Do you think you know the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son? I used to think I did. Then I listened to this sermon by Jason Robinson and found out I was taught wrong.
These days men say they are women. Women say they are men. Men can give birth. Women can grow beards. Up is down. Left is right. Good is evil. Evil is good.
Thankfully, the Word of God never changes.
Dogs, Swine and Goats are unbelievers. Always.
Sheep are believers. Always.
Sheep are NOT made up of believers and unbelievers. Sheep are never dogs, swine or goats. They never were, either. A sheep is a sheep is a sheep. Always.
Sheep includes "lost" sheep. There are two types of "lost' sheep. A "lost" sheep is either 1) an unbeliever who God foreknew would be saved or 2) a believer who has left the fold and gone astray following after the cares of this world.
A "lost" sheep is never an unbeliever. A "lost" sheep is never a sheep that "lost" their salvation. Believers never lose their salvation. Sheep never stop being sheep.
"Lost" sheep are those who God foreknew would be saved. On our timeline we may see them as unsaved. On God's timeline they have always been saved, believers, ie sheep. This truth is explained in Romans 4:17 ... even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
"Lost" sheep are "lost" until that which God knew would happen happens.
David said in Psalm 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
David was not a sheep who lost his salvation. He did not stop being a sheep. He said he had gone astray like a lost sheep. Sheep are stupid. They can lose their way. He started following the cares of this world. He asked the Lord to be his shepherd and go seek after him as a shepherd would go looking for his lost sheep.
Jesus told the disciples to go to the "lost" sheep... 1) Matthew 10:6 ... go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand and 2) Matthew 15:24 ... I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus was prophetically saying there are "lost" sheep out there who are my sheep. Go to them, give them the gospel, tell them the Messiah (the kingdom of heaven) has come and then they will no longer be "lost" sheep.
The parables in Matthew 18 & Luke 15 are of 1) the lost sheep, 2) the lost piece of silver and 3) the "prodigal" son. They are parables of BELIEVERS. They are not salvation parables. They are not parables saying this unbelieving sheep, unbelieving silver coin, unbelieving son was given the gospel, believed was saved and became a believer. These aren't parables about belief and salvation. I was taught they are salvation parables. These are parables about believers who have gone astray, gotten "lost", repented, was found and came back to the fold, the family.
Notice this, nobody gave the gospel to the sheep, the coin or the son. To get saved they would've all had to have been given the gospel.
The man had 100 sheep (believers). Then 1 of the sheep went astray. The sheep gets caught up in the cares of this world. The man goes and finds his believing sheep and returns it to the fold and everybody rejoices over the sheep that went astray and returned.
It is NOT saying one of the sheep wasn't saved or lost their salvation then went and got saved again. Once saved always saved. A sheep is a sheep is a sheep.
Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. "Save" does not always mean salvation. Lost does not always mean unbeliever. Repent does not always mean "of your sins".
This is another version of the same parable: Luke 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
No where in this parable does it talk of belief, faith, eternal life, everlasting life or salvation. It says 'one sinner that repenteth'. Believers are still sinners. They sin and need to repent. But, believers are saved and can't lose their salvation so their repentance is not for salvation but rather restoration to the fold. This sinner, this sheep, needed to be found and restored to the fold of believers.
In Luke 15:8-10 the woman had 10 pieces of silver. She lost 1 piece of silver. She looked high and low for it. She rejoiced when she found it. Notice, all 10 pieces of silver WERE silver. All 10 were saved believers. The silver did not get lost and become brass. Silver stays Silver stays Silver. It was not found and then turned from brass into silver. It was just lost until it was found.
"Lost" silver is still silver, ie a saved believer who goes astray and then is found.
The Prodigal Son was always the man's son. When the son left he did not stop being the son. He did not stop being the heir. He didn't die. The son squandered the money he inherited. But, squandering his money did not lose him 'heir' status. When he returned to the father the father ran to meet him, put the best robe on him and had a celebration in his honor. Why? Because the son repented. Was that repentance unto salvation? No. The son never stopped being the man's son. The son never lost his salvation. He never lost his status as son and heir.
The son was like a "lost" sheep like David. He went astray, came to his senses, repented, returned to the father and regained the status he had left behind but never lost.
These 3 parables are about going astray or getting "lost", not about losing your salvation or never being saved in the first place.
Sheep are sheep are sheep. God has known who are sheep since the beginning of time. Jesus came to seek and to save the sheep that were "lost". The "lost" sheep have been sheep since God first knew they were sheep. The dogs, swine and goats have always been and will always be dogs, swine and goats.
The sad thing is dogs will never be sheep, swine will never be sheep and goats will never be sheep.
Sheep will always be sheep.
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