an actual historic
event and a parable. The narrative of a parable has an outward literal meaning
which either the believer or unbeliever can understand; but parables are
directed primarily toward the believer who has Bible Truth in His soul. Only the
believer with Truth is able to understand the Spiritual significance of the story.
When He was speaking before large crowds, Jesus often used this form of
communication to teach Truth to the believers who were present. Unbelievers
and ignorant believers “missed the boat” completely and never grasped the
implications of the analogy.
The new birth
The background for the parable of the prodigal son is, Luke 15. In verse
one, Jesus Christ addresses Himself to publicans and sinners who have
gathered to hear Him. Noting His compassion for these sinners, the Pharisees
and scribes came to criticize. (Luk 15:2) They complained that not only did He
receive publicans and sinners. He even dined with them. The publicans, (Tax
collectors) and sinners, (Prostitutes, etc.) were the lowest social order in
Jewish society. No self-respecting Jew would ever be seen in the company of
these people, much less fraternize with them. Yet here was One who, claiming
to be their Messiah, flagrantly ignored all their traditions and customs. He would
not comply with their legalizing preferring instead the companionship of the
“untouchables.” Blinded to their own Spiritual condition, the self-righteous
religious leaders would not recognize that He was “the Son of man... come to
seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luk 19:10) They could not understand
that Jesus Christ would go to any length possible, compatible with His own
character, to persuade those who were without hope and without Salvation to
come by faith to Him! He would do anything to draw them to Himself through the
Gospel, for He was the only solution to the sin problem, the only hope for
eternal life. (Acts 4:12)
The religious leaders knew well this passage in their Old Testament
Scriptures:
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for
our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His
scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has
turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on
Him. (Isa 53:5-6)
Yet, how little they cared for God’s Plan for a lost and dying world! To
these legalistic Pharisees and scribes Jesus had said, “Ye must be born again.”
(John 3:7) These men were sincere do-gooders, men who lived by the Golden
Rule and obeyed or thought they obeyed every letter of the Law. Jesus said
that all their moral degeneracy and human good was not sufficient --- they
needed to be born again!
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:26)
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
This is the only way to be born again. With the rejection of the religious do-
gooders, Jesus offered salvation to the “sinners,” who had no illusions about
their true condition before God.
Even the rich young ruler, a very moral and upright believer who was
confident he had kept the entire Law, was declared to be still lacking. Later, to
His surprised disciples, Jesus explained that the trouble with the rich young
ruler, was, that he had not followed Him to Spiritual maturity. (Matt 19:21-30)
The only people, who are the ACTIVE children of God, are those who are born
into the family of God by faith in Christ; and grow to Spiritual maturity!
(Rom 8:14)
To answer the criticism of the scribes and Pharisees, the first two
parables in this passage are related to Salvation, Rebound and Spiritual
maturity. (Luk 15:3-9) The sinner is compared in the first parable to an animal;
in the second, to an inanimate object, a coin. In conclusion Jesus states a
Principle:
"I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no
repentance. (Luk 15:7)
In the third parable the analogy changes; a new subject is introduced. In
this story there are two sons who are analogous to believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And He said, "A man had two sons. (Luk 15:11)
The key to this passage is the relationship that exists between a father and
his two sons. When the passage is concluded, the same relationship still exists
--- the father and two sons; they are BOTH SONS! Both are believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as the universal son-ship of man and
the universal Fatherhood of God. This is a lie right from the devil’s mouth.
(John 8:44) The only son-ship which the Bible recognizes is the son-ship of
regeneration ---believers in the family of God. (Gal 3:26)
The “certain man,” declared to be their father, represents God the Father,
the First Person of the Trinity. The two sons portray two believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ. They have received the Son of God as Lord and Savior and have
now entered into union with the Lord Jesus Christ. (Top circle) Illustration
Eternal Security
When the parable opens, the younger son is out of fellowship; when the
parable closes, the older son is out of fellowship. But BOTH OF THEM ARE
STILL SONS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE!
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son. (1Jn 5:11)
All believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have eternal life. You as a “son” have
eternal security and cannot get out of the “top circle.” When you believe in
Christ, God provides certain permanent things for you.
Both sons are in the “top circle,” and will always be in the “top circle.”
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)
Once a son, always a son. Once you are born into the family of God, you
will always be a member of the family of God. You cannot change your Spiritual
birth any more than you can change your physical birth. You may desire at
some time to change your family. Perhaps you have been the recipient of
discipline; perhaps there have been some hard feelings; yet it is impossible to
change the family into which you were born physically. In like manner, and much
more important, you cannot change the family into which you were born
Spiritually. The moment you believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you
were born into the family of God.
