Parable question

[imported_MoonlightGraham]

If I misquote this don't berate me, because you know which parable I am talkin about.

Okay you know the parable about the father who gives both sons money/land. One of them works his butt and the other just goes and spends all of it, then comes home later and his father gives him a huge banquet. Of course the other son gets mad, because he was bustin his butt and the other was livin a life full of hedonism.

Does this confuse anyone else? I know if you repent and accept Jesus as your savior you will go to Heaven, but to me this parable says do whatever you want and as long as repent before you die, you will be okay and will get the same thing as people who have been faithful there entire lives.

I mean this is like a teacher givin a guy who has never showed up for class, never turned in any work, and failed all of his test, the same grade as someone who was in class everyday and really worked hard for an A.

if your gonna make a post saying I am questioning God, then don't bother responding. I have a healthy relationship w/Jesus, and I'm just curious to see if this partically parable ever made anyone else a little confused.

[centennialdawg]

Well, I think what the parable is trying to teach us is to repent our transgressions. That is what the son who went off into the world did. He came back to his father and as such, there was much rejoicing, the same that would happen if a sinner came to God and repented his sins.

[jtw61194]

Dane, I think your post brings up a wonderful point. I believe the two guys who were crucified with Jesus repented while they were being crucified. Somebody who is more well-read needs to jump in, but I thought the point of that was that it is never too late and nobody who is too far gone to repent.

[imported_MoonlightGraham]

all i am saying is you hear alot about all these lost sheep finally coming back to the flock. what about the sheep who stayed faithful.

i mean would you be mad if you worked 29 days straight, and someone showed up and worked that last day with you, and your boss paid you two the exact same (and praised the guy who only worked once).

[jtw61194]

I don't view religion and spirituality in a competitive nature. I am who I am and I do what I do because I believe that it is what God wants me to do. What somebody else does is their own business. Are there certain levels of Heaven for "more Christian" people? Don't know, but if you have ever read Dante's Inferno, they had levels of Hell based on what you had done in life. Pretty spooky stuff.

[imported_ut1]

Actually, 82abn, only one repented, while the other berated Jesus as much as the mockers on the ground did. A clear illustration of the choice we all have: accept or reject the Son of God.

As for the parable of the "Prodigal Son" DaneCook is referring to, I have seen it interpreted two ways:
One interpretation holds that we are all children of God, and the son who leaves and squanders his inheritance is a lost person. When he finds that the pleasures of the world have nothing to offer him, he comes to the realization that he needs Jesus (the Father) in his life and repents of his sins and is thus saved.

The second interpretation, and the one I hold to, is that the son who departs is already a Christian since he is listed as a "son". His sojourn into sinful activity ended in what all Christians know to be true: If you're not busy going about the Father's work and are about the things of the world, you're going to be miserable. The father never stopped loving that son and apparently kept an eye out for him, because he saw his son returning and ran to meet him. That's how it is when we sin and repent: God is faithful, and eager, to forgive because He wants that close parent-child relationship with all of us.
As for the disgruntled son, do you know Christians who seem to delight when one of their own falls from grace, and is angry with God for forgiving them? I've certainly seen that happen in my lifetime.
In conclusion, God's first point to us who serve faithfully is that we should rejoice for those who have lost their way but found it again.
The second point is that we should never take the self-righteous attitude as that of the second son, as the Father is well aware of who does what.
Jesus made it a point in the Bible: we should be concerned with our service to Him, and not at looking at what someone else is doing/has done. He rebuked one of His disciples, who wanted to know what other disciples were going to be doing. Jesus essentially said , "That's none of your business, you focus on what I have told you to do." On another occasion when addressing the sinful activity of a person, He tells us to clean up our own act before we try to clean up someone else's. (Loosely translated)"How can you see to get a little speck of sawdust out of your friend's eye when you've got a 2x4 stuck in your eye!?!?"

I guess that is as clear as mud? Anyway, I think the bottom line is that we need to focus on what we're doing. After all, He doesn't expect results from us....He only expects obedience.

[imported_MoonlightGraham]

Well what we have to be careful of is the difference between great works of literature and the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Hell is divided into 9 circles ( i believe it was 9, its been over a year since i read it - and i just remember the main points, Judas, Brutus, and "the wondering Jew" where the 3 in the deepest pit of hell where Satan was frozen? Not sure about the "wondering jew". Another misconception is Milton's Paradise Lost, it gets mixed so freely with the Bible, esp Genesis and Revs, that sometimes ppl get confused.

