Tag: Lost son

From the Gospel, Living in the Image of God

Repentance

Living in the Image of God M03S13

Repentance is necessary and sufficient for forgiveness and consists of three ordered steps: (1) recognition that you have sinned, feeling of remorse and personal responsibility for the sin, and recognition of the injured party; (2) commitment to turnaround from the sinful behavior and turn to doing right and just; and (3) confession to the injured party—confess the sin, your personal responsibility, remorse, and commitment to turnaround. God sees repentance as the return of a lost soul and welcomes and forgives the repentant person unconditionally.

Repentance 17:07

Christ teaching in the Parable of the Lost Son provides an understanding of the value of repentance in human relationship with God and his purpose regarding repentance in human interactions and relationships. He explains in the parable that God sees repentance as the return of a lost soul and welcomes and forgives the repentant person unconditionally.

Also, he uses the parable to explain sin as wrongdoing that a person commits against at least one other—the injured party. In that case, repentance requires three actions in order: (1) recognition and remorse, whereby you recognize that you have sinned, feel remorse and accept personal responsibility for the sin, and recognize the injured party; (2) commitment to turnaround from the sinful behavior and turn to doing right and just; and (3) confession to the injured party, whereby you confess the sin, your personal responsibility, remorse, and commitment to turnaround. As we discuss in a previous study under Responding to Sin, Christ explains that the injured party must accept the repentance and forgive the repentant person.

We discuss our understanding of the parable first and conclude the study with a discussion of the parable itself based on the gospel according to Luke [15:11–21].

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From the Gospel, Living in the Image of God

Responding to Sin

Living in the Image of God M03S12

To respond to a sin by an associate, provide them an opportunity to repent, even if the person has sinned and repented previously. Provide the opportunity diligently and with persistence. If they repent, accept the matter as resolved. However, if they refuse to repent, separate from them to protect yourself from sin.

Responding to Sin 11:25

We discuss Christ teaching to explain the individual responsibility regarding another person (an associate) that has committed sin. He teaches that you should provide the associate with an opportunity to repent. You should do this even if the person has sinned and repented previously. Also, you need to provide the opportunity diligently and with persistence. Christ describes several steps for escalating your effort by involving an increasing number of people. If the person repents, you should accept the matter as resolved. However, if they refuse to repent, then you should separate yourself from them.

The essence of the message is that a sin by an associate threatens your continued association with them, because you need to separate yourself from any person, thing, or event that may cause you to sin (see previous discussion under Individual Responsibility Regarding Sin). First, you should seek to help the associate to remove the sin. You should do so with diligence and persistence. If the associate repents, then accept. However, if the associate refuses to repent, then separate from him or her to protect yourself from sin.

We discuss specific steps based on Christ teaching for seeking to convince the associate to repent.

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Following God's Schedule

Opportunity for Redirection

Heaven Celebrates Repentance

God is displeased when a person departs from following his schedule and he provides opportunities to redirect the person to return to him. He is pleased and there is great celebration in heaven when redirection is successful. An opportunity for redirection could be voluntary and provide a person freedom to re-evaluate and abandon a course of actions that would result in departing from God’s schedule, like in the parable of the lost son. Also, God may offer coercive redirection to compel a return to him, like in the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin. We discuss Christ teaching of God’s promise of redirection and examples from David, regarding his encounter with Abigail and his forced exit from a Philistine battlefield.

Heaven celebrates when lost is sheep recovered
Heaven celebrates when a lost sheep is recovered LumoProject.com FreeBibleImages.org

We begin this study with a recap of the basis for our study series on Following God’s Schedule. As we discuss in Prayer of Joseph from the Dungeon, God at times grants a prayer with a promise to be fulfilled to fit his overall plan for the recipient; sets a schedule for fulfilling the promise; requires and guides the recipient to follow the schedule; but may not reveal the promise, schedule, or plan. He is displeased when a person departs from following his schedule and he provides opportunities to redirect the person to return to him. He is pleased and there is great celebration in heaven when redirection is successful, that is, the departed returns to Following God’s Schedule: “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” [Luke 15:10].

Lost sheep recovered
Lost sheep recovered
Padfield FreeBibleImages.org

Through opportunities for redirection, God implements his promise to not abandon those committed to following his ways by doing what is right and just, even if they miss a step. He will intervene to provide them opportunities to return to him. An opportunity for redirection could be voluntary or coercive, as God chooses. An opportunity for voluntary redirection provides a person freedom to re-evaluate and voluntarily abandon a planned course of actions that would result in departing from God’s schedule. In contrast, God may choose to intervene by placing an insurmountable obstacle that compels the person to abandon planned wrongdoing. That is, in coercive redirection, a person planning to do something that would cause them to depart from God’s path encounters circumstances beyond their control that force them to abandon the plan.

We discuss Christ teaching of opportunities for redirection, through three parables: Parable of the Lost Sheep, Parable of the Lost Coin, and Parable of the Lost Son (the Prodigal Son). Also, we discuss two examples from the life of David as king in waiting: his encounter with Abigail and his forced exit from Philistine battlefield. The first example illustrates voluntary redirection whereas the second illustrates coercive redirection.

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