I recently, in my study of the bible, was shown on this forum a couple verses that really helped me to accept that some sinners will be saved by faith, and others repentance and obeying the commandments in faith.
First we have the parable of the Tax Collector and Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14), where we learn that a sinner confessing to God he is a sinner with a humble heart is justified.
Second is the Parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:36-50) which is proceeded by the woman washing Jesus' feet with her tears. A terrible sinner that Jesus forgives or justifies with her faith and love of him.
Lastly the thief on the cross, punished for his sins to death and told he will be seen in paradise. (Luke 23:39-43)
Anything else I left out? Feel free to discuss and add to this.
Even before the parable starts we are told something that helps us: 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:
We can pick our side very easily. We can see in the story who the bad man is. It trains us as to what God thinks is righteous. The scriptures are FOR training in righteousness.
So, we read it and pick a team, the same way David did when he was told a story by that holy man and picked a side and said something like, oh my gosh, that man should be cut to pieces, that despicable man!
But the holy man then says, David, you ARE that man. So David’s very reaction to the story condemned himself.
So, eventually (not at first but eventually) God gets us to see ourselves more accurately.
We start by seeing what righteousness is and being able to discern in the stories who is the righteous man and who isn’t.
But we cannot see self accurately. We cannot see that, when it comes to ourself, we will always put our thumb on the scale and use unequal weights between us and another. The heart is desperately wicked but who can see it?
We are so desperately wicked in our heart that we will even read the parable of the two sinners praying and then later pray the prayer of the first man but we ”clean it up” a little. We will say in prayer, oh Lord, help so and so to see what they are doing, they need you! But do you see, it is
the same prayer the first man prayed.
Ah, so…yeah, I find I want to immediately argue and defend myself here. But I can’t.
That is when I become the second man.
We always pick the right team. And we think we are on that team because WE be of the seed of the Holy Spirit.