"Safe and Secure"

December 21, 2025

Background: Luke 2:11, 30-32; 15:3-7; John 3:14-17; 10:9-11, 14-16, 27-28;

Acts 3:1-18; Romans 5:1-11; Phil. 2:5-11; 2 Tim. 1:9-10;

Print: Luke 15:3-7; Romans 5:6-10;

Key Verse: Romans 5:10; Devotional: 2 Timothy 2:8-13

Luke 15:3-7 (ESV)
³  So he told them this parable:
⁴  “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
⁵  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
⁶  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’
⁷  Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Romans 5:6-10 (ESV)
⁶  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
⁷  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
⁸  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
⁹  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
¹⁰  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
 

Luke Chapter 15 (Commentary)

15:3-6 Aware of this, Jesus told them a parable about a shepherd who owned a hundred sheep and lost one (15:3-4). Wouldn’t the man leave the ninety-nine and search for the missing one (15:4)? The way Jesus asked the question implies that the answer he expected was “yes.” Of course the shepherd would search for his lost sheep. Once it was found, he’d even hold a party and call everyone to rejoice with him over it (15:5-6). Jesus clearly considered this to be the most natural response to finding a lost lamb.

15:7 In the same way, the host of heaven party more over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance. Hanging out with safe sheep when one is lost is as absurd as hanging out with only righteous people when you want to urge lost people to repent or to encourage erring believers to be restored to the Father. If you want to rescue the lost, you’ve got to go where they are. Sinners who repent, and erring saints who return, experience restored fellowship with God, and heaven rejoices. The Pharisees and scribes should have rejoiced too.

Romans Chapter 5 (Commentary)

5:6 We know love by its price tag. Authentic love is costly and sacrifices for its beloved. What, then, does it say about God’s love that in order to save us, he was willing to pay with his own Son’s life? Christ died for the ungodly because he loved us with an everlasting love. And this love is unconditional because it came while we were still helpless. He loved us when there was nothing lovely about us; we were totally unable to save ourselves.

5:7-8 In the United States, on occasions like Memorial Day, we honor the sacrifices of people who died so that others might live. Remembering these heroes brings to my mind what Paul says here, that for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die (5:7). It’s rare for someone to lay his life down for others. It’s tremendously courageous and loving and worthy of honor. But God’s love is even bigger and more worthy of recognition than this. Jesus died, but not for friends; God proved his own love for us by dying for us while we were his enemies (5:8)! It’s as if he says to unbelievers, “I know you’re rebelling against me. But I still love you so much that I’ll go to the cross for you.” The world has never seen a love like this.

5:9-11 Paul broadens the idea of salvation by drawing on the resurrection: If the death of [God’s] Son made us reconciled to God, then how much more . . . will we be saved by his life (5:10)?
 

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