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Luke 15 New Living Translation Parable of the Lost Sheep
1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! 3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
Parable of the Lost Son
11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. 17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ 20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ 22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ 28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ 31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
Footnotes
15:8 Greek ten drachmas. A drachma was the equivalent of a full day’s wage.
15:21 Some manuscripts add Please take me on as a hired servant.
The context of this scripture passage is about God's love for you and me; the value of lost things. The Lord uses three illustrations to make us understand His love & value for the human soul. Finding lost pets, finding lost money and finding lost family members. I think we can all understand what it would be like to find those things after having lost them. What Jesus is saying implied, is that, we are valuable to God, like pets, money and people are valuable to us.
This chapter on God's love for the human race, is not only spoken to backslidden Christians, who once got saved, and returned to their loving Father. But primarily to the lost in this world who have never been saved and are returning to God for the first time from sin and death. God loves this lost human race so much, that He sacrificed His only human child to bring us back to His fold by faith in His Son.
You Must be Born Again to See and Enter Heaven
We Are Reborn by the Holy Spirit
Through Faith in Christ
John 3 New Living Translation
{Paraphrased} 1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent You to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with You.” 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Born Again by the Holy Spirit
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
Born Again Through Faith in Jesus
Anyone that Believes in Jesus Will Have Eternal Life
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked. 10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe Me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s One and Only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
John the Baptist Exalts Jesus
22 Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people. 23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism. 24 (This was before John was thrown into prison.) 25 A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew [i] over ceremonial cleansing. 26 So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the One you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to Him instead of coming to us.” 27 John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. 28 You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for Him.’ 29 It is the Bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with Him and hear His vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at His success. 30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. 31 “He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but He has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else. 32 He testifies about what He has seen and heard, but how few believe what He tells them! 33 Anyone who accepts His testimony can affirm that God is true. 34 For He is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives Him the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves His Son and has put everything into His hands.
Anyone that Believes in Jesus Will Have Eternal Life
36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
Footnotes
3:3 Or born from above; also in 3:7.
3:5 Or and spirit. The Greek word for Spirit can also be translated wind; see 3:8.
3:6 Greek what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7 The Greek word for you is plural; also in 3:12.
3:13 Some manuscripts add who lives in heaven. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
3:15 Or everyone who believes will have eternal life in him.
3:16 Or For God loved the world so much that he gave.
3:21 Or can see God at work in what he is doing.
3:25 Some manuscripts read some Jews.
3:31 Some manuscripts do not include and is greater than anyone else.
The born-again experience is salvation. It is when the Holy Spirit gives us eternal life through spiritual washing and regeneration. Born again is spiritual washing and regeneration. The Holy Spirit does this to us when we believe in the Lord Jesus.
Titus 3:4-7 New Living Translation 4 But— When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. [a] 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.
Footnotes
3:5 Greek He {God} saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
To get born again, it takes faith in Jesus. This faith is called the Word of Faith. It is when you tell others that you believe in Jesus because you believe that God raised Him back to life to free us from sin and death. Freedom from sin and death is called salvation. If you believe it, say it.
Romans 10:6-17 New Living Translation
{Paraphrased}
6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,
“The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”
And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.” [b] 12 Jew and Gentile [c] are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on Him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” [d] 14 But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” [e] 16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” [f] 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ {in the Bible}.
Footnotes
10:6-8 Deut 30:12-14.
10:11 Isa 28:16 (Greek version).
10:12 Greek and Greek.
10:13 Joel 2:32.
10:15 Isa 52:7.
10:16 Isa 53:1.
After you believe and confess your faith in Christ publicly, next ask God to baptize you into the Holy Spirit, because when this experience happens, that is the born-again experience. This also called the Anointing (1 Jn. 2:19-26).
Ask God to Give you His Holy Spirit
Luke 11:1-13 New Living Translation
{Paraphrased} Jesus' Teaching about the Prayer of Faith
1 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As He finished, one of His disciples came to Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: [a] “Father, may Your name be kept holy. May Your Kingdom come soon. 3 Give us each day the food we need, [b] 4 and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation. [c]” 5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, He used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. [d] 9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “You fathers—if your children ask [e] for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”
Footnotes
11:2 Some manuscripts add additional phrases from the Lord’s Prayer as it reads in Matt 6:9-13.
11:3 Or Give us each day our food for the day; or Give us each day our food for tomorrow.
11:4 Or And keep us from being tested.
11:8 Or in order to avoid shame, or so his reputation won’t be damaged.
11:11 Some manuscripts add for bread, do you give them a stone? Or [if they ask].
In closing, this point is not seen by lots of Christians but the Lord showed it to me today. In verses 25-32. the older son is resentful of his father's treatment of his younger brother because he squandered his half of the family fortune and his father threw a party for him when he returned for help. Paraphrased, the Lord says in this passage that this is a family thing with God. God wants us to rejoice at the prodigal returning to God like the Angels do (Vv. 7, 10). Don't be resentful like the older brother was. Rejoice over their conversion like the father and the angels do (Vv. 20-24).
The message about the older brother is a correction from the Lord for us not to act like that with other Christians when they get saved. The correction is in the closing verses to this chapter, verses 31 and 32.
Finally, the Lord isn't mad at anyone today. Jesus died for His enemies and the ungodly. The whole world at present, is under His call to salvation. It doesn't matter how much you hate God. What vile and evil things you've done against God. If you repent, Jesus will save your soul. This call of salvation to the Prodigal son and daughter among the world to return home to God, is the Lord Jesus' message to the world today. Jesus is giving you the chance to change your life. Give Christ a chance. Amen.
Romans 5 New Living Translation
{Paraphrased} Faith Brings Joy
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace [a] with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege {grace} where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. 6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Adam and Christ Contrasted
12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. 20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Footnotes
5:1 Some manuscripts read let us have peace.