Thus they live each day as those who need no repentance - because they repent constantly. The lost sheep did not have this attitude - and so it backslid. The lost coin was lost due to very different reasons.
It was lost because of the failure of the woman. The woman is a picture of a church. She was careless in taking care of her coins. The coin was a silver coin - and silver was used to redeem the firstborn children of Israel in the Old Testament Numbers So the silver coin speaks of a redeemed child of God once saved who is now lost. But this believer backslid primarily due to the failure of his church.
His church was perhaps a dead church where the standards of God's Word were not preached and so they did not care for his eternal soul. Cain asked the Lord if he was his brother's keeper. He was. In the church, every one of us has a responsibility to " keep " our brothers and sisters from falling.
So this parable is directed not at the backslider as much as at the other members of his church the woman who are careless enough to allow a coin to be lost. The younger son represents yet another type of backslider. He was one who was impatient to launch out on his own - before God's time. He sought his own, loved money, rebelled against his father and finally left his home. Here is a believer who wants to receive everything he can, from God and from his elder brothers.
But after he has received everything, he leaves them. Many preachers make use of their connection with their spiritual fathers and thereby get a ministry and a name for themselves. Once they have got that, they seek to become independent. This son is a picture of a believer who doesn't want the discipline of being subject to God-appointed authority his father.
God's purpose in all discipline is to break His children, so that He can commit spiritual authority to them one day. But many like this younger son, frustrate God's purposes for them, and end up with "the pigs"!
Only then do some of them "come to their senses" and return to the Father's house in brokenness and repentance. The elder son is a picture of a believer who does not look like a backslider. He is a proud, self-righteous believer who compares himself with others and who feels that he has lived a better life and produced better results in his ministry than others. Instead of humbly acknowledging these blessings as the undeserved mercy of God, he becomes proud of what he thinks he has accomplished.
Therefore God resists him and very soon Satan is able to knock him down. The first three backsliders in these parables finally came home. But in the case of the elder son, we see him outside the house , at the end of the story. So the Lord must have wanted to point him out as the worst backslider of the lot. The Good Shepherd went after the lost sheep until He found it. We who are under-shepherds must have the same attitude.
We must go after those who have backslidden from the church through carelessness, Satanic deception and their lusts. It must be the longing of all of us to be "shepherds after God's own heart" Jer. Many are quick to criticise these lost sheep, saying that they should not have wandered off on their own, or listened to the voices of false shepherds, etc.
So she did two things: She lit a lamp and swept her house diligently, until she found it. These are the two things every church needs to do. First of all, she needs to light a lamp. The life of Jesus is the only true light John and this is what the church needs to hold up and emphasise at all times. Secondly, there is a lot of rubbish - sin and human traditions in the church - that needs to be swept out completely.
Only then will many lost coins be found. The father of the prodigal son did not go looking for his son when he was lost. He allowed his son to reap the consequences of his rebellion. And when his son came to an end of himself, he came home on his own. He was not carried home on anyone's shoulder, like the lost sheep.
He came back when he was totally sick and tired of himself. God's love for such backsliders is shown in His not going after them, but allowing them to reap what they have sown. Many believers however lack this wisdom and seek to carry these rebellious sons on their shoulders in to the church.
Thus they ruin them. On the other hand, these believers don't do much for the lost sheep. Thus because they lack discernment, they console those who should be rebuked , and rebuke those who should be consoled. Feeding rebellious sons of God will only ensure that they never return to God. Such acts are not acts of compassion but acts of folly. Such foolish actions make these lost sons stay out in the far country even longer - and in some cases forever.
The word backslider is not an accurate term for someone professing to believe but living far from God. It will, however, no doubt continue to be used like that. Do Christians ever sin? Of course 1 John In what way do believers who sin differ from unbelievers? For believers sin is not a normal characteristic of life. True believers practice righteousness 1 John They do not sin regularly, repeatedly, habitually 1 John , especially deliberate sin 1 John No one who is born of God can live a life in which lawless sin known, yet still committed is a practice 1 John True believers sin, but they never sin by rejecting their hope in the gospel.
They do not become apostates. They do not continue in a life of habitual, unrepented and deliberate sin. When true believers do sin, it grieves them deeply Psalm They confess and forsake their sins Proverbs They long to be restored to a true fellowship with God Psalm If they do not judge themselves 1 Corinthians God disciplines them as His children Hebrews He does not eject them from His family.
It is to be feared. Those who are not true believers seem to have no fear of this. They return to their former sins repeatedly. A true believer is known as a sheep. In Scripture a believer is never called a dog or a pig.
Those terms refer to those with a false profession, who were never true believers. Yes, believers do sin. Yet they are no longer slaves to sin as they were when unsaved Romans Their lifestyle now is one of obedience from the heart. To live righteously they must consider themselves to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus Romans They must daily yield their bodies to God as instruments of righteousness Romans ; They desire to cooperate fully with the Holy Spirit to walk according to His will Romans , They are to pray that they enter not into temptation Mark or place themselves in situations that are spiritually dangerous.
It is up to believers to avail themselves of every divine provision to avoid sin or offense to God. The life of those with a false profession is quite different. Their spiritual life is wasted away. I recall questioning a young woman one time about her relationship to the Lord. I have done this hundreds of times with all kinds of people. When did you receive Christ as Lord and Savior?
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