Journal: Reformed Presbyterian Theological Journal
Volume: RPTJ 08:1 (Fall 2021)
Article: Calvin On The Spirit Bearing Witness By And With The Word In Our Hearts
Author: Richard C. Gamble

RPTJ 8:1 (Fall 2021) p. 16

Calvin On The Spirit Bearing Witness By And With The Word In Our Hearts

Richard C. Gamble

Professor of Systematic TheologyReformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The Means Of Grace And The Prodigal Son

Jesus told the well-known parable of the prodigal son at Luke 15:11–32. This parable revolves around three characters–a gracious and compassionate father and his two very interesting and frankly not very attractive sons. We will only briefly focus on the father and the younger son, in order to open up the beauty of the means of grace.

The younger son, known in the parable as the prodigal, was raised and nurtured in the church under age. He lived among God’s people and learned to walk under Israel’s good laws. Contrary to his own culture then, or even our own culture now, this younger son demanded to receive the inheritance that was to be his own only after his father’s death. Such a demand was a blatant act of rebellion not only against his earthly father, but also against God and his laws.1

The younger son–now the prodigal–publicly announced that his earthly father, and all that his father stood for, was dead to him. He hated his father and his father’s God. Upon receiving his substantial inheritance he then fled from the means of grace offered in the land of Israel and sought the bodily comforts found in the filthy culture of wicked paganism.

In the parable, the prodigal son eventually awakens from his pagan slumbers and remembers life back in Israel. It is true that he hungered for earthly bread–but he also knew that he could find grace back home among God’s people. That memory of God’s kindness and mercy was, for him, a means of grace.

In a similar fashion the Word of God is a means of grace for us today. As each of us face temptations to sin, remembering God’s sweet promises found in his Word will stop our hearts and hands from moving forward in prodigal wickedness. The Word of God is indeed a great means of grace.

The main point of Jesus’ parable is not that the Bible is a means of grace, although it is, but rather God the Father’s great compassion on undeserving sinners. This is the important point that Calvin made in his exegesis of this passage.2 Since many of those reading this article are ruling and teaching elders, I would like to draw out one application. Calvin underlined how wretched and undeserving the prodigal son was to receive God the Father’s unmerited and magnanimous love and mercy. The last 20 months of ministry have been a real struggle for many pastors and...