Please turn to Luke 15. We are going to hear a sermon from God's Word, a passage of God's Word that I just find astounding, wonderful. I never tired of this. This sermon has its origin in a book, actually in two books, but primarily one. I'll give you the name of the author and the title. You may have heard of the author, and when I tell you the title, you're going to immediately say, uh-oh. But let me tell it. Sinclair Ferguson has written a book, came out last year, called The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance: Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters. You got that? If you're taking notes, I can repeat it. Now let me tell you how I got the book. Last July, after 15 years of hobbling around on a seriously degraded hip, I had hip replacement surgery. And my dear friend Larry Malament came and preached at my church the first Sunday after my surgery. And, uh, he brought my son down with him, who's a member of his church. And after church, they came to see me. Now at that time, I was living in a drug haze. And I'd actually requested the doctors downgrade the medicine from the first they gave me because, well, let's not go into that either. But Larry and Chris walk in to see me and I'm, "Hey." And Larry says, "Hey, I brought a book for you." And I thought, "Okay." And I read a lot, so he hands me this book. This is not the kind of book you give someone who is on a 24-hour dose of hydrocodone, okay? It begins in Scottish church history from 200, 300 years ago, and the next day I started to read it and I thought, oh my goodness, this is interesting. I gotta get off these drugs to read this book. And I did. And when I read the book, it, it was astounding in a very simple message that I think a lot of us, starting with me, we miss. I want to tell you about the second book because I'm not going to refer to it again, but similar message. It's a book by Tim Keller, Timothy Keller, called The Prodigal God. I've read that book numerous times. I've given that book to unbelievers I've been witnessing to. I've given it to believers to understand the grace of God. But the Ferguson book gets at something I think is critical for those of us who treasure the gospel, who preach the gospel, who try to guard the Gospel in our churches, in our families.
And this is what first got my attention: you can have a pristine Gospel, a pristine doctrine of the grace of God, and still live a life that's tied up with legalism. A pristine doctrine of the grace of God and still be tied up in legalism.
Now, legalism, as it's commonly known, is any attempt to qualify for God's favor by keeping God's law. But legalism is more than a doctrine. Legalism is an attitude. It's psychological as much as it is theological.
So let me ask you a question, okay? And if you're taking notes, I want you to write down the answer, first thing that comes to your mind. What is the opposite of legalism? What's the opposite of legalism? We're gonna come back to this 'cause it's a key point I hope you get today.
Before you do that, I wanna give you another theological term that you heard in the title of Sinclair Ferguson's book, antinomian. Nomos, Greek word for law. So antinomian means anti-law, opposed to law. So the legalist is devoted to the law, and the antinomian is someone who is opposed to the law. The legalist says Christianity is all about obeying the rules because God is Lord and Judge who punishes disobedience and rewards obedience. The antinomian says because God is a God of grace, the rules don't matter.
So, back to my question, the logical conclusion is that the opposite of legalism is antinomianism. Is that what you wrote down? Alright, that's alright, that's what you were thinking. Now, I want to argue today that that is not the case. The opposite of legalism is not antinomianism. Ferguson would call legalism and antinomianism Twin. Not identical twins, fraternal twins. They come from the same source.
6 · The unit universalizes the problem of legalism, identifying it as the root condition of all humanity and the source of all sin
Legalism is not simply a doctrinal error that some Christian groups hold to. Legalism is the plight of every human being. Whenever you I sin, we can trace our sin somehow back to its roots in legalism. Disappointments that grow into resentments are connected to legalism. Sinful escapes that we run to, connected to legalism.
7 · The pastor signals the structural shift from abstract theological framing to the exposition of Jesus' parable
But that's all I want to say for now. I wanted to frame the question. I want to get that question in your mind so we can allow Jesus now to teach us. So we're going to turn to his words. Jesus has a way of using story to communicate truths in a profound way. What I've just done, most people would say it was kind of dumb to begin a sermon in such abstract terms, but I wanted to set you up for the story. I want you to feel this story and its power.