In a way if Heaven was divided much the way Hell was in the Inferno, do you think it would make ppl work harder as Christians? Not to be taken literal but . . . Instead of just getting an RV to live out of, if you are a really good person you get a mansion in Heaven. Like I said that is not to be taken literal, just trying to see if there is a general conscious...that if we were promised more for better behavior, would we work even harder to get into Heaven.

[jtw61194]

Great posts ut1 and Dane! [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img] ut1, thank you for squaring me away on the crucification. It's good to learn something every day and you have been a very positive influence. Dane, in my heart, I believe good is good. The last great sermon I heard had the message, "Give because you can, not because you have to." I think we all sometimes look past the obvious "good things" we do, because we don't think they are good enough in the eyes of God. I read a story in church when I was a little boy that had to do with a rich boy and a poor boy making offerings. The rich boy gave quite a bit more, because he had the means to. The poor boy gave all he had and it wasn't even close to what the rich boy had given. But, he gave all he had and that was more than the rich boy could have ever done. I don't think that it's what we give or how much we give. It's that we give and why we give that's important. My work with Special Olympics is what I refer to as "that thing that God chose me to do." Being a common human, I look down on those who don't see Special Olympics or the athletes as any big deal and a waste of time. I have to backtrack and remind myself that we all have different paths to follow and this one just happens to be mine. I have chosen it not improve my standing with God or find that "special place" in Heaven, but because I think it is what is right and pure. Talk about clear as mud. I hope this makes sense.

[imported_ut1]

As far as rewards go, we will receive rewards in Heaven according to our works, so there will be different rewards for different workers. Paul encouraged us to work for God, not because we had to in order to be saved, but because we were saved. He taught that we were saved by grace. In other words, there is no work we can do to get to Heaven, because our salvation is based on what Jesus did on the cross.
Jesus' half brother James taught that we should work, and that our salvation without works was "vain", or in other words, ineffective. Some think that Paul and James taught opposite doctrines, but in truth James just clarified and reinforced what Paul taught.
If we could earn our way into Heaven by what we do, then Jesus' death on the cross was all in vain. Our entrance into Heaven is based completely on our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior...nothing less, nothing more.The work done in His name is an added bonus and a product of our love and devotion to Him for what He did for us.

[imported_juggernaut28]

This is one of the most interesting stories in the Bible to read. Along with King David and all his sins, adultry and murder but yet God said David had a heart after God's own heart.
So I am conviced that God knew before hand what David's sins were going to be before he committed them, but at the same time God also knew David's heart and that he would repent of all his sins and return back serving him faithfully and completely.

God loves those that serve him faithfully and are obedient unto him. The same as this man's one son did, he was faithful to his father on earth and stayed with him and worked every day. Therefore his father told him even after the other son returned home, all that I have is yours. But he never stopped loving the other son who left and thought that the world had more to offer him and make him a happier man. I am sure that this Father worried quite a bit about his son that had gone astray. I am sure he prayed every day for his son to return. The same as Jesus does for all of us who go astray, he is always interceding for us before the Father in Heaven for us to return back unto him.

God loves us all the same, but those that remain faithful and obedient unto him will be rewarded much more. The same with over my life I have heard people say they will come to the Lord when they are ready, but that is foolish thinking on man's part. Because I believe that there is a reason why God through his Holy Spirit calls us all unto repentance whenever he chooses. We have the promises of God, healing,deliverance,restoration and blessings given to us once we yield when God calls us.
We go through alot of heartache and pain in our life, and I believe that we cause some of it to happen. Had we just yielded when God called us to start with then some things would have never happened to us. But even then, when one ignores the call of God, if we are truely sorry and repent to God for our sins then he will in no wise cast us away. He will hear us and accept us as one of his children.

It is not always like we plan it to be either, we can ignore God and maybe through a trial we will become humble and call upon him and he will hear us. But it would be terrible to ignore God and soon thereafter we face death in a sudden way and don't get to call upon God for repentance. I have often thought about that too.

I have 2 sons of my own, I love them both the same. If one should serve the Lord and the other go astray, then my love would still be the same for them. But if my lost son years later came back and served the lord with all his heart then I too would rejoice and be happy. This world is cruel and there is many things and people who would love to keep our loved ones unsaved and blinded, it is really a miracle when one goes so far out in sin and one day realizes that they are lost and need a saviour to forgive them.