{"id":53495,"date":"2018-06-16T21:48:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-17T02:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=53495"},"modified":"2022-09-15T22:08:18","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T03:08:18","slug":"is-the-parable-of-the-prodigal-son-solely-about-gods-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-parable-of-the-prodigal-son-solely-about-gods-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Parable of the Prodigal Son solely about God’s grace?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Could you please speak on the parable of the prodigal son? I had a family member who has been in Christ’s church her whole life saying that repentance has nothing to do with this parable. She focuses solely on the father’s loving compassion as being the whole point of the parable, and while I know that that is such an important lesson to take to heart, I thought the son’s humble repentant change of heart was an equally important lesson. Wasn’t the son’s repentance what caused the father so much joy because his son had repented and though he was dead in his previous unrepentant heart was now alive because of his repentant change of heart? She said I read it wrong and need to read it again because she said the son’s repentance played no part in the father running out to bring his son home and celebrate having his relationship back with him. I am now very confused and concerned I may be missing the point.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

You did not miss the point. Your family member demonstrates that she doesn’t read her Bible for what it says, but only looks for things that support what she believes. Distorting the teachings of the Bible is a far too common problem (II Peter 3:15-16). See Discipleship and Salvation<\/a>. Jesus specifically summarized the Parable of the Lost Coin and introduces the Parable of the Prodigal Son by saying, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents<\/em>” (Luke 15:10).<\/p>\n

While the father runs out to meet his son, what is being ignored is that the father did not come after the son while he was squandering his money on sinful living. It wasn’t until the son had already both changed his mind and returned that the father welcomed him back home. Without repentance, there would have been no welcome.<\/p>\n

But the point of all three parables is that every person is important to God, including the sinners who return to God. This is in stark contrast to the Jews who shunned those they saw as sinners and would not make any move to encourage them to return. Understanding this is important to understand the fourth parable in this series:\u00a0The Parable of the Unjust Steward<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Could you please speak on the parable of the prodigal son? I had a family member who has been in Christ’s church her whole life saying that repentance has nothing to do with this parable. She focuses solely on the father’s loving compassion as being the whole point of the parable, and while I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[48,690,689,50],"class_list":["post-53495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-grace","tag-luke","tag-parables","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61610,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-did-the-prodigal-sons-father-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":53495,"position":0},"title":"What did the prodigal son’s father do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am curious about the parable of the \"prodigal son\", probably one of the best-known of all parables. Nothing is said about what the father does or does not do after his son leaves and goes to a far country. He seems very comfortable with giving his son his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83472,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/our-choices-and-gods-choices\/","url_meta":{"origin":53495,"position":1},"title":"Our Choices and God’s Choices","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Notably, the Prodigal Son makes two choices, and his father makes two choices (Luke 15:11-32). First, the son decides to leave home and travel to a far country. At this stage in the story, he is driven by his headstrong, pleasure-seeking mentality. In time, circumstances change. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0017-4-278x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-elder-brother-of-the-prodigal-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":53495,"position":2},"title":"The Elder Brother of the Prodigal Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Myhan Many people fail to realize that the third parable of Jesus recorded in Luke chapter 15, is nowhere, in the inspired text, called \"the Parable of the Prodigal Son.\" In fact, the parable is given no name either by Jesus or by Luke. A more accurate designation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14879,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-point-of-the-prodigal-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":53495,"position":3},"title":"The Point of the Prodigal Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford I know that one should not have high expectations of religious memes, but the one below grinds my gears. Every time I saw it, I rolled my eyes a little bit harder, until I knew that either I\u2019d have to write about it, or my eyes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/prodigal-son-300x293.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/to-me-love-proves-there-is-free-will\/","url_meta":{"origin":53495,"position":4},"title":"To me, love proves there is free will","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, Thank you for your lessons in reference to the determinist or Calvinist's point of view vs. the view of choice or free will: There Is No Partiality With God The Role of Obedience in Salvation Is Our Fate Predetermined? If one takes the Calvinist's view that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66252,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/repent-of-your-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":53495,"position":5},"title":"Repent of Your Sins","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Nana Yaw Aidoo via The Gospel Preceptor, Vol. 7, No. 2, February 2024 Over and over again, the New Testament emphasizes the necessity of repentance in the salvation of humans. The first preacher in the New Testament is John the Baptizer. 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