15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against {b} heaven, and before thee,
(b) Against God, because he is said to dwell in heaven.
15:18 I will arise and go. This resolve is repentance, the change of purpose and heart. He is led to it by his sense of need, the burden of sin.
Father, I have sinned. His change of heart, or repentance, must be followed by confession.
15:18 I will arise and go to my father - How accurately are the first steps of true repentance here pointed out! Against Heaven - Against God.
15:17-24 Having viewed the prodigal in his abject state of misery, we are next to consider his recovery from it. This begins by his coming to himself. That is a turning point in the sinner's conversion. The Lord opens his eyes, and convinces him of sin; then he views himself and every object, in a different light from what he did before. Thus the convinced sinner perceives that the meanest servant of God is happier than he is. To look unto God as a Father, and our Father, will be of great use in our repentance and return to him. The prodigal arose, nor stopped till he reached his home. Thus the repenting sinner resolutely quits the bondage of Satan and his lusts, and returns to God by prayer, notwithstanding fears and discouragements. The Lord meets him with unexpected tokens of his forgiving love. Again; the reception of the humbled sinner is like that of the prodigal. He is clothed in the robe of the Redeemer's righteousness, made partaker of the Spirