The Path to Salvation

I am a sinner; I sin every day. You all are sinners too; you sin every day. I know because none of us are perfect. I know that we all sin daily because there is always a moment or two in our day when we are not pondering or praising God as we ought to. You see, any time we do not glorify or honor God in a manner worthy of Him, we fall short. Every time you prioritize someone or something above God is a moment of idolatry.

This is nothing new to humanity. Consider the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Their story is a perpetual cycle of worship and idolatry. They worship and obey God and enjoy His blessings and the next thing you know; they have turned to worship the idols of other nations or idols that they have crafted with their own hands. And yet, God continually rescued them until one day He sent the Messiah to save them and us once and for all.

So, let me ask you. Do you find yourself at times focusing on other things besides God even when you’ve specifically dedicated time to being with Him? Do you find yourself in a cycle of worship and disobedience? And do you find yourself doubting your salvation because of it? If you do, then you are in good company because many of the spiritual heroes that we like to read about and quote in sermons have felt the enormous weight of their sins that even they have doubted their salvation: Christians like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, and Mother Teresa. We are all going to focus on other things besides God in this life, but what’s important is learning how to focus on God in the midst of those things. Scripture tells us in Eph. 1:13 that those who have received the gift of salvation have been sealed in the Holy Spirit so that means if you have genuinely believed in the Savior Jesus Christ then you cannot lose Him! And a key indicator of whether your salvation is genuine is your next thought: If it is “yay, I get to sin more now” then you may not be saved because to view salvation like that is to desire to abuse grace. But if it is oh thank you God that you’ll never abandon me even when I mess up then you are probably a true believer. My purpose in preaching this sermon for you today is to give you an understanding of how sinners come to salvation. I want you to see how you came to be saved and why you should trust that once you’ve been saved then you will always be saved. Today, we are going to see 5 stages of the path to salvation through the story of the Prodigal Son. I want to encourage you to see yourself in the character of this Prodigal Son because if you will see yourself as you really are, a sinner forgiven and saved by the grace of God then you will find rest and assurance that Jesus is yours.

Our text is the 2nd half of Luke 15. In the first half of this chapter, Jesus tells two shorter parables: the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. These two parables are similar to the parable we are focusing on today, but what makes the prodigal son different is the ending which we will cover next week. Something else important from the beginning of Luke 15 is that those verses inform us who Jesus’ audience is. Jesus is speaking to the tax collectors and sinners as well as the Pharisees and the scribes. The Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin and today’s part of the Prodigal Son is primarily aimed towards the tax collectors and sinners.

5 Stages of the Path to Salvation

Depravity Stage (v. 11 – 13)

In order to be saved we must be in need of saving. And we need saving because of our sin.

We are depraved/sinful because of our free will.

When you compare the insult of the prodigal son asking his father for his inheritance before his father is dead to our own sinfulness, it would be accurate to say that we have been so bold as to tell God that He should just die so that we can have and do what we want. With our sin, we have told God that I would rather have the things you have created than to have you. My friends, there is no depravity greater than that and I’m afraid that we have all committed this act of depravity at some point in our lives.

Romans 3:23 and 6:23.

Works Stage (vv. 14 – 16)

Humanity, if it is conscious of its need for salvation at all, will always try to save itself through good works. But there is a problem, works just don’t work.

If our works were good enough to save us, don’t you think the world would be getting better instead of getting worse? If our works were good enough to save us then Jesus doesn’t die on the cross! He doesn’t get raised from the dead!

The truth is that it was our works that led us to sin in the first place. It was our works that put Jesus on the cross! And its in defiance of our works that Jesus is raised from the dead.

Just like the prodigal son, our works leave us alone, hungry, and dirty in the pig pen. “Longing” in verse 16 is the same as lust for. He was lusting for pig food.

Conviction Stage (vv. 17 – 19)

At some point, by God’s grace, & having nothing to do with you and your works, God the Holy Spirit awakens a sinner’s heart to his dreadful reality. When that happens, the Holy Spirit lovingly and patiently convicts and guides the sinner to a desire for restoration.