The Bible has many approaches to this subject; but suffice to say by way
of conclusion, YOU CANNOT GET OUT OF THE “TOP CIRCLE.” You cannot
lose your relationship with God. Once you believe, the matter is out of your
hands. God is immutable. He is unchangeable. Jesus Christ is “the same
yesterday, to day, and forever.” (Heb 13:8) He cannot cancel what He has
done. God cannot invalidate His work. If at some time in your life you have
personally received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior regardless of your
experiential status at this moment, regardless of your conduct or your behavior
pattern, regardless of what a “stinker” you turned out to be, regardless of how
self-righteous or how religious you are — YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD. That is
the end of it! You cannot change it.
And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will
snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:28)
Don’t ever come up with that meaningless chant, that so-called prayer,
“Oh, God, save us at last.” This is the same as saying that God goes back on
His Word, that God is a liar, that God is unrighteous and unfair, that He is not
immutable. In other words, you are guilty of the worst kind of blasphemy. You
were saved from the Lake of Fire, for all eternity, and that is it! It is settled
once for all! The decision of faith in Christ is the only prerequisite for eternal
salvation!
“They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household.” (Acts 16:31)
Fellowship with God
The “bottom circle” represents the area of fellowship with God in time. This
is the place of temporal fellowship, a condition we call “Spirituality.” When a
believer sins, whatever the sin may be, he moves outside the “bottom circle,”
out of fellowship with the Lord and into the area of “carnality.” He is still a
believer, but a believer out of fellowship. He is still in the “top circle.” However,
there is a provision by which he can move back into the “bottom circle.” It is not
by burning candles, rededicating, taking a vow, repenting or feeling sorry for
sin; it is not by any kind of emotional flagellation. YOU CAN BE RESTORED.
(1Jn 1:9) And when you are restored, you are in fellowship with the Lord again.
Carnality versus Spirituality
Carnality and Spirituality are opposite terms: carnality describes the
believer’s status out of fellowship, while Spirituality depicts his status in
fellowship. (Rom 8:6) The Holy Spirit, as well as the old sin nature, indwells the
believer’s body. When the old sin nature controls the soul, the result is carnality.
(Rom 7:14) When the Holy Spirit fills or controls the soul, the result is
Spirituality. (Gal 5:16) Every person who is a believer in Jesus Christ, in any
given instant in Phase Two,” is either carnal or Spiritual. (1Co 3:1) As a
Christian, you are controlled either by the old sin nature or by the Holy Spirit.
The behavior pattern of a carnal Christian cannot be distinguished from
that of an unbeliever (1Co 3:3) As far as God’s Word is concerned, you may
act like an unbeliever; but if you have believed in Christ, you are still a believer a
believer in status quo carnality out of fellowship. This Principle is important in
understanding the prodigal. A BELIEVER OUT OF FELLOWSHIP ACTS LIKE
AN UNBELIEVER. In fact, he is sometimes worse, as illustrated by David at
one point in his life. (2Sa 11:1) David was a believer; yet he behaved like an
unbeliever. Saul, too, was a believer, but he acted like an unbeliever most of his
life. As far as overt behavior is concerned, a carnal believer cannot be
distinguished from an unbeliever.
The prodigal started out as every believer does, in the “bottom circle,” in
fellowship with God in time. Remember, however, that although he was later
out of the “bottom circle,” out of fellowship with the Lord, at the same time he
was still in that “top circle.” He could not lose his salvation. The issue, then, is
regaining temporal fellowship with God. This can be achieved only through
rebound. Some believers never understand eternal security; they think they can
lose their salvation. This is certainly the reasoning of many Christians today.
After having been out of fellowship, perhaps for years, and then desiring to
return to the Lord, they think they must believe in Christ again. They try to
reaffirm their faith, rededicate or repent. You cannot redo anything, as far as
your salvation is concerned, for it was accomplished in full the first time you
believed. At salvation God provides forty permanent things” for you; these
settle salvation once and for all. Illustration
If you reject the Principle of eternal security, you are saying that God did not
do a good job the first time, so you must “redo” it! This is an insult to the Lord
and displays a pitiful ignorance of the Word. Even preachers falsely use the re-
dedication gimmick when people come to them to find out how to get-back in
fellowship.
This emotional approach to the problem of carnality results in confused,
miserable believers. There is only one way for a believer to be restored to
fellowship. You can promise God that you will never do it again; (But you will)
you can be sincere and hypnotize yourself into dedication; (Which is useless)
you can try to make a deal with God; but none of these will get you back in
fellowship because nothing YOU can do will ever satisfy God — only what
Jesus Christ HAS DONE satisfies Him! The ignorance of the average believer is
appalling, and particularly the ignorance of the GRACE OF GOD!