8 · The unit provides the full public reading of Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the two sons
So let's read beginning in verse 11 of Luke 15. This is God's Word. And Jesus said, there was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. And he, the father, divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to to feed pigs, and he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.'" Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe, put it on him, 'Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate! For this my son was dead and he's alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked him what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I've served you. I've never disobeyed your command. You never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.
9 · The pastor prays for illumination, asking God to reveal both Jesus' original intent for the parable and God's own character within the story
Let's pray. Father, let these words, let this story show us what Jesus intended when he spoke to the crowds and in particular the Pharisees. And let us see you in it, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
10 · The unit provides cultural-historical background on ancient Jewish inheritance customs and the economic status of the father
I want to take a minute to fill in a little background. Father is a farmer. He's wealthy enough to have both slaves and hired servants. In the Jewish culture of his day, as was taught in the Law of Moses, the firstborn son would inherit 50% of the father's property when the father died, and the other sons would get a portion of the other 50%, again, when the father died. In this family, there are only two sons, apparently, and for some reason, the younger no longer wants to live under his father's household. Maybe he finds it too restrictive. Maybe he finds his brother impossible to work with. Maybe he thinks he can do better financially somewhere else. Maybe he just wants to have some fun. We don't know his motive.
11 · The unit interprets the younger son's request as both profound personal rejection and economic harm to the family
Whatever his motive, his request was a massive insult to his father. In effect, he says that his father's property is worth more to him than his father. And on top of the personal rejection, he takes property that provides his family with their current livelihood, turns it into cash so he can leave home and live the way he wants to.
12 · The unit traces the younger son's descent from departure to degradation, highlighting the cultural significance of his employment—working for a Gentile pig farmer represents both social disgrace and ritual defilement for a Jew
Now, this younger son's story is so familiar, it really needs little retelling. Some of us have lived it. I have lived an element of this younger son's story. Uh, it inevitably has a sad and predictable ending. The young man seeks his freedom by living the life of a partier, and he ends up broke. He'll starve if he doesn't get a job, and in the land he's chosen to live in, he ends up working for a Gentile. Which would have been a disgrace for a Jew. And this Gentile, even worse, is a pig farmer, and pigs were forbidden in Israel. So this is not only degrading work, but this youth has taken on work that is defiling.
13 · The unit narrates the son's return and identifies the father's compassion as the theological center of the parable
So he heads back home, hoping his father will somehow overlook the insult of his leaving and accept his apology and give him a paying job on the farm. So the father looks in the distance, it must have been outside, and he sees this guy walking up the road and he had a familiar gait and a familiar look and he thinks, "That's my son." And verse 20 says that immediately the father felt compassion. Verse 20, "He felt compassion." This word "felt compassion" is central to the entire parable. It's central to all of Christian theology.
14 · The unit provides detailed linguistic-emotional analysis of the Greek term for compassion, emphasizing its visceral, uncalculated, and unconditional nature
This word felt compassion describes a feeling that arises out of your gut, your most inward part, and that feeling is empathy for someone who is suffering. But it's not a calculated feeling. It's not a response to some law. It's a deep inner feeling of pity, mercy, which Jesus here calls compassion. It's love in response to misery. It's aroused only by the father's sight of his son, nothing more. The father has no idea why this son is returning. The father didn't see him coming and think, "Here comes that ungrateful wretch." He didn't think, "Well, I better control myself and be nice to him." It wasn't, "What does the law require that I do with this son who has so deeply insulted me?"
15 · The unit interprets the intended rhetorical impact of the father's response: it was designed to shock the original audience
When you understand this, it makes his father's compassion and the actions that follow Shocking. This story was told to produce, at this point, shock effect. The man embraces his son, he kisses him, he treats him like a son. He seems almost to ignore the young man's confession of sin because he's so busy planning a party.
16 · The unit catalogs and interprets the three symbolic acts of the father—robe, ring, shoes—showing each as a marker of restored sonship and authority
The father immediately does 3 symbolic things. He has the son wear a robe, which he likely wore before he left, the privileged robe of his son. He had him put a ring on his finger, which designated restored authority. He gave him shoes to wear. Servants don't wear shoes. This is massive forgiveness. This is inexplicable restoration after a massive insult and loss of property to the father.
17 · The unit shifts narrative focus to the older brother, establishing his characteristic behavior (working while others celebrate) and his response to the news (anger and refusal)
The older brother is away from the house working as usual, and he returns to hear the sounds of an unplanned party. When he learns of his brother's return and of his father's response, he gets angry, won't come in. Dad humbly comes out and urges him to join the party.
18 · The unit takes the older brother's perspective seriously, cataloging the legitimate grievances against the younger brother
Now we got to stop here and acknowledge that what the younger brother did was understandably offensive to the older brother. He insulted their father. He left the family business with the older brother and the father to take up his work. He left with maybe a third of their assets, and he squandered it, in effect, at Vegas. This is the wild child. And what does the wild child get when he returns? Compassion, restoration to his honored status as a son, and a party.
19 · The unit voices the older brother's complaint in detail, allowing the full force of his resentment to be heard
Older brother points out that he's always been the obedient son. He's always served the family business. He's never taken anything out of the business, even for a little party with his friends. And here His brother, who has wasted a significant portion of the family's wealth on prostitutes, gets the fattened calf. The animal that got special treatment so that it was the best tasting for the biggest feast of the year.
20 · The unit exposes the father's response to the older brother, which emphasizes relationship and continuity ("you are always with me") and invites participation in joy
Verse 31, the father reminds the older brother that he's still the sole heir. And he's still, as he always has been, with his father. The father invites him to share in his joy. Verse 32 ties this parable with the previous two, the lost sheep and the lost coin. What all three parables have in common is the joy that comes when something precious is lost and then is found again.
21 · The unit provides crucial audience context for the parable by examining the framing narrative at the chapter's opening
I want to give you one more hint to the meaning of the parable, which is found in the beginning of chapter 15. Look at chapter 15:1. Let's find out who the intended audience is. "Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus." Younger brothers. "And the Pharisees and the scribes," grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." And so Jesus told them this parable. He actually told 3.
22 · The unit establishes the christological and theological stakes of the parable: Jesus' stories reveal God's character, and since Jesus is God, the father in the parable represents Jesus himself
The religious leaders grumble about how Jesus, an obvious holy man, not only receives sinners, but he eats with them. Jesus' stories are about God and his kingdom, and while his critics don't know that Jesus is God, these stories are actually about him. This is a story that shows us what God is like as seen in the behavior of Jesus.
23 · The unit synthesizes the younger son's narrative arc to assert the parable's central point: the father's extraordinary grace
So the thing Jesus wants us to see in this parable is the father's extraordinary grace. The younger son insults him and demands his inheritance before the father dies, and the father goes along with it. The younger son, having blown his money, now returns home broken and repentant, and the father welcomes him and reinstates him in the family and the community.
24 · The unit examines the father's grace toward the older son, noting that the father doesn't rebuke him but reminds him of secure inheritance and enduring relationship
So what about the older son? The father doesn't correct him. He simply reminds him that everything he has is still there for his son in the will. All that is mine is yours, he says in verse 31. And he still has his relationship with his dad. Verse 31, he says, "You're always with me." And then he invites him to join the party.
25 · The unit pivots from the father's grace to the sons' perception, identifying their distorted view of the father as the story's central problem
See, once you see the grace of God in the compassion of the father and his actions that follow, once you see that as the center of the story, you can get to the meaning of the story. The problem that sets up the tension of the story is how each of the two sons think about their dad.
26 · The unit diagnoses the younger son's error: he viewed the father and the life the father provided as insufficient
For the younger son, relationship with the father, working his land, giving us— living a good and simple life is just not good enough. He's restless for more. He thinks there's a better life, a life where he can have a little fun. His craving for a better life causes him to massively insult and reject the person who loves him the most and has provided for him a very good life.
27 · The unit diagnoses the older son's error: he viewed the father as a harsh taskmaster whose death must be endured before life can begin
What about the older son? The older son has a distorted view of the father as well. In his eyes, the father is just a taskmaster, the person he has to serve without joy or enjoyment until the old man dies. Then life begins. Everything the older son wants out of life, he has to earn through many years of hard work.
28 · The unit asserts the thesis that unifies the parable's two narratives: both sons share the identical root problem—blindness to the father's gracious character
So both sons have the same problem. They can't see that their father is gracious and generous and compassionate. They don't want him, they want his property.
29 · The unit resolves the opening question by demonstrating that both sons are legalists
So getting back to the two words we used at the beginning of this sermon, we call the older brother a legalist. A legalist is someone who believes that the good life must be earned by keeping some set of rules. That's clear enough about the older brother. Everybody get that? I'm sure you get that. What about the younger brother though? Well, most would identify him with the word I used at the beginning of the sermon. He's an antinomian. He rejects the law in his father's household and father's ways on the farm. And that's true, the younger son is an antinomian. It's true as far as it goes, but as Ferguson's book pointed out to me, In a very twisted way, the younger son is a legalist too. He rejected the father's law to find a better law. He thinks there must be a better law to follow away from the father, and when he returns, he returns with the idea that he'll have to earn his way back to his father's favor. He'll have to return as an employee, not as a son, which is another form of earning.
30 · The unit makes explicit the sermon's core theological claim: humanity's central problem is not behavioral (rule-breaking or rule-keeping) but theological (disbelief in God's goodness)
So, the younger brother has the thinking of a legalist just as much as the older brother. The point Jesus makes in this parable is that our central problem is not breaking God's rules or trying to earn something from God Our central problem is we don't believe God is good. We don't believe it. Or He's not good enough. He might be good enough to get me into heaven, but He can't satisfy my need for rest, relaxation, or safety, or security, or excitement, or joy. He's not good enough. If you don't see that the central problem in the parable is the sons' view of their father, you tend to see the two sons as opposites.
31 · The unit illustrates the false dichotomy between legalism and antinomianism through church scenarios: a legalistic church loosens rules and slides into license; a licentious church tightens rules and slides into legalism
And here's what's happened. Now, this is why this is so critical to Providence Community Church, is because if you don't get the father's compassion and love and grace as the center message here, you get to— you can go into bigger problems than you already have. And you see this play out in a church. A church or a pastor or a parent is thought to be legalistic. And so what's the call for that church? Well, we need to loosen up the rules and let people make their own decisions. Now let me say before I finish this illustration, if this church has made rules that are not grounded in the clear commands of Scripture, yes, those rules may need to go. But I'm thinking of a rejection of what Jesus teaches about sex or money or forgiveness or how we treat each other. In this kind of thinking, the opposite of legalism is antinomianism. We need to loosen up a little. We need to just let people, you know, be free to express themselves. We need to let people live their own lives, learn their own lessons. Church discipline is not gracious, so we shouldn't do that. Well, on the other hand, you may come to a church and find that the teen girls are getting pregnant by the teen boys, and the small group party ended with 2 members drunk, and you think, "This church needs some rules around here." And maybe it does. For church to be faithful to Jesus, there must be church discipline as Jesus taught it. But in this case, we think that the solution to the problem of lawbreaking is new or more rules. So we don't allow the boys to interact with the girls except under direct parental supervision, or we make an— enforce strict rules about alcohol. That kind of thinking says that the opposite of antinomianism is legalism. It's better rules, better rule enforcement.
32 · The unit delivers the sermon's central resolution: grace—not modified law—is the answer to both legalism and antinomianism
But the answer to both legalism and antinomianism is not more or less law. The opposite of legalism and the opposite of antinomianism is grace. Grace found in the person of God alone. And that's the contrast this parable provides. Both sons reject the father based on their distorted views of his character, and the father treats both with grace. You see that? Our problem isn't with God's law, our problem is with God. Is God enough? Is He good enough? Do I need a better law from a better God, or do I need to knuckle down under His law because He's a hard taskmaster, but he'll have to reward me if I do what he says. All of our problems, all of humanity's problems can be traced back to our view of God.
33 · The unit offers a brief personal testimony illustrating the twin errors of antinomianism (the rebellious teen) and legalism (the manipulative father) arising from the same root: disbelief in God's sufficiency
I don't have the time to tell the story, but let me give you the summary, the rebellious son from my own life. The rebellious teen lies and sneaks around to do what he wants, and his demanding, exacting father uses every manipulative power he has to get his son to bend to his will. They both have the same problem. Neither of them think that the Lord is enough. And since God is not enough, I must resort to my own pursuit of freedom or my own manipulative control.
34 · The unit traces the pattern of distorted God-perception back to Genesis 3, showing that the serpent's temptation strategy was to cast doubt on God's goodness
Think about this: how does the serpent in the Garden of Eden deceive the woman, deceive Eve? What does he say? God's not gracious. God's not good enough. He's holding back on you, Eve. He doesn't want you to eat from this one tree because that's the very tree that will give you ultimate fulfillment. He says if you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, You can make your own law and find your own happiness. All human sin began through a lie about the goodness of God. All of your sins and my sins begin this way too.
35 · The pastor acknowledges the difficulty of applying this theological insight to lived experience, shifting from theoretical exposition to pastoral concern about internalization
But this is— it's hard to get this. When I say get this, I mean to see it in practice in your own heart.
36 · The unit reinforces the sermon's central insight through extended quotation from Ferguson, emphasizing legalism's subtle, pervasive, and invisible nature
Let me quote from Sinclair Ferguson. He writes this: What is legalism? The generic answer of evangelical Christians would probably be something like trying to earn your salvation by doing good works. But around and underneath that, there gathers a web that extends more widely, which is woven intricately and invisibly to trap the unwary. And the web is always much stronger than we imagine, for legalism is a much more subtle reality than we tend to assume. Legalism is directly— this is me again— legalism is directly connected to our view of God and our view of this life. Legalism is a result of separating God's law from God.
37 · The unit synthesizes the twin errors through Ferguson's metaphor of poison in the bloodstream, then provides clear definitional statements showing how both legalism and antinomianism arise from the same distorted view of God's character
Ferguson goes on a couple pages later: This is the distortion, the lie about God that has entered the bloodstream of the human race. It is the poison that mutates into antinomianism, both in the form of rebellion against God and as a false antidote to legalism itself. So legalism says, "God's not gracious. I must earn his favor by doing what he says, even if I don't like doing it." Antinomianism says, "God's not good. He's given me a law that does not give me what I need. I must turn elsewhere to find life." It's often invisible, a web of deceit that's far stronger than we imagine.
38 · The unit asserts the necessity of right God-perception anchored in the cross for avoiding either legalism or antinomianism
If you don't begin and end your life with a view of a God who is compassionate and gracious, a God who considered his Son worthy of going to die in your place to restore fellowship with himself. If you don't see that, you're gonna go one way or the other, and sometimes we are shocked when we see the results.
