Luke 15:1 ¶ Then drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured,
saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
4 What man of you, having an hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the
wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it
on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when
he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in
heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just
persons, which need no repentance. 8
Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece,
doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find
it? 9 And when she hath found it,
she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying,
Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Here, Jesus teaches one
of the great lessons on how God will receive a sinner who is repentant. First,
on a direct level He is speaking to Jews about Jews. This is not about someone
who has never known of God. This is about someone straying from the fold who is
welcomed to return. Jesus uses metaphors and a parable explain what He is
saying.
The Jew could stray and
walk away from God’s care and mercy. He could choose to not return and would be
lost forever. But, if he did return there was to be much rejoicing in heaven. In
the Old Testament God pleaded with His people to return to Him, to receive His
mercy and not perish.
Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore I
will judge you, O house of Israel,
every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves
from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
God who, as His talk
with Job in Job 38 and beyond said, controls events in the far reaches of space
and on earth that no man has seen, who makes dust turn to clods in a farmer’s
field and controls how far the ocean waves wash onto the dry land, who has drawn
millions of people back to Him in the great apostasy after the Fall of Adam and
Eve, reconciling them to Himself, rejoices when one seemingly insignificant one
of His people repents and turns to Him and to His mercy. That is an amazing
thing to consider.
It is not unreasonable
to assume that the inhabitants of Heaven rejoice when a Christian who has
strayed from their faith returns to try to live for Christ. Although I do not
believe a Christian, someone truly experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
of God and Christ, can ever be happy while engaged in open or secret sin
against God and facing the consequences of it on earth in their flesh, I also
do not believe a Christian can lose their salvation. Salvation is an act of God
whereby you become a part of Christ’s body on earth, the church. It is not
something you did yourself. It was an act of God.
John 1:12 But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: 13 Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
James 1:17 Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
We are now His body
operating on the earth, the church.
Colossians 1:24 Who now
rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
In fact, not only are
we in His hands but we are a part of His hands.
John 10:28 And I give unto
them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Many Christian groups
practice a works-religion where they try to earn their way to eternal life or
at least to pay for it on installments but there is only one true work of God.
John 6:28 ¶ Then said they
unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is
the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Strong-willed children
and childish adults, when they have spent their last argument and have nothing
more of value to say will end things with something like, “I know what you’re
saying, but still…” and that is what some will do when they want to control the
Christian, to dominate their behavior and time, and insist they can lose their
salvation that they neither earned nor can pay for but no matter, let’s
continue. Many people come to a religion or a political movement that seek not
truth but the ability and right to control others even if they aren’t aware of
that drive consciously. Let’s dismiss them and surrender only to Christ.
This passage is about
the repentant Jew, a lesson taught by Christ in the first century to Jews
before the Cross and the Resurrection. We can use it to apply to the
backsliding Christian but it is not about people that were never God’s in the
first place but were in Satan’s camp.
Ephesians 2:1 ¶ And you hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all
had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others.
So, this isn’t a very
good lesson for soul-winning today but is a very good lesson for trying to get
a Christian to return from a bad life to the protection and mercy of God in
this mortal existence.
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