The parable of the prodigal son illustrates the grace of God. Believers are
often shocked by the sins they commit. They may ask, “Do CHRISTIANS do
this?” They may wonder, “Maybe I am not even a Christian!” Be assured that
Christians can commit any sins that unbelievers commit! When a believer sins,
he has lost temporal fellowship, but his salvation form the Lake of Fire is
NEVER on the line. The proper question, then, is, “How do I as a Christian,
handle myself when I am out of fellowship?” The moment you believed in the
Lord Jesus Christ, whether or not you remember that moment, God went to
work. That is the grace of God, and it is HIS grace. It operated on your behalf
at Salvation; and, as we shall see, it continues to operate in the matter of
fellowship.
Let us be sure the issue is clear! In, (Luk 15:11) there are two sons. One
does not “slide off the roof” and become a servant, or something else. He is still
a believer. He will be a “pig-pen Christian” for a time, but he eventually recovers
or rebounds. We shall see that he is not as bad as his older brother, who is a
legalistic, self-righteous prig.
Divine operating assets
"The younger of them said to his father, ’Father, give me the share of the
estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. (Luk 15:12)
By way of analogy, the portion of goods that falls to the younger son is
related to the Divine operating assets provided by God for the Christian life.
Perhaps you are not aware that you are a Spiritual millionaire. Perhaps you
have been living a poverty-type existence, Spiritually speaking, because you are
not cognizant of the fact that God the Holy Spirit dwells inside you; that you are
in union with the Person of Christ: that on the day that you believed in Jesus
Christ, God did forty things for you immediately; and He is just “tapping His
foot” waiting, (Isa 30:18) to do hundreds of other things. Carnality is strangling
the possibility of your receiving these wonderful blessings. If this is true in your
case, you are a Spiritual millionaire living like a pauper. The basis of your
Spiritual wealth is union with the Person of Jesus Christ! There are thousands
of Promises which belong to you as a Christian. Each promise is based on a
Principle of Truth. How many have you claimed during the past week? It is a
tragic thing when we do not claim what belongs to us. If you had a million
dollars in your checking account right now, I suspect you might write one or two
checks during the week. By the same token, you are free to draw on the Father’
s limitless account at any time!
The younger son made a very legitimate request. He just wanted what
would soon be his anyway. Parents in the ancient world actually saved for their
children in order to get them launched properly in life. When he asked for the
portion of goods that would be his inheritance, he was asking for what was
legitimately his. It actually belonged to him already. That is the meaning of the
phrase, “that falls to me.”
What was the father’s reaction? He divided this substance between his
sons. Both sons received their portion. God the Father has divided His goods,
or Divine operating capital, among all believers. It now becomes a matter of
appropriation and utilization. Just as with the younger son, many believers
dissipate or misuse the capital which God has provided. We know that the older
son began to use his capital in the proper way and that he did a good job until
he became legalistic. (Luk 15:13) begins the story of the younger son and how
he got out of the “bottom circle.”
The Carnal Christian
"And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together
and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his
estate with loose living. (Luk 15:13)
By way of analogy, this “riotous living” connotes carnality, or getting out of
fellowship with the Lord. He began activities which were disastrous in his own
life and displeasing to the Lord. I hesitate to shed light on what his sins actually
were, for any amplification at this point would certainly miss the sin of someone
who would immediately assume, I do not fit the pattern of the prodigal son. I
haven’t wasted my substance in riotous living. When you come right down to it, I
am a pretty good person.”
Just to remind you that Doctrinally everyone fits the pattern of the prodigal,
observe the following passage:
If we [Believers] say that we have no sin, [Sin nature] we are deceiving
ourselves, and the Truth is not in us (1Jn 1:8)
Legalism moves right along with apostasy. They seem to go together in a
most unpleasant way. Respectability is the keynote today; just keep it all
covered up and give the impression that you are a perfect person whom others
should emulate. Those who deny the existence of the sin nature after salvation
are only kidding themselves, the reason being, of course, that they do not know
Truth.
If we say that we have not sinned [Personally; when we have] we make
Him [God] a liar, and his Word is not in us. (1Jn 1:10)
Whenever someone implies or suggests that believers no longer sin after
salvation, he is calling God a liar, and the Word of God is not in his right lobe.
