“I have sinned against heaven and before thee.” (Luke 15:18, 21)
Jesus used the story of the Prodigal Son as an illustration of God’s willingness to receive repentant, confessing, sinners and forgive them. The son’s coming to his father and acknowledging his sin is a perfect picture of repentance, confession and forgiveness.
There is another character in this Biblical story. The older brother had sins that needed to be confessed and forgiven. I gather that part of the Savior’s lesson was that the Prodigal Son could not confess his brother’s sins, even though the older brother attempted to confess the Prodigal’s sins to the father. It will not help our sinful family and friends for us to confess their sins. All we can do is pray for them and gently lead them to the place of confession and repentance. It must be their decision. Let us pray that God would use us at witnesses to the unsaved.
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