39 · The unit provides pastoral observation of zealous believers who suddenly abandoned Christianity for libertine lifestyles
Through my years as a Christian, I've seen people who were very zealous Christians, people who went to the head of the class at church, sang the loudest, gave sacrificially, attended every meeting, were careful to obey the rules, and sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly, they cast it all off and go on to live the rock and roll lifestyle. And we're all left scratching our heads. How did this happen? They cast off the old wife for a new girlfriend. They start to party really hard. They might be the good church kids end up being the wildest person at the university frat party. But what, what were they rejecting when they suddenly went from being this disciplined Christian, apparently, to casting it all off? They're rejecting a Christ they never really knew. They didn't know He's good, that He's compassionate. They saw His law as a thing to be pursued to stay in His good favor. But when they decided that life apart from His rule would be better than life under His law, they just chucked it all.
40 · The unit provides crucial theological balance: the critique of legalism is not a rejection of God's law
Now here's the thing you've got to remember, and I have to underline this at some point in this sermon, God's law is good. Jesus didn't come to abolish God's law, he came to fulfill God's law. He came to give us a law of liberty and love that he would write on our very hearts. The law of Christ is a massive of blessing to us. It's a way to live in and under the grace of God. But it is not and has never been intended to earn anything from God. That's where we get deceived.
41 · The unit addresses a specific complaint pattern—the lament of the faithful who suffer—by reframing the narrative
I've been faithful all these years and look what happened to me. God's been faithful all these years. And what's happened to you is no different than what happened to his son.
42 · The unit identifies the older brother's error as more dangerous than the younger's because it's self-reinforcing and less obviously broken
What Jesus came to show the Pharisees in particular in Luke 15 is that we separate God's law from God, and then we turn that law into a system to get whatever we're looking for. So The older brother's sins are far more insidious and damaging than the younger brother. Most people, when they end up not being allowed to eat the pigs' food, figure out maybe there's something in this life plan I had that's not really working out. But when you're constantly serving, obeying, doing what you're told to do, doing it again because you think there's a payday coming and you don't realize the payday's already come. You lose the Gospel. And then we blame the God we have distorted into someone unrecognizable from the God of the Bible.
43 · The pastor universalizes the application while simultaneously modeling vulnerability by confessing his own susceptibility
Every one of us here today is prone to this. It's the root of all sin. When I read Ferguson's book, I was thinking about myself. I was thinking how quickly I slip away from an awareness that my Father is good and has been good to me.
44 · The pastor signals the structural shift from diagnosis to prescription
So the question is, how do we see this in ourselves and how do we get get free from it. I just want to close the sermon by answering these two questions: how do we see this in ourselves, and how do we get free from it?
45 · The unit provides a diagnostic catalog of legalism's emotional and relational symptoms: anger at unmet expectations, resentment, refusal to forgive, jealousy, competitive ranking of people, constant pressure over inadequate accomplishment, approval-seeking, and reputation anxiety
So question number one: how can we identify our legalism? Well, you see legalism in anger. I did the right thing and you didn't meet my expectation. The law of respect says you must pay by bowing to my demand in response. See that? Anger is evidence of this legalism. We see legalism in our burning resentments and refusal to forgive from the heart. You owe me. Pay. It's a reflection of how I think of God. I owe him. And so you think, well, I owe God and I paid Him, so you've got to pay me. We see legalism in our jealousies. I worked harder, but they got what I expected and didn't get after all. Legalism ranks people. There's the winners and the losers. There's the wise and the foolish, the successful and the failures, the good people and the bad people. Legalism always feels pressure that you've not accomplished enough. If you go to bed at night and say, "Well, I tried." but I really didn't do all that I need to know God's love. That's an evidence of legalism. Legalism craves approval from others and worries about reputation because legalism reflects a lack of awareness of the love and compassion of God toward you, which is enough.
46 · The unit synthesizes the diagnostic catalog by tracing all the named symptoms back to a single root: disbelief in God's compassionate sufficiency
Behind every one of these thoughts is this: God is not compassionate. God is not gracious. God is not good enough. So I have to strive for what I need. I've got to earn what I need.
47 · The unit provides parallel diagnostic for antinomianism: excusing sin, justifying indulgence, seeking escape from Christian life as drudgery
So where do we see legalism's twin? Antinomianism. When I excuse a sin or a foolish indulgence or an outburst of anger because I need a break or I need some relief, I just want to have a little fun. Life is so dreary, drudgery. People in the world, man, I saw they're having fun. You see Entertainment Tonight, all those happy people, and here I am in church. When we think this way, we're simply saying the Lord 'What He's given to me in His goodness is not enough.'
48 · The unit references a recent teaching event (presumably a women's conference or retreat) as an illustration of right God-perception
What Nancy sought to do in the last two days for you ladies is to say, you need to drill God's goodness down into your hearts. You need to see your life interpreted the way Hannah interpreted her life. Life. He's enough. He is good enough. He's working even while you're waiting. Even though life seems hard, he's good.
49 · The unit poses the second practical question (deliverance) and immediately rules out the intuitive but false solutions: you don't fix legalism by rejecting law, and you don't fix antinomianism by adding law
Second question: how do I get free from this horrible bondage to the law? Whether your tendency is to go in the direction of the younger brother and let's go party, I don't care what God says, or you go in the direction of, "I gotta try harder. I gotta keep the law. Then God will have to give me good." How do you get free from that? I hope you see that you don't get free from legalism by rejecting God's law, and you don't get free from antinomianism by getting back to your laws and sticking to them as your answer.
50 · The unit provides the positive prescription: freedom comes through knowing God's true character
You get free, you find the life and joy you're looking for by getting to know God as He truly is. He's gracious. He's compassionate. His love for you does not waver, does not change. His laws are there for you to bring you life, not so you can earn life, but so that you can live in His goodness.
51 · The unit applies the parable's two narratives as templates for Christian living
How do you get free from this horrible bondage to law? When you sin, you're not a loser who has to earn his way back like the younger brother thought. You return to the God who never stopped loving you in the first place. And when you see yourself in the older brother, After you've come into the grace of God your Father, you rejoice whenever he does good to anybody. If he's enough, he's good enough. And you see the person who's left behind him a trail of human wreckage, but he comes to repent and believe, you're ready to go to a party.
52 · The unit restates the sermon's central thesis with direct congregational address, then shows how right God-perception transforms the experience of sacrifice and restraint under God's law
So our problem, church, is not with God's law. Our problem is with God. And when we know him and we see him as he reveals himself in Luke 15 and many other places, Then any sacrifice we make, well, Jesus has already made the ultimate sacrifice, so it's enough. Any restraint he places on us, it's because he's good. I know he's good.
53 · The unit provides three concrete means of grace for cultivating right God-perception: Scripture, prayer, and the church community (including the Lord's Supper)
So to live in the goodness and compassion and freedom of God, we must saturate our minds and our hearts starts with God. And he has given us at least 3 things. He's given us this, okay? And he's made it available so that we can all own one. And he's given us prayer. Taking extended time with your Bible in your lap to thank God for his compassion, to show you his compassion, to help you to see his compassion in the midst of your difficult circumstance. And he's given you the saints in this church. He's given you each other to encourage each other and bless each other, to take communion together and remember, oh, that's right, That's why I'm under his favor. He died for me.
54 · The unit concludes by framing the Christian life as ongoing navigation between legalism's twin errors, using the provided means of grace
So we must give ourselves these things so that we can live through this life into eternal life, navigating the shoals of legalism, which comes to all of us in the form of earning or in the form of casting off God's law for another law. That's your call. That's my call. That's the Christian life, and it's a wonderful life.
55 · The closing prayer requests illumination, self-recognition, and experiential knowledge of God's compassion
Let's pray. Father, help us to see you in this parable. Please help us to see ourselves in this parable. Please, all of us have lived like both brothers. Help us to see your compassion toward us in the particulars of our own life. And then let us live, let us attend the party that you're throwing for your sons and daughters. Simply because you are compassionate and gracious and good. We pray for this in Jesus' name. Amen.