Christians who fail to recognize the Truth of carnality, or who are ignorant of it,
fail to deal with it realistically; they have a tendency to rationalize or to
compensate by covering it with a hypocritical facade. This may be a “Spiritual”
front, some form of penance, an increase of their offering, or a promise to be
better. While many of these things are certainly commendable, they do not fill
the bill of getting one straightened out with the Lord. Paul states the problem:
For we know that the Law is Spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage
to sin. (Rom 7:14)
There is nothing wrong with the Law; it is “holy, just and good.” But,
speaking of his own experience, Paul goes on to say, “I am dominated by the
sin nature.” Sin in the singular refers to the sin nature. Then he describes his
carnal experience while under the domination of the sin nature:
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I
would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. (Rom 7:15)
In today’s vernacular, Paul is saying, “What is this? I am a Christian; I am
born again; I have eternal life; my sins are forgiven and blotted out; God the
Holy Spirit dwells inside me; I am in union with the Person of Christ; Christ
dwells in me. I am the object of Positional Sanctification.
All of these marvelous things belong to me, and yet, out comes sin. I don’t
understand it. It works its way out of me. It surprises and shocks me.”
Describing a carnal Christian, he says, literally, “For what I desire, I practice
not; but what I hate is what I am doing.”
Paul did not stay this way; in fact, he gives us the secret of solving the
problem of carnality and dealing with the sin nature in Romans 6 and 8. At this
point he traces his carnal experience. There are other passages with the same
idea, such as Galatians 5, where the old sin nature is called “the flesh.”
(Col 3:5-9) contains a list of sins that CHRISTIANS commit, which might
surprise you. In, (1Co 3:1-3) Christians out of fellowship are said to “walk as
men” that is,as unbelievers.
Christian, get your head out of the sand! When you sin, face up to it-
UTILIZE WHAT GOD HAS PROVIDED! Do not rationalize, don’t kid yourself
that it is just a mistake, not a sin. Above all, whatever your area of weakness
is, whatever your sin problems are, learn to recognize them so that you can
emulate the perspicacity of the prodigal. There is a sense in which every
Christian is the prodigal son. Every time you get out of fellowship, every time I
get out of fellowship, every time we sin, WE ARE THE PRODIGAL. But we do
not have to remain that way once we find out what God’s answer is, to this
situation.
I hope we have established the existence of the carnal Christian. At this
particular point you might unwittingly be carnal; yet you may say, “I am not out
there raising hell or doing the things that people usually call sin, so how can I be
carnal?” You could be out of fellowship right now just by what you are thinking!
(Prov 23:7) In fact, this is probably the quickest and shortest route for making
the long distance trip of, (Luk 15:13) for taking the journey “into a far country,”
into carnality.
Divine discipline
Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that
country, and he began to be impoverished. (Luk 15:14)
In verse 14 we have a change of pace. Persistent carnality always brings
into focus the Principle of discipline. “If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you
are a child of God; and as a child of God, when you step out of line, God
disciplines! You can expect it. The famine is Divine discipline imposed on the
believer out of fellowship, out of the “bottom circle.”
This is the Doctrine of the “Divine woodshed.” The prodigal son began to
be continually in want; a perfect illustration of Divine discipline. From that point
on, he was always in want. No matter what he tried, everything failed. He just
could not make a go of anything. I want you to notice what he finally did.
And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him
into his fields to feed swine (Luk 15:15)
The prodigal was a Jew. When a Jew would do what the prodigal did, you
can be sure he was in desperate straits. He had apparently gone out of the
land of Palestine because his job was to feed the swine. There were no swine
in Palestine, at least not legally, because they were forbidden by the Mosaic
Law. (Deut 14:8) Now, if you can imagine a Jew doing this, you can realize
what a bind we find the prodigal in. He was going into the fields habitually. He
had to be desperate to take a job involving pigs. The job did not pay well,
because he was constantly hungry.
And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine
were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. (Luk 15:16)
I do not know whether or not you are familiar with this old English word,
“fain,” (Gladly) It is imperfect linear aktionsart in the Greek, which means that
this was a continuous situation. The verb means to “long for,” or “to desire”;
thus his desire continued without ceasing. Then there is a change to the aorist
infinitive, “gladly filled,” which means that in that point of time he would have
eaten the same food as the swine — corn husks!
When a believer stays out of fellowship the way this man did, his desires
change. He apparently had a “champagne taste,” (Luk 15:13) but now he has
well, what can we say a “slop taste”? Perhaps the language is not the best, but
it certainly conveys the point. You see, now he is desperate. The taste and
desires of believers often change radically. Although he did not go so far as to
want to eat the swine, which was forbidden to him, he did want to eat the slop
that they ate. Does this situation change his family status? No he is still a son;
he has been born (Once and for all) into his family; he will always be in that
family — a child of his father — even though he is under severe discipline,
having been reduced to the status of an unclean animal.
He has become what we call a “pig-pen Christian.” He is still a Christian;
he is still a child of God; God’s love will never be removed from him; but he has
placed himself in the Divine woodshed for a thorough scourging. He is being
disciplined for his persistent carnality.
FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE
SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES. (Heb 12:6)
His hunger continued, but “no one was giving anything to him.” This
indicates refusal on the part of the foreman, (God) to permit the prodigal to eat
even the slop he was feeding to the hogs. Now this is an interesting thing: he
had sunk so low the pigs were more important to his boss than he was. What is
the point? You will find that often the unbeliever is a more pleasant and rational
person than the believer who is out of fellowship. When a believer gets out of
fellowship and stays out, he is often inferior to the unbeliever in character,
motivation and behavior pattern. As a matter of fact, unbelievers have used this
Principle as an excuse to reject Christ. Of course, this is no excuse!
You may have heard it expressed in this way: “I will never go to that
church they are hypocrites.” The absurd thing about this is that everyone does
business with hypocrites, makes money from hypocrites and associates with
hypocrites in recreational activities; yet a church where there might be a
hypocrite is off limits! This is the height of inconsistency. It makes a great
excuse for those who are inclined to think superficially. A believer who has been
out of fellowship for a long
time can be a real stinker in his business practices, be known as a “man about
town,” and on top of this, be a deacon in the First Church of Podunk. This type
often becomes the excuse for unbelievers to avoid contact with the Gospel or
Truth. The unbeliever can think of fifteen unbelieving friends who are a hundred
times better than some carnal believer and he is right! Further, if the carnal
Christian does not rebound, the unbeliever will have twenty-five friends who are
better!
Let’s face it: when a believer gets out of fellowship and stays out of
fellowship, he gets worse and worse — not better! He is still a Christian; he is
still born again; but he is in the same situation as the prodigal.
Rebound and Spirituality
But when he came to his senses, he said, ’How many of my father’s hired
men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! (Luk 15:17)
What does it mean to “come to yourself ?” It means to look at life from the
Biblical perspective: to face up to the situation as it really exists; to recognize
the sins in your own life; to stop rationalizing or justifying them; to stop blaming
God or someone else, (Operation patsy) and to actually acknowledge your sin
— to recognize that it is wrong — contrary to the Word of God! The prodigal
also realized that the servants in his father’s house were much better off than
he was at the moment.
I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and in your sight. (Luk 15:18)
HERE IS THE Principle OF GETTING BACK INTO THE “BOTTOM
CIRCLE.” There is no exception. There is only one way to do
it, not two ways, or three ways! It has nothing to do with emotion!
Illustration
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1Jn 1:9)
Many Christians question God’s grace by asking: “Why (1Jn 1:9)? Is this
the only place that states this Principle? If this is the only verse that says this,
why is it so important?” In answer to that, HOW MANY TIMES DOES THE
WORD OF GOD HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING FOR IT TO BE TRUE? Once!
That is all! However, this is not the only verse. This Principle occurs many times
in both the Old and New Testaments: (1Co 11:31; (1Pe 4:17; Neh 1:6; Psa 32:
5; Psa 38:18; Psa 51:3-4; Prov 28:13; Dan 9:4) and others. I like to use a word
which describes the Principle so aptly — REBOUND: “to bound back, to
recover from setback.” Sin causes the believer to stumble and causes a great
setback to his Spiritual life. Confession is based on the work that Christ did on
the Cross, where He was judged for that sin. Now God can forgive that sin and
we bounce right back into the playing field or “bottom circle.”
No matter whether you find the word CONFESS in the Hebrew, in the
Greek, or in the Chaldean, it means “to name or acknowledge the sin to God.”
It does not carry any connotation of feeling sorry for what you have done. It is
all right to feel sorry for what you have done, but this is not a prerequisite for
Divine forgiveness nor for restoration to fellowship. It is NOT NECESSARY TO
FEEL SORRY FOR SIN IN ORDER TO BE FORGIVEN! If it were, some
people would never make it. It is not necessary to feel the “rosy glow” in order
to get back into fellowship any more than it is to be saved. Some get a “rosy
glow” the minute they accept Christ as Savior --- and that is fine. Other people
have no feeling whatever. Feeling is not the criterion. SALVATION IS NOT
FEELING — SALVATION IS FAITH! It is “BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you shall be saved.”
You may not feel saved; but if you have trusted in Christ, you ARE saved,
regardless of how you FEEL. The same thing is true in rebound. It is not how
you feel. Don’t wait to confess until you have a certain feeling or until you work
up a sorrow for your sin! By that time you may be eating husks with the swine.
Don’t let your emotions rule your life. I know this is hard for some of you
because all of your Christian life you have lived by your emotional pattern; and
you have yet to absorb the most basic Principle of Bible Truth. When you feel
good, you think you are Spiritual; and when you feel terrible, something is
wrong. When emotion or feeling becomes your criterion instead of the Word of
God, you have had it!
