The Potter's Promise: A Biblical Defense of Traditional Soteriology

by Leighton Flowers

I counseled with a middle-aged couple that had a rebellious twenty-year-old son still living at home. He would stay out all hours, come home drunk or high, and wreak havoc in their family. The poor couple was a wreck and seeking godly counsel. We talked for a while about the root of the issue, but I finally ended up directing them to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 where the church had to deal with a brother living in perpetual rebellion. Paul advised the church to cast the brother out “so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (vs. 5). I carefully explained to this heartbroken couple that sometimes the most loving thing a parent can do for a wayward child is to let them go (Lk. 15:11-32). Even non-Christian counselors have modeled the advice of Scripture by “refusing to enable someone in their addictions.”[140] This is painful and incredibly difficult to do to someone you genuinely love. The hurting couple followed this biblical counsel and ended up having to kick their own beloved son out of their home.