1066. Our Reward Is an Unearned Inheritance

There are people who show compassion and do good things to help others. Some are Christians, others are not. Some do it from a loving heart, others do it to try to earn points with God or to be seen by others for recognition.

When abiding in grace, what is the motivation to give to others who may be in need of help? Is it based on duty and obligation? Trying to avoid guilt? Feeling required to do so? Fear of 'the principle' of sowing and reaping? Banking some sort of eternal rewards? Or does it stem from a heartfelt desire to freely do so, rooted in the love that we have received from God?

An inheritance is something gifted by one who dies. As children of God, this is what has been given to us through Christ. It's not something we earn. It is not something that will fade away based on what we do or don't do. If the inheritance is based on works, it is no longer based on a promise. (See the context around Galatians 3:18).




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997. Party Time and You're Invited

Anyone can read the pages of the Bible repeatedly and still miss many themes and chunks of valuable information. One of these subjects which is found threaded throughout, especially in the New Testament, is the matter of two groups of people—those who are Jewish and those who are not ... referred to as Gentiles. Although Jesus came to minister primarily to Jews under the Mosaic law during His time on earth, He would drop some hints that salvation would not be limited to the people of Israel. Of course, the book of Acts and epistles that followed revealed even more about this within the message of the gospel.

One example is the parable known as the prodigal or the prodigal son. Just who was this guy? He was left for dead and came seeking life without needing to lift a finger to do anything to earn it ... even though he felt obligated to do so. And then there is the older brother who worked so faithfully and diligently, declaring he never neglected a command while refusing the Father's invitation to a celebration. How offensive that the younger brother be treated as an equal!

In the previous chapters leading up to this parable, Jesus alluded to some things about Jews rejecting the Messiah, turning down an invitation to an eternal fellowship with free food, and then ordering that the unwanted and ignored from the city be invited. But that wasn't all ... the invitation would also extend to those far off, beyond the highways and the hedges. The hedges? The prodigal was described as being far off. All of this is carefully planted evidence, providing us with exciting answers from Ephesians chapter 2 ... and it's worth celebrating.



   
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469. Prodigal Part 3: Gentiles Welcome in the House

Continuing with our look at the Prodigal/Lost Son parable, we find some interesting things that Jesus shared in the chapters leading up to this. He gave examples of how Israel would turn down the invitation to come to the heavenly dinner table in the house of God. This would lead to the Lord extending a welcome to those who had been far away in all other directions (Gentiles). Even the older Jewish son declined to join the celebration when the younger Gentile son had become a part of the family. God demonstrated His love by pursuing us when we were lost and without hope.


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468. The Prodigal Gentile: Formerly Far Off

This is Part 2 of a look at The Prodigal Son parable. Last week we brought out that the parable isn't just about two individual sons but two groups of people, the Jews and the Gentiles. The younger Gentile son had been "far off" when the Father ran to him. Ephesians Chapter 2 describes how we Gentiles were formerly "far off" but have now been brought near by the blood of Christ. We Gentiles became part of the same household with the same Father. God proclaimed peace and reconciled both Jew and Gentile into one body, together into one new man. The older Jewish son struggled with the truth that the Gentile brother would be invited in without having to pursue righteousness by the commandments. Instead it was righteousness that pursued him!


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467. Just Who Is the Prodigal Son (and His Brother)?

Many different perspectives have been provided about the parable of The Lost (Prodigal) son. Usually the focus is on the young son who left and and rebelled, sowed his wild oats and then decided he would repent and come back home to serve his father. Most interpretations will agree the father represents God in this parable. So why does the story mention just two sons when there are so many in all of creation? This is a question that needs to be asked, and the revelation of who these two sons represent gives the answer to a mystery the Apostle Paul said had been hidden for generations. Most of us have missed the hidden meaning in the parable. This is Part 1.


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207. It's All About the Unconditional Love of the Father

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Continuing from last week with our look at parables in which we often seem to misidentify the characters, or at least in which we seem to put the spotlight on the wrong characters, this week we take a look at the story that is commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son." Certainly the prodigal son isn't a character who we simply glance over, and most of us can easily identify with him in one way or another, but is he really meant to be the main focus of the parable? We'll share a couple of real-life stories as we discuss how we think the focus was always meant to be on the great love of the father.

183. Focus on God's High View and Acceptance of You

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It's common for people to read the Bible and interpret what they read in a self-focused way, putting the responsibility on themselves to find God, to accept God, to come back to God, to perform for God, etc, when in reality God is the one who has reached out to us and performed all the work necessary for us to have a free, loving, intimate relationship with Him.

Kap and Joel talk about how we need to rid ourselves of an Old Covenant mentality and look at the Bible in light of God's high view of us as His treasured children, and His unconditional acceptance of us and love for us. He has placed us in Christ and He has made us alive together with Him. He has made peace with us. He has accepted us!

Despite the prodigal son's low view of himself, the father ran to him and accepted him with open arms, and paid no attention to what the son thought he might be able to do to gain a small measure of acceptance from his father. He threw a party for him!

We can forget any notion of "our part" in any of the salvation plan and in any part of the living out of this life in Christ. God has not left it up to us to make any of this happen! As if!!! He has simply asked us to believe. Through faith, we are branches on a vine, and we have no life in and of ourselves, but yet being connected to the vine we are privileged by God's grace to partake in the fullness of life in the Vine!

166. Brought Near - We Are In The Light

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Christ came to take away sin (John 1:29), and we have been brought near to God by His blood (Eph 2:13), not by our works (Titus 3:5). He has taken us out of darkness and we are in the light! Does that fact change when we sin, or when we waste our lives in prodigal living? This week Mike and Joel continue talking about the parable of the prodigal son, his older brother and his father (Luke 15:11-32), and we discuss which one of the three had the proper perspective about both sons’ standing with the father. Sometimes our thoughts, emotions, actions, behavior, etc, may cause us to feel as if we’re not in the light, but we always need to remember that it’s God’s grace that has brought us into the light and keeps us there! With the proper perspective, we’ll grow more and more into who we truly are as children of the light (Eph 5:8-10).

165. Can Sin Hinder Your Fellowship With God?

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Can sin hinder your fellowship with God? We take a look at who we are in Christ (the righteousness of God) and we also begin to look at the different perspectives of the three "characters" in the Luke 15 parable commonly known as "The Prodigal Son." In addition to the prodigal son, there are two other people in the story - the older son and the father. Which one of these people had the proper perspective of the whole situation? There's so much good news in the scriptures to dig into! We talk about how sin can truly affect our circumstances, and even our fellowship with one another as human beings - but does that mean it affects our fellowship with God?