“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith"

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 15:11-19:

We began this chapter with the recognition of the Pharisee's improper treatment of the perceived sinfulness of others and the Lord setting forth the proper principles of redemptive love. The Lord is using a series of parables to signify different classes of sinners and the significance of each individual one to the Lord.

We were introduced to a gradual sinner and a sinner manifest due to neglect, in the first two parables. In both instances, there was great joy at the return of that which was lost and great emphasis placed on the diligence to find them.

In our next text, we are going to be introduced to a third class of sinner; the openly rebellious. These are all whose eyes are wide open to their state!

Text #1:

Luke 15:11-16 “Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 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. 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. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.”

Two Sons: The parable opens with recognition of two sons. We will only deal with the first in this lesson, as the other introduces a fourth class of sinner and makes an appropriate close to this chapter.

Give Me: As we are introduced to the younger son, we find that this son wants to be completely independent of his father. However, he still wants what is entitled to him before he departs. Being the younger of the two brothers, he would only receive one third of the property of his father as inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17).

Not Many Days After: He coveted the counterfeit liberty of a land where he would be wholly independent of his father in the same way the sinful soul seeks to escape from the authority of God (this is enhanced by the distance he traveled to escape the influence of his father).

It is in this outright rejection that this son has gone away from the wisdom and protection of his father. This choice is willful and rebellious; void of the wisdom he was raised with. All this describes the lust for that which he knew he should not lust after.

Prodigal Living: The term “Prodigal” describes ‘wasteful'. Now independent of his father and in a far away place, he begins his rebellious lifestyle. It is here classified as wasteful and the squander of his possessions.

Spent All: Sooner or later sinful practices fail to satisfy! When all is invested into things that can be lost, stolen, or squandered; there can be no security, or true hope. As is the case in this kind of situation; note, not only did he squander all his goods on wasteful living; his situation was made additionally dire by a famine he was not prepared to weather.

Imagine a life of wastefulness and then the double burden of a famine from the word of God!

Joined Himself: Having traveled far from his father, he was left to turn for aid to a stranger. He now finds himself at the mercy of a stranger who has no real interest in helping him.

To the Jews, swine were unclean. They were such a disgusting thing to the Jews that they would not even name them. They called them, “dabhar acheer ” which meant, ‘the other thing'.

He is truly at the bottom of the proverbial barrel, a point so low; he would have even eaten what the swine were eating and been glad.

This first portion describes a state of the lost where they have chosen of their own accord to depart from God and now find themselves without hope and at the mercy of the cruel world. Consider that he has come from a loving household that he failed to appreciate. He had a father who loved him dearly, yet he was not able to value that love because of his reckless desires.

There is another point to notice in this illustration that differs from the first two parables; as long as the son chose this unjustifiable path, the father did not go after him.

Jesus has shifted from teaching about seeking the lost, to an attitude of the lost. This is done to show the difference between the two brothers. This prodigal son is going to, even in the bottom of the pit that he now dwells, show a true attitude of repentance; where as, the other brother living in the bosom of his father will not!

Text #2:

Luke 15:17 -19 “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! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”'

He Came To Himself: This statement stands as a testament concerning moral choice. The son originally made a moral choice to flee the security of his father's house. In his present condition, he has become “self aware” of the folly of this choice.

No one can be blamed for the original choice, but himself. In his self aware state; he has realized that excuses will not solve the situation he created for himself.

Like godly sorrow, this self aware state made up of the pure realization of guilt, leads to true repentance.

2 Corinthians 7:8-10 “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. 9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

I will Arise and Go: Just to have the ‘self awareness' of who was at fault for his condition was not going to change his predicament. There was a need for a conscious act and effort. Change of mind without change of action is as worthless as a blue-print without a builder; ice cream without a spoon; a car without keys; well, you get the idea.

I Have Sinned: In addition to going to his father, he is now prepared to humble himself before his father, recognize that he was at fault, and declare himself unworthy of his father's name.

He has predetermined in his heart to beg his father to be considered just a servant. This is the same predetermination he showed as he planned and went to the far country to live wastefully. The difference is the predetermined path. How important is the path?

As we see in the prodigal son, it is never to late as long as there is life in us, to choose the right path!!!

Next: “The Prodigal Return and the Lost Hypocrite”