Luke 15?

[thistle93]

Hi! How do you interprate the Parables of Luke 15 (The Lost Sheep, Coin & Son).

Is it speaking of 1) God's elect pre-conversion 2) God's elect post-conversion (backsliding) 3) All people both elect and non-elect ?

For me #1 seems the most Biblical option but #3 seems the most popular interpretation. Often these verses are use evangelisticly to speak of all people even the non-elect, which I think is a very Armianian interpretation. I have no problem using these verses evangelisticly, being we do not know who are God's elect and are to preach indiscriminately but I do have a problem when these verses are implied to be speaking of even the non-elect who in the end will not be saved. I just cannot see those who are His possession (sheep,coin,son) applying to the non-elect. I just want to make sure my Calvinism is not coloring my interpretation. Would love to hear if disagree and why.

Any books you recommend that deal with these verses? Thank you!

For His Glory-
Matthew

 

[Poimen]

Since our Lord was sent to the lost of the house of Israel, I would narrow the focus down to saying that the parables are about how the gospel comes to people who were members of the visible church but, for various reasons, had become outcasts: the excommunicated or even those who have wandered away. These are the sheep that God promises to bring to Himself (Ezekiel 34) because the shepherds of those days (the indignant Pharisees) would not even counsel and assist them that they might be brought to repentance and faith (Luke 15:1).

In terms of who comes to faith, we must say it is the elect amongst Israel. But in terms of the call to repentance and faith, it is all of Israel who must heed the admonition of the Lord. See Jeremiah 3:12 "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: 'Return, backsliding Israel,' says the LORD; 'I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,' says the LORD; 'I will not remain angry forever' "

 

[A5pointer]

I read a book on the Prodigal parable that was outstanding. I believe the authors name is Brown. He really picks up on cultural nuances and offers a view of the son's apparent repentance that I had not seen. I highly recommend it if you can find a copy. As to your question. I would keep it simple. God seeks out finds and keeps ALL that are are his. He is faithful to His promises. His love unconditional.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Is it speaking of 1) God's elect pre-conversion 2) God's elect post-conversion (backsliding) 3) All people both elect and non-elect ?

None of the above. Christ's purpose in telling the parables is on the surface of the text:

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable:
(Luke 15:1-3 ESV)

The purpose of the parable is to contrast the joy in heaven over the conversion of the lost with the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes. The last parable finds the elder son (Pharisee and scribe) outside in the darkness refusing to enter into the celebration at the salvation of the lost. This gets into an issue about the purpose of and interpretation of parables. There certainly are some things that can be taken from parables other than the overarching meaning but we must never forget what the primary purpose of the parable is and it isn't primarily to teach us about whether the younger son was a post-converted backslider.

If we push the parable too hard, for instance, if the Father is God the Father then who is the Son in the parable?

This brings to mind the Parable of the Mustard Seed and I heard someone note recently that we get distracted by things in the parables as if Christ's purpose was scientific accuracy. Assume for a moment that Christ said: "Now, as far as you know, the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds...." Then we would have all these modern skeptics happy that Christ was scientifically accurate.

But what would have happened in real life? Nobody would have paid any attention to the Parable, they'd start asking Christ: "What do you mean: 'As far a you know?', it is the smallest seed."