Did the prodigal son repent before or after he returned to his Father?
In Luke 15 we find the Parable of the Lost Son, aka The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Many of us think that it's a story about becoming born-again but it applies to us believers too - the younger brother was a son that went astray because He did not know the Father's love and that all the Father had was his, much like many believers today who think that God owes them and demands righteousness from them.
Growing up, many of us were taught that the prodigal son went home because he was sorry for what he did. But this is not so. He did not repent/return home to his Father because he was sorry or had an epiphany about how stupid and greedy he was to ask for his inheritance. He didn't remember his Father when he still had his inheritance. He decided to go back home because he was hungry and had nothing! I like to think that he was dirty, hungry and smelling of the pigs he had been caring for (to the Jew, pigs are unclean, so no Jew would ever touch him in his state). Everyone would have done SMH at him. According to Deut. 21:18-21, he should have been stoned to death!
Yet, his Father embraced and kissed him in his dirty and unclean "pigful" state, treating him to the best clothes and the fatted calf. He even ran to meet His wayward son when He spotted him from afar! His Father never condemned him or told him to do restitution before showing him love and restoring him. He accepted him just the way he was. The son deserved to die according to Jewish law but he was treated like a prince instead. This is God's undeserved, unmerited favour. This is Grace. This is the goodness of God that leads to repentance!
Believers in Christ, this is the treatment you get when you come to our Heavenly Father just the way you are each time you mess up, which we all do at some point or the other. No effort. No trying on your part. Our sins - past, present and future - are already forgiven in Christ once for all. You can never stop bearing His name, just like your child can never stop being your child because he lied to you or disobeyed you (remember it's your job to teach your child to be well behaved too. Today, the Holy Spirit teaches us all things)
Our Heavenly Father loves us much more than we can ever love our kids. Just come to Him as you are and He will clean you up and set you up after you have gone astray and made a mess of everything. This is grace - God's undeserved, unmerited favour.
But His grace is not a license to continue in sin as many accused Paul of preaching in his day - God hates sin! Rather, His Grace is the Way to right living. In most countries, the law cannot prosecute a diplomat/ambassador for any crime that he commits, even murder. The diplomat's home country does the sanctioning. Yet you don't see diplomats/ambassadors going berserk and breaking laws in their host country because they have diplomatic immunity. They have no reason to lack because their home country makes sure that they are well taken care of. How much more us believers that are Christ's ambassadors here on earth where our Lord God loads us daily with benefits! His gift of no condemnation empowers us to go and sin no more! His correction is for our profit too.
In Christ, the Holy Spirit transforms us to the image of His glory, from glory to glory. When you depend on His righteousness and not your own ability to be good, you'll find that you used to pad budgets in order to afford that pricey school for your kids but now, you have so much (and legally, too) that you even pay for others' education. You'll find that the desire to indulge in those addictions that you are ashamed of right now has disappeared miraculously. You find that you talk about our Saviour more, give more, love more and do exploits without knowing how. This is Grace.
There's also a lesson from the older brother who was annoyed when the Father showed love to the younger brother instead of punishing him. This is like a Christian that believes that you must give to get from God, not realising that in Christ, all the Father has is his. The older brother even went as far as saying that the Father never gave him as much as a kid to celebrate with his friends despite his hard work! Unfortunately this is the message that is being preached in many churches today. Many believers even get angry and ask God why they have not received after all their fasting and seed sowing. The response of the pastor in charge of dishing out these "terms and conditions for receiving from God" is usually to tell these beloved believers that it is because they don't have enough faith! (another sermon for another day!)
Believers, God isn't interested in your hard work if it is done to get right with Him. In fact, your doing good works and trying to keep the law in order to make up for your missteps or get right with God will only serve to cut you off from Christ (Galatians 5:4). No wonder many are not freely receiving. They do not believe that they are freely given and vice versa.
Like Mary in Luke 10, let us choose the good portion which will not be taken away from us. Remember Martha was the one running around in order to provide for Jesus:) but Jesus was refreshed when the Samaritan woman took from Him at the well. With Christ, we don't give to get; we get to give. He loves it when we take from Him. Let's not put the cart before the horse.
Believers, the law tells the completely lame man "Walk, or die!" and offers no help.
You can replace the "walk" here with stop smoking, stop lying that you're almost at work when you're not, stop drinking, stop fornicating, stop disrespecting your elders, stop insulting your husband, stop sinning, stop watching porn, keep the Ten Commandments. Like Peter boasted that He would not deny Jesus, thinking that you can do it yourself is to deceive yourself. No one can ever cast the first stone or any stone for that matter. And all it takes to be guilty of all the laws is to fail in one area.
But Grace (our Lord Jesus) tells the lame man "Receive the ability to walk and start running faster than Usain Bolt! I am running with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you! I will help you when you stumble! I am your strength!"
Believers in Christ, thank God that we are not under law but under Grace! Move away from believing like the prodigal son's older brother who thought he had to earn the Father's blessing. Receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness and reign in life through our Saviour Jesus.
