Pharisees and Scribes Learn about Love. Luke 15:1-2 Religious individuals often look down on those who may not share their beliefs, a sentiment seldom discussed outside their own circles. They adhere to specific rules and seek to impose these on others. While we are accountable for the rules we choose to follow, we do not have the right to enforce unscriptural, man-made regulations on others. It is our duty to teach the word of God and assist others rather than ignore or condemn them for their differences. Simultaneously, we are not instructed to adopt the ways of the ungodly to win them over. We are called to separate ourselves and avoid engaging with things deemed unclean.
It is our responsibility and privilege to show interest, concern, and love for the lost through our attitudes, actions, and words. If we try to dress and act like young people when we are older so that they will listen to us testify about our salvation, we make fools of ourselves in their eyes. If we attempt to be like sinners to present the Gospel to them, it indicates that the Gospel message and being saved by grace have made no difference between us and them. So why should they bother listening to it?
The principle involved in reaching others by being made “all things to all men that I might, by all means, save some” is important to understand and practice. First, we need to find common ground with those we are connecting with. Second, we must avoid adopting a know-it-all attitude. Third, it is our responsibility to make others feel accepted, regardless of their race, creed, or culture. Fourth, we need to be sensitive to their needs and concerns without passing unnecessary judgment. Fifth, we should remember that God has allowed us to make this connection so that we can share what God has done for us, what He means to us, and what the Lord Jesus Christ can do for them.
We must adapt to our surroundings, particularly regarding lifestyle, food, mobility, and other non-essential practices, so those we aim to reach know we can identify with them and their lives. However, we cannot compromise with the sinful behaviors of any individuals, regardless of who they are. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to seek and save sinners from their sins, not in their sins. It is our responsibility to meet people where they are and, in that context, demonstrate God’s love without making ourselves the focus of our message.
Lost sinners cannot find their way back to God. By hearing the Gospel message and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are no longer “dead in trespasses and sins” because “the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This parable illustrates the Son of Man, who is the Son of God, pursuing a lost sinner akin to a lost sheep.
It is God Himself who seeks the lost. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to save those who are lost. In grace, God goes to extraordinary lengths to find and bring the lost men and women of the world to Himself. People who have wandered away from God in “the dark paths of sin” or who have ignored Him are still loved. Salvation is offered to them, and by whatever means God uses, it is good when the lost sheep that has “gone astray and turned to its own way” finally stops running. Then they will learn that “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” That is the grace of God in action on our behalf. God’s grace can save people who seem beyond hope through faith. No wonder the Lord Jesus and those who know Him rejoice when a helpless, hopeless person is found and brought “home.”
God, the Holy Spirit, also seeks the lost who are as useless to Him as a coin on the floor in a dark room. This world is a dark place, but despite the awful darkness of sin, every lost sinner is valuable to God. The Spirit of God uses our conscience to convict us of sin as He sweeps through the debris of a sinful life. The light of the Word of God shines in the hearts of those who lie useless to God in a world of dirt and decay. The coin bears the imprint of the king, just as every person is made in the image of God. However, unless it is lifted out of the dirt and made fit for use, its true value is lost.
The church of God is composed of people to whom the Spirit has given new life and who are presently engaged in all parts of the world seeking the lost. The Holy Spirit works through God’s people to bring people from “darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.” In every case, when a soul is saved, there is rejoicing by God Himself, by believers in Christ, by angels who rejoice when God rejoices, and by the lost one who is found. All involved in the Gospel message being received and in a soul being saved share our joy.
A local assembly dedicated to spreading the Gospel at home and abroad will create a joyful community of saints. They engage in the Savior’s work of seeking and saving the lost in various ways. Preaching, praying, providing financial support, visiting mission fields, and sending letters of encouragement are all methods by which assembly members can contribute to the work of God. When we hear about God blessing His word through the salvation of sinners and the strengthening of saints, there is great rejoicing as we gather to listen to these reports.
God the Son is engaged in reaching lost sinners who are like sheep that have gone astray. God the Holy Spirit is devoted to reaching lost sinners who are like a coin on the floor in a dark room. God the Father is invested in reaching lost sinners who are like a wayward son, friendless and despairing in a distant land. This emphasis appears in the final story of this parable. The stakes are higher in this section of the parable. The shepherd lost one sheep out of one hundred. The woman lost one coin out of ten. In this story, the father lost one son out of two. This is why the story is longer and provides more detail about the entire broken family.
There are two types of lost people here. One son is lost and knows he is lost. The other son is lost but does not realize it. One stayed at home while the prodigal son left for a far country, yet both were lost. At the end of the story, the son who was lost in the far country was found; the other remained where he was and stayed lost. The son who realized he was lost returned a changed person. The son who stayed home did not change and ultimately lost out in the story.
God the Father loves people without partiality. The sheep was lost because it foolishly wandered away. The coin was lost through no fault of its own. The delinquent son was lost due to his selfishness and rebellion. Despite their differences, they were all lost. The youngest son did not want to wait for what would have been his share of the inheritance after his father died. He was not satisfied with what pleased his father. Even though his father gave him what he asked for, that did not make him love his father.
People receive “every good and perfect gift” from God daily, but that does not make them appreciate or believe in God, let alone love Him. The heart of man is evil and continually set against God due to our sinful nature. God intends for people to choose to love, obey, and share life with Him, but He does not force them. “The wages of sin” are the portion of every person who takes from God all they can get and wastes it on the vain, empty bubbles of life without God.
Whether it is the fleeting pleasures of sin that people seek to experience or the fame and fortune they hope to obtain, those who live without God in their lives will find that it all amounts to little more than pig feed. When a person is away from God the Father, their only option when confronted with their limitations is to acknowledge their failures and sins and return to Him as quickly as possible. Nothing in this sinful world can truly satisfy the needs of our souls.
The lost sheep and the lost coin in the first two parts of the parable could do nothing to help themselves. The sheep needed the shepherd's love to be found and brought back to its rightful place. The lost coin would remain lost unless someone were motivated to seek it out and find it. The father of the lost son had constant love and concern for his son, but he did not go in search of him or force him to return. The son could make his own choice, and he had to want to return, or there would be no change in his heart.
God is long-suffering and is not willing that any should perish. He desires the lost sinner to repent by acknowledging their own sin and guilt. This is repentance toward God. It is then a lost soul that seeks the Lord with all their heart. “I will return” indicates his faith in his father’s love for him. When a person admits they have sinned against God and, for a long time, had no room or place for God in their life, they may wonder what kind of reception they will receive when they come to Him in repentance. Guilt is a great burden that will not be lifted until it is acknowledged.
The love of the Father for the lost does not diminish, and He is willing and eager for the lost to be reconciled to Him and to come to Him for the forgiveness of their sins. There are no limitations placed on someone who is lost that would make him or her more acceptable to God. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in Thy sight and am no more worthy to be called Thy son,” was all that needed to be said for the prodigal’s father to forgive and welcome him back. God’s joy in the salvation of a sinner is genuine. God’s love reaches out to lost sinners who wish to come to Him, regardless of how or why they have become lost.
We see in this story the love of the father who ran to meet his son, illustrating that the God of heaven will gladly receive the repentant sinner. His joy is so immense that there is a feast of joyful fellowship in the kingdom of God. The robe of the righteousness of Christ makes one acceptable to a righteous God. The ring of representation testifies to the fact that this “found” sinner is a child of God. The new shoes are evidence of being a son rather than a barefoot servant. The repentant sinner is now in the place of sonship, with his feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.
The father's servants were happy, but the older son was angry that the father forgave and joyfully accepted his lost son. Our heavenly Father receives repentant sinners today, and His love for them, along with their love for Him, is where new life begins. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The older son, representing the Pharisees, had the status and appearance of one who always obeys God, but it is clear that there is no love for the Father or his brother.
“We know we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.” The older son showed no interest in the fact that his brother had returned. He refused to enter the feast of restoration because it wasn’t what he wanted. He sought retribution, not reconciliation. He also desired a feast prepared for him, on his own terms and for his own pleasure, surrounded by those he chose, not his family.
The older brother exemplifies those who are proud and will not admit they are wrong or that they have done anything to make them a guilty sinner. They believe that God is somehow obligated to them and will save them because they think they are “basically a good person.” Love for God is not something they truly understand, especially love stemming from granted forgiveness. Forgiven sinners love God and His people. They have personally experienced the blessings of God’s grace. Those who recognize and confront the reality of being dead in trespasses and sins can be reconciled and forgiven when they “come as a sinner to Jesus.”
God the Son is like the good shepherd in the parable. He came into the world to seek and save lost sinners who are like lost sheep. He brings them to a place of safety at the expense of His own life. God, the Holy Spirit, has come into the world to give light and empower the Church of God to remove the dirt in which people are hidden like a lost coin. When that person is brought into a place of usefulness, they will find others just like themselves, waiting and ready for God to use. God the Father waits for every prodigal sinner who has tried to find pleasure and satisfaction in the wicked world to return to Him. When they find, as someone has said, “A round world will not fill a three-cornered heart,” God the Father is willing to welcome the lost soul and receive them into His house of joy and fullness.
LUKE 16 MONEY MATTERS