THE PRODIGAL SON
The
parable of the
prodigal son is an analogy of a person who has left
his calling, {God the
Father} and went back to the world to where he was
spiritually dead, and then
repented and came back to God the Father. This is in
stark contrast to the
following scriptures, which state that it is
impossible to repent if we fall
away from receiving the Holy Spirit. Heb 6:4 For it is
impossible for those who were
once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift,
and have become partakers
of the Holy Spirit, Heb 6:5 and have
tasted the good word of God and the powers of the
age to come, Heb 6:6 if they
fall
away, to renew them again to repentance, since they
crucify again for
themselves the Son of God, and put Him
to an open shame. Mar 3:28 "Assuredly, I say to you, all
sins will be forgiven the
sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may
utter; Mar 3:29 but he who blasphemes against
the Holy Spirit never has
forgiveness, but is subject to eternal
condemnation" The
parable
of the prodigal son shows the great love and
forgiveness that God has
for humans. This parable does not conflict with the
above verses. The
younger
son asked for, and received his inheritance. He
received the portion
due to him. Luk 15:11
Then He said: "A certain man had two
sons. Luk 15:12
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. We
are
sealed with the spirit of promise, which is the
earnest, or down payment of
our inheritance. At baptism, and laying
on of hands;
we receive the portion of spirit due to us from God. Eph 1:13 In Him you
also trusted,
after you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in
whom also, having believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Eph 1:14
who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, to the praise of His
glory. The
prodigal
son left his father and wasted his substance. He had
none of his
inheritance left. This person had the spirit of
promise, and came to the point
where he had no spirit left. Luk 15:13
And not
many days after, the younger son gathered all
together, journeyed to a far
country, and there wasted his possessions with
prodigal living. He
is
completely back in the world. Luk 15:14
But when
he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in
that land, and he began to be
in want. Luk 15:15
Then he
went and joined himself to a citizen of that
country, and he sent him into his
fields to feed swine. Luk 15:16
And he
would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods
that the swine ate, and no
one gave him anything.
The
prodigal
son then realises what he has done; he repents, and is
happy to go
back to the Father as a servant. Luk 15:17
"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! The
prodigal
son not only lacked the physical food but also the
spiritual food he
needed. Notice what the scriptures say on this
subject. Luk 4:4
But Jesus answered him, saying, "It
is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE,
BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD.' Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my
father, and will say to him,
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before
you, Luk 15:19
and I am
no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me
like one of your hired
servants." The
following
verses show the great love and mercy; that God shows
to a repentant
person. Luk 15:20
"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.
Luk 15:21
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.' Luk 15:22
"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. Luk 15:23
And bring the fatted calf here and kill it,
and let us eat and be merry;
The
prodigal
son was welcomed back. Luk 15:24
for this
my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.' And they began
to be merry. The
elder
son did not understand the great love and forgiveness
of God the Father. Luk 15:25
"Now his
older son was in the field. And as he came and
drew near to the house, he heard
music and dancing. Luk 15:26
So he
called one of the servants and asked what these
things meant. Luk 15:27
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.'
Luk 15:28
"But
he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his
father came out and pleaded
with him. The
faithful
son had been a loyal son and had done the right thing,
he had worked hard and been obedient. He could not
understand why he had not
been rewarded for his faithfulness and yet the
unfaithful son had been
rewarded. Notice the amazing answers to his questions. Luk 15:29
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. Luk 15:30
But as
soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured
your livelihood with harlots,
you killed the fatted calf for him.' There
is
a massive lesson in the next two verses. The loyal son
would inherit all
things. The prodigal son
who left and then returned,
was welcomed back with open arms, but he was not
promised all things; he will
be given eternal life in the Luk 15:31
"And
he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and
all that I have is yours.
Notice
the
following verse: the prodigal son was originally with
the Father, and left
to where he was spiritually dead. When he returns, he
is alive again. Luk 15:32
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
question
arises, how can the parable of the prodigal son fit in
with the first
verses I quoted, which say it is impossible to repent
if we blaspheme the Holy
Spirit. The
answer
is that at baptism, we receive the down payment of the
spirit; this is
the promise of eternal life. We do not have eternal
life inherent at this time,
just the promise. Eph 1:13 In Him you
also trusted,
after you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in
whom also, having believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Eph 1:14
who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, to the praise of His
glory. Eternal
life
comes with the receiving of the Holy Spirit of truth.
The following verses
need to be understood, as they relate to eternal life.
The spirit of truth is
another comforter, which remains with us forever. This
spirit can be given many
years after receiving the earnest of the spirit.
Christ is talking to Philip,
one of the Apostles who received the earnest of the
spirit at baptism. Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and
He will give you another
Helper, that He may abide with you forever Joh
14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because
it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know
Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in you. The
disciples
received the earnest of the spirit at baptism. The
following verse is
Peter speaking. The Holy Spirit given at the beginning
is the earnest of the
spirit. Act 11:15
And as I began to speak, the Holy
Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.
The
disciples
received the spirit of life, or truth, on the day of
Pentecost. Act 2:4
And they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance. The
earnest
of the spirit is the promise of eternal life; the
spirit of truth is
eternal life inherent. During the time when we have
the earnest; we can leave
the church, completely lose the spirit, and then
repent at some future date.
Those who leave God's church, and then come back to
God; will have to accept a
much lesser reward, than what they were originally
offered. The earnest of the
spirit is given by a loving God who is not willing
that any should
perish. The
prodigal
son had the earnest of the spirit and left God, he was
welcomed back.
There are thousands of ex While
in
God's church, we have the earnest of the spirit until
we come to the
knowledge of the truth. This is when we receive the
spirit of life. After
accepting the knowledge of the truth: there is no more
sacrifice for sins. If
we leave God at this time, we go into the lake of
fire. 1Ti 2:4 who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth. 2Ti 3:7
always learning and never able to
come to the knowledge of the
truth. Heb 10:26 For if we
sin willfully after we
have received the knowledge of
the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for
sins, During
our
time in the church with the earnest of the spirit, we
can leave and repent
and come back. During
our
time with the Spirit of life, if we leave the church,
there is no more
sacrifice for sins: We have done our dash. The
knowledge
of the truth is the knowledge of eternal life, and is
freely
available on our website. To the best of our
knowledge, this knowledge is not
available anywhere else on the face of the earth. Only
the very few will accept
this knowledge, and qualify to be firstfruits to God
and Christ. The following verses mean exactly what
they say. God
is
not willing that any should perish, but it seems only
the few will accept
eternal life. Mat 7:14
Because
narrow is
the gate and
difficult is the
way which leads
to life, and there are few who find it. We
must
accept the true knowledge of God as He reveals it. Rom 10:2
For I bear them witness that they
have a zeal for God, but not
according to knowledge. |