Our Abba Father loves us so much!
Believe Right and you will Live Right.
Growing up, many of us were taught that the prodigal son went home because he was sorry for what he did. But this is not so. He did not repent/return home to his Father because he was sorry or had an epiphany about how stupid and greedy he was to ask for his inheritance. He didn't remember his Father when he still had his inheritance. He decided to go back home because he was hungry and had nothing! I like to think that he was dirty, hungry and smelling of the pigs he had been caring for (to the Jew, pigs are unclean, so no Jew would ever touch him in his state). Everyone would have done SMH at him. According to Deut. 21:18-21, he should have been stoned to death!
Yet, his Father embraced and kissed him in his dirty and unclean "pigful" state, treating him to the best clothes and the fatted calf. He even ran to meet His wayward son when He spotted him from afar! His Father never condemned him or told him to do restitution before showing him love and restoring him. He accepted him just the way he was. The son deserved to die according to Jewish law but he was treated like a prince instead. This is God's undeserved, unmerited favour. This is Grace. This is the goodness of God that leads to repentance!
Believers in Christ, this is the treatment you get when you come to our Heavenly Father just the way you are each time you mess up, which we all do at some point or the other. No effort. No trying on your part. Our sins - past, present and future - are already forgiven in Christ once for all. You can never stop bearing His name, just like your child can never stop being your child because he lied to you or disobeyed you (remember it's your job to teach your child to be well behaved too. Today, the Holy Spirit teaches us all things)
Our Heavenly Father loves us much more than we can ever love our kids. Just come to Him as you are and He will clean you up and set you up after you have gone astray and made a mess of everything. This is grace - God's undeserved, unmerited favour.
But His grace is not a license to continue in sin as many accused Paul of preaching in his day - God hates sin! Rather, His Grace is the Way to right living. In most countries, the law cannot prosecute a diplomat/ambassador for any crime that he commits, even murder. The diplomat's home country does the sanctioning. Yet you don't see diplomats/ambassadors going berserk and breaking laws in their host country because they have diplomatic immunity. They have no reason to lack because their home country makes sure that they are well taken care of. How much more us believers that are Christ's ambassadors here on earth where our Lord God loads us daily with benefits! His gift of no condemnation empowers us to go and sin no more! His correction is for our profit too.
In Christ, the Holy Spirit transforms us to the image of His glory, from glory to glory. When you depend on His righteousness and not your own ability to be good, you'll find that you used to pad budgets in order to afford that pricey school for your kids but now, you have so much (and legally, too) that you even pay for others' education. You'll find that the desire to indulge in those addictions that you are ashamed of right now has disappeared miraculously. You find that you talk about our Saviour more, give more, love more and do exploits without knowing how. This is Grace.
There's also a lesson from the older brother who was annoyed when the Father showed love to the younger brother instead of punishing him. This is like a Christian that believes that you must give to get from God, not realising that in Christ, all the Father has is his. The older brother even went as far as saying that the Father never gave him as much as a kid to celebrate with his friends despite his hard work! Unfortunately this is the message that is being preached in many churches today. Many believers even get angry and ask God why they have not received after all their fasting and seed sowing. The response of the pastor in charge of dishing out these "terms and conditions for receiving from God" is usually to tell these beloved believers that it is because they don't have enough faith! (another sermon for another day!)
Believers, God isn't interested in your hard work if it is done to get right with Him. In fact, your doing good works and trying to keep the law in order to make up for your missteps or get right with God will only serve to cut you off from Christ (Galatians 5:4). No wonder many are not freely receiving. They do not believe that they are freely given and vice versa.
Like Mary in Luke 10, let us choose the good portion which will not be taken away from us. Remember Martha was the one running around in order to provide for Jesus:) but Jesus was refreshed when the Samaritan woman took from Him at the well. With Christ, we don't give to get; we get to give. He loves it when we take from Him. Let's not put the cart before the horse.
Believers, the law tells the completely lame man "Walk, or die!" and offers no help.
You can replace the "walk" here with stop smoking, stop lying that you're almost at work when you're not, stop drinking, stop fornicating, stop disrespecting your elders, stop insulting your husband, stop sinning, stop watching porn, keep the Ten Commandments. Like Peter boasted that He would not deny Jesus, thinking that you can do it yourself is to deceive yourself. No one can ever cast the first stone or any stone for that matter. And all it takes to be guilty of all the laws is to fail in one area.
But Grace (our Lord Jesus) tells the lame man "Receive the ability to walk and start running faster than Usain Bolt! I am running with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you! I will help you when you stumble! I am your strength!"
Believers in Christ, thank God that we are not under law but under Grace! Move away from believing like the prodigal son's older brother who thought he had to earn the Father's blessing. Receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness and reign in life through our Saviour Jesus.
Our Abba Father loves us so much!
Believe Right and you will Live Right.
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