Posted on 10/15/2011 9:30:31 AM PDT by marbren
What if it has a dispensational message also?
I did a bit of research and found some who think the younger son is Israel and the older brother is the Church. What if it is the other way around? I do not know, Thank God, God knows.
No.
Primarily, the parable is about the generosity of God’s forgiveness. You can leave God, throw away His grace, and commit all kinds of sins. But even then, His conscience is within you, if you listen to it. And no matter how bad the sins, there is always a chance to repent, return, and find that God has forgiven you.
For Catholics, of course, this would involve the Sacrament of Confession. For Protestants, real sorrow for sins, repentance, and promise of amendment.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the parable cannot have other meanings as well. In a literal sense, Judaism might be considered to be the elder brother. But the behavioral pattern of the two brothers argues the opposite. Judaism broke with God and went into exile, as it did earlier in Babylon. Not Christianity. So it is Judaism that will return at the end—and, of course, continues to be loved by God even in exile, as God continued to love the younger son of the parable in the midst of his sins, and wished for his repentance and return.
The only thing that dispensationalism has brought into Christianity is confusion...
This is certainly a point of view.
Was Abraham a Jew when he was saved by faith?
Faith is the older brother.
GiovannaNicoletta, any thoughts on my new speculation? :)
Everyone is saved by grace through faith.
impossible premise, since the Church is Israel.
read Galatians 6:11-16.
marbren wrote:
“Until today I loved this for the teaching on God’s Grace. What if ...”
Beware the dangerous ground on which you tread here.
The whole Bible, Old and New Testament, teaches God’s grace. That is its purpose. Why don’t you, instead of trying to analyze everything by means of an Israel/Church dialectic, analyze everything by means of the dialect the Bible itself lays out: sin/grace. A false dialectic will yield a false understanding.
Take the political world. When one analyzes everything using the Marxist dialectic, he strives to fashion a world that not only doesn’t exist, but cannot exist.
Man sinned, sins, and will sin. God calls man’s sin damnable, i.e., something that cannot and will not ever co-exist with Him, who is holy, righteous, perfect, and eternal. God, while not retracting His judgment of man in the least - not one jot or tittle of it! - in His grace provides a way of escape that man could never have imagined or accomplished. That way of escape is to send His only begotten Son into the world, to become man, and thus by His actively fulfilling all of God’s moral law in thought, word, and deed, and then taking upon Himself our sin and guilt in order to bear the full weight of God’s judgment against sin, remove the condemnation from us, provide true righteousness to us, and, so, bring us back into fellowship with God.
That is what is depicted in the parable, a parable spoken to the Jew first and then to the Greek, but ultimately to the whole world Jew and Greek (Gentile). None of us is a son by virtue of our birth, ethnicity, family connections, etc. We are sons through repentance and faith - the very thing depicted in the parable, faith in the One who alone has the right to remain in God’s house forever. The parable is simply the illustration of the truth of Hebrews 3.
The younger son is whoever recognizes his sin and counts as his only hope the goodness and grace of the father. That is point of the parable. That you should continue to love all the days of your life and not to be shaken from it, as it would appear you are.
This thread is just speculation. I do not believe in replacement theology.
And so is dispensationalism refuted...
I think the parable perfectly depicts all sinners who come to be saved. The sinner goes his own way, rolls around in this world’s pigpens of sin, yet He shows mercy and pours out His boundless grace on the undeserving sinner.
I agree we are all beggars for grace.
Surely you jest. The Church is NOT Israel. Israel has its own future day of glory apart from the Gentile Bride. You might want to read some prophesy.....such as Zechariah, et al. Your name wouldn’t be Herbert W. Armstrong, by any chance?
Older brother = Popeye's
Father = Colonel Sanders
The Church the Prodigal, Israel the Older Brother? Yes. I didn’t even realize it was controversial. Learned it that way in NT survey class at a Methodist college back in the ‘80s.
Not saying I agree with it, just that this is a pretty mainstream reading.
I assume you understand that replacement theology heresy is part of mainline protestant, catholic and orthodox doctrine.
It probably started as speculation.
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