The grace of God in rebound
God has set up a system totally apart from how we feel, apart from our
attitude, whereby any Christian can get back into fellowship with the Lord. If the
carnal believer does not get back in fellowship, he cannot be controlled by the
Spirit, he cannot serve the Lord, and the whole purpose for which he remains
on this earth is negated. Whatever good he produces is human good rather
than Divine production. REBOUND IS NEVER A LICENSE TO SIN.” Rebound is
a license to SERVE, and to keep on honoring the Lord in Phase Two! Without
this gracious provision, neither you nor I, nor any other Christian, could ever
survive the exigencies of life, nor meet the demands of the Christian life. If you
are one of those rebels who still think that you have to feel sorry for your sins,
and if you think that confess means something besides “admit it,” then you do
not understand the GRACE OF GOD.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1Jn 1:9)
“IF’ introduces a third class conditional clause, which denotes that the
potential of rebound depends on your volition. Maybe you will, or maybe you will
not confess your sins; you are free to choose. The Greek word for “confess,”
HOMOLOGEO, means “to admit, to acknowledge.” Confess, like believe, is the
absence of human merit, the absence of human works! Certainly it is no credit
to me when I simply name my sins. “We” refers to believers. “Confess” means
to name it! To identify it! “If we confess our sins...” That recognizes the fact that
we commit sins. “He, [God] is faithful, [Truth of immutability applied to the
situation] and just...” He is “just” on the basis of Christ’s judgment on our behalf
on the Cross. He is “just” on the basis of the blood of Christ, which is the
technical term for Christ’s bearing our sins in His own body. We are already
judicially cleansed from all sin; thus. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
These are the known sins those we are aware of.
The Bible does not tell us to ask for forgiveness. The Bible says,
CONFESS! The Bible does not say to plead, “Oh, God, forgive me!” The Bible
says, NAME IT! We need to grow up and operate in complete accord with the
Word of God. It says, “If we confess — “JUST NAME IT! And that is GRACE!
GOD DEALS WITH US IN GRACE! Since the day we accepted Christ as
Savior, God can only deal with us in grace. We do not earn such love; we do
not deserve it; we cannot work for it; we do not merit it in any way. Grace
depends on who and what God is!
Even in the case of discipline, you will never get what you deserve. God
always “spanks” in grace. Did you ever stop to ponder where you might be
today if you, (Even as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, a child of God) got
what you DESERVED from God? You would be dead! God cannot treat us
according to what we deserve. It is impossible! Therefore, although He may
spank us severely, it is still grace. That is why we are told to “get up and move
on.”
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are
feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, (Rebound) so that the limb which
is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
(Heb 12:12-13)
You are deluding yourself if you think you are forgiven because you
worked up sorrow for sin, or because you made a vow, or went through some
system of asceticism — in other words, practicing Spiritual flagellation. We are
forgiven and cleansed for one reason only: BECAUSE WE ADMIT SIN TO
GOD. Hence, confession is totally non-meritorious!
God also cleanses us “from all unrighteousness” the unknown sins those
sins which we commit in ignorance, sins that we do not realize are sins because
we do not know Truth. AND THAT IS THE GRACE OF GOD! We cannot
cooperate even a little bit with God; nothing will get us back into fellowship
short of confession — AND THAT IS IT! PERIOD!
So far, the prodigal was straight in his Spiritual Thinking when he said to
himself, “ ...I will say unto him. Father, I have sinned against heaven, and
before thee.” That was his confession, and that would get him back into
fellowship. But he becomes confused. A believer out of fellowship is a confused
believer because God the Holy Spirit is quenched or grieved in his life;
therefore, his understanding of Spiritual Thoughts becomes minimal.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your
hired men. (Luk 15:19)
It is true that he was not worthy; but it will not get him back in fellowship.
Now get this: in his confusion he became ridiculous. He reasoned that his father
might no longer care to consider him a son after his sinful conduct, and that
perhaps his father would be more inclined to forgive him if he offered to
become a hired servant. Even though the father might put him in as a servant of
his estate, or even though he might put him in chains, this would not make him a
servant or a slave. He is always a son. None of us is worthy; but son-ship does
not depend upon our worthiness. And therein is the prodigal’s confusion. You
see, he wanted to do penance. He wanted to compensate. But his father set
that aside. His father had no intention of making him a hired servant. He did not
say, “This boy needs a lesson; put him in the horse barn for a month.” Or, “I’ll
give him some nasty jobs like scrubbing floors, cleaning the stables, or plowing
the fields. He deserves to pay for his offenses!” But notice how all that is
ignored, just as God recognizes our confession yet graciously ignores all the
nonsense we add to it.
