Re: Luke 15:32 “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
This verse of the prodigal son sounds like the Son who went away to riotous living was dead until he came home to his father. How does this work with OSAS? I understand that the son knew the father before he left home and then was lost/dead. When I was about 7 years old, I asked the Lord to save me. Later I went on to riotous living for a number of years. Then I came back to the Lord and have since been blessed like never before. I feel like I am the son spoken of in this verse. Does this mean that while I was engaged in riotous living, I was not saved, or “dead”?
The prodigal’s father didn’t believe his son was actually dead, but since there was no communication between them it was as if the relationship had ceased to exist. This is how it is when we’re out of fellowship with God. Our unconfessed sins erect a barrier between us and no communication is possible. During the time we’re out of fellowship, it’s as if the relationship no longer exists.
But like the prodigal, we can never stop being our Father’s child. As soon as the sin barrier has been torn down through confession, the relationship will immediately begin thriving again and it’s like we never left, because forgiveness is automatic (1 John 1:9).