Modern terminology would phrase the Prodigal Son’s state of mind at this point in the parable as “he has hit rock bottom”. Rock bottom is that scary and sacred place where you realize that you are not enough to save yourself. You realize that you are in desperate need of a savior.

It is essential to remember here that this whole process is truly and utterly unconditional and based on the grace of God. Again, if you could choose right living and goodness of your own free will then you wouldn’t need Jesus to save you.

Confession stage (vv. 20a & 21)

Being convicted by the Holy Spirit of your sin won’t do you much good if you never act upon that conviction.

Confession is a necessary and essential part of your salvation and sanctification.

This does not mean that you must air your dirty laundry to every person, but it does mean that you must seek restoration, reconciliation, and forgiveness from those you’ve wronged even if they are unaware of what you’ve done. You may not have to share every gruesome detail in your confession, but it must be honest.

Your hope is not in the forgiveness of another human being, but it is in the forgiveness that comes from the Father through the Son. The Son is our great & faithful High Priest. He mediates on your behalf to the Father. You must confess your sin to Jesus and Scripture is clear that we are to seek forgiveness from one another and to bear one another’s burdens. So, that means we confess our sin to others for either reconciliation or discipleship purposes.

Tony Evans has this to say about these verses, “A beautiful picture of salvation and the restoration of erring saints. A destitute sinner comes to a holy God in repentance and faith with nothing to offer but desperate need. God the Father responds with love and compassion, granting the sinner all the privileges of sonship in the family and shoring him with blessing.”

I think it is also important to note that it says that “while he was still a long way off, the father saw him” This tells us that though the son never intended to return to his family, the father habitually looked for his return. Not only that, but the father then casts aside all behavioral contentions of the time, as running was considered to be undignified for an older person, especially for a wealthy landowner. It was undignified because to run, this father would have to lift up his robes.

Resurrection Stage (vv. 20b & 22 – 24)

When the HS has convicted you of your sin and has led you to a place where you desire and act upon that desire to confess, it is in that moment that you shift from confession to resurrection. It is in that moment you shift from death to life. You stop being lost because you have been found.

And the most beautiful thing about being found is that you never have to worry about getting lost again because the One who has found you is faithful to never lose you. He will never forsake you no matter how many times you mess up.

You cannot mess up bad enough to undo God’s love for you. God is love itself! You can’t find the end of His love because He is love and He is endless.

Briefly depict the imagery of “falling on someone’s neck” from Joseph and Ben and Joseph and Jacob.

Best robe reflects back to a vision of Joshua and Satan before the Lord in Zech. 3:4. The robe is a mark of distinction while the ring signifies authority just like when Pharaoh gives his signet ring to Joseph. And the shoes, the shoes are a status of being a free man rather than a slave. These actions show us that this son who was dead and lost has been restored to full membership in the family.

So, we’ve seen the stages that each of us as sinners must experience in order to be saved, in order for us to pass from death into life. We start off sinful and we try to overcome that with our works. We become convicted of our need for a savior so then we confess that need to Jesus, and Jesus as our great and faithful High Priests puts on His righteousness to us so that the Father receives us His sons and daughters.

My question to you is have you hit rock bottom yet? You know, maybe that happened to you a long time ago, but you’ve still been trying to do everything on your own. Have you come to the end of yourself and realized that you aren’t good enough, that you need a savior? Maybe you are in this room, and you’ve been coming to church your whole life and you have done everything that you have ever been expected to do. And even with all of that, you know in your heart of hearts that it won’t do when you stand before the Father one day. Even with all of that you still need Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. Friends, there is hope because the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are here waiting for you to come and believe.

I told you earlier that I want you to understand the process of salvation because I want you to rest assured that you are saved if you are. It is important for every believer in this room to preach the gospel to themselves every day because otherwise, your sins will eventually bog down your soul to such a degree that will lose hope and despair. This doesn’t mean you lose salvation but that the quality of your walk with the Savior will decrease significantly.

And if you are not saved, if you have never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then don’t you think it is time that you did.