Divine essence in rebound
So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off,
his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and
kissed him. (Luk 15:20)
I want you to see a picture in this verse that is so important you cannot
afford to miss it. Think of the Truth of Divine Essence.” The omniscience of God
anticipates every confession; He knew billions of years ago how many times
you would confess in one hour! Here is the significance of Divine Essence.
Omniscience anticipates; what the eternity of God always knew. His
immutability has had a solution for us since eternity past, and it will never
change!
God’s justice and perfect righteousness can forgive us at the moment we
rebound because Christ satisfied Divine justice and righteousness on the Cross.
The omnipotence of God guarantees that He has the power to provide
forgiveness. God’s perfect love for all His children insures His compassion
toward us when we rebound. When the prodigal was yet far away, his father
saw him: omniscience illustrated; and he had compassion: Divine love
Illustrated. Remember that the Father loves you personally with an infinite
amount of love, and this is always His attitude. There are no accusations. He
has compassion.
And how does He express this love? By forgiving us immediately. Grace
depends on who and what God is, never on who and what we are! Grace is
aggressive; it reaches out to you. All you need to do is to appropriate it.
When you confess your sins, it is just as though the Father were to run to
you, put His arms around you and kiss you. That is the Father’s love toward you
as a believer. That is what the Father thinks about you. WHEN YOU ARE
WILLING TO ADMIT YOUR SIN — TO HIM — THE DIVINE ATTITUDE IS
LOVE AND COMPASSION! This is GRACE. You are His child; you belong to
Him.
When my son was young and was away from home, I was never too sure
he was the epitome of decorum. There were many times when I was happy to
say, “That’s my boy.” Then there were times when I would prefer to look the
other way and say, “Whose kid is he?” But I can tell you one thing whether he
was good or bad, I was always glad to see the “little stinker” move through that
door. And regardless of what he had done, the First thing I did was to put my
arms around him and welcome him. I had an attitude of compassion and love.
This is the attitude of God the Father toward you personally, magnified many
times over. Here is the amazing thing: omniscience knows whether you are
going to step out of line five minutes’ Five days or five hours from now, and ---
this is what is so tremendous — HE STILL LOVES US. That is grace! We will
come back and confess again and again, and He will forgive us again and again
AND AGAIN!
The results of rebound
And the son said to him, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your
sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. (Luk 15:21)
That is true; but notice what else he said. He wanted to be made a hired
hand on his father’s estate, but his father interrupted him.
But the father said to his slaves, ’Quickly 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
fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. (Luk 15:22-23)
There are four characteristics of restoration to fellowship: (1) The best
robe represents restoration to full experiential righteousness. His father did not
make a servant out of him; instead, he gave him the best robe. (Righteousness
produced by the filling of the Holy Spirit)
(2) The signet ring is related to his father’s signature. In the ancient world,
it was a form of identification. The restored prodigal was again identified
experientially to the father. With this ring, the son could draw on his father’s
tremendous account. It reminds us, by way of analogy, that when we rebound,
not only are we restored to our full status before God, experiential
righteousness, but at the same time we have access to the Father’s unlimited
Divine operating assets. We can write a check on His account!
(3) The shoes represent Christian service. (Eph 6:15) When you rebound,
when you confess your sins, you have the right and privilege to serve the Lord
again. The Filling of the Holy Spirit produces Divine good. Do not let any
legalistic believer clip your wings and quote the old cliché to you: “The bird with
the broken pinion will never fly as high again.” Why can you fly as high as
before? YOU ARE BACK IN FELLOWSHIP. So keep moving. (Php 3:13-14)
(4) Finally, the fatted calf it would not be pork, since they were Jews, this
speaks of fellowship in the Word, feeding on Divine Truth. When you are in
fellowship, it becomes possible to feed on the Word again.
For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and
has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. (Luk 15:24)
There are different kinds of deaths in the Bible. This is temporal death,
(Carnality) described in, (Rom 8:6; Rom 8:13; Eph 5:14; (1Ti 5:6). To be alive
again means that he is back in the “bottom circle”; he is back in temporal
fellowship. “Lost” is the Greek word meaning “to be ruined” or “to be
destroyed,” the connotation being that he is out of the sphere of gaining
rewards. All the time he was away, he was losing rewards. Now he is back in
that sphere where he can gain reward again, for he is found. (Aorist tense —
point of time — rebound) He is back in the reward bracket.
When a believer gets back in fellowship, all the wonderful byproducts of
Christianity are resumed. “To be merry” speaks of inner peace, joy, stability all
the blessings that can come to the believer who rebounds, the one who utilizes
Divine grace.
The legalistic believer
"Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached
the house, he heard music and dancing. "And he summoned one of the servants
and began inquiring what these things could be. "And he said to him, ’Your
brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has
received him back safe and sound.’ "But he became angry and was not willing
to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. (Luk 15:25-28)
The elder brother should have been delighted to have his younger brother
back; he should have thrown his arms around him and said, “Welcome home,
brother. I am surely glad you are back. We can use an extra hand in the field.”
Instead, he was angry and would not join the festivities. At this very moment the
elder brother took his own journey into a “far country.” He was now the one
who was out of fellowship. The father had the right to treat his children as he
thought best. Don’t you get angry with God the Father because He treats
another Christian in grace! Remember that the shoe may be on YOUR foot
some day, and you will want all of that grace coming your way! The elder
brother was jealous and angry because his father had treated the younger
brother in grace; he sulked and would not go into the house. Therefore, his
father came out and begged him to come in, but without success. God the
Father entreats us to have compassion on other believers. We should have the
same mental attitude of grace which was manifested by the Lord Jesus Christ:
Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a
complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
(Col 3:13)
But he answered and said to his father, ’Look! For so many years I have
been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you
have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends.
(Luk 15:29)
“All these years I have been faithful,” he whined, “and yet you never threw
a party for me!” Of course his father had, but he had forgotten it. One mental
attitude sin, (Jealousy) led to another, as he became angry, then to another, as
he began to judge and malign his brother.
But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with
prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ (Luk 15:30)
How did he know that his brother threw away his inheritance on
prostitutes? He didn’t! In whatever manner his brother lost his money, (The
passage says, “riotous living,” which could mean a lot of things) it was only
conjecture that he spent it on harlots. He might have, but there is no indication.
Furthermore, it was none of his brother’s business. When a person gets out of
fellowship, it brings out all of his bad qualities. Elder Brother had a tendency to
mind other people’s business. He was legalistic, self-righteous, and guilty of
operation “long proboscis. Whatever the younger brother’s sins were, THEY
HAD BEEN FORGIVEN! The Principle is that we are never to penalize another
believer for the sins which God has forgiven!
The legalistic believer imposes his own standards of human sin nature
good on others. It is not unusual for an entire congregation, in their “sanctified,”
legalistic, “holier-than-thou” attitude, to walk up and down on one member who
is out of line and play “kick the can” with him. No one has the right to do that to
any believer. When you begin to judge others, you only get yourself out of
fellowship and become the recipient of Divine discipline. One of the most
beautiful assets in the Christian way of life is the ability to mind your own
business, live your life as unto the Lord, and not worry about whether the other
believer is stepping out of line. God will take care of him! If you try to help God
with a little discipline of your own, you will be between God and the whip, and
who will get the discipline? YOU! So save yourself the wear and tear; live your
own life before the Lord! It is amazing how many Christians are concerned that
some OTHER believer may get away with something! Don’t worry about the
others. You just relax, and rebound when necessary!
And he said to him, ’Son, you have always been with me, and all that is
mine is yours. (Luk 15:31)
Aftermath of legalism
What was the father’s answer to this brother who had gotten out of
fellowship through legalism? The brother may have whatever he desires. He
had always had all of his father’s operating assets, but they could only be
utilized in fellowship. We are not told whether or not the elder brother ever got
back in fellowship.
But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead
and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found. (Luk 15:32)
This is the Principle: every time you sin, you are “dead” temporal death,
out of fellowship. Every time you confess your sin, you are back in the bottom
circle ready to utilize all the grace assets provided by God for you. As long as
you live; when you sin against the Lord; YOU MUST REBOUND. If you don’t,
YOUR LIFE IS USELESS AND POWERLESS. Your production does not count
as far as the Lord is concerned. But once you have been cleansed from sin
through the Principle of; (1Jn 1:9) you are ready to roll again and serve the
Lord. Rebound and keep moving! This is the ONLY way to recover fellowship.
As in the parable of the prodigal son, believers are divided into two
categories Spiritual or carnal. The younger son was in a state of carnality, while
the elder brother remained in fellowship and served his heavenly Father as well
as his earthly father. When the prodigal rebounded and returned to temporal
fellowship, his brother became jealous and vindictive, thus putting himself into
the same carnal condition. Both brothers had eternal fellowship with God
forever, but their temporal fellowship depended on the frequency with which
they confessed their sins. Every member of the human race is born with free
will. Every one has the opportunity to accept or reject Christ as Savior. If the
choice is for Christ, then, as a believer, each one has the opportunity to accept
or reject God’s provision for rebound, to be Spiritual or carnal. The choice is
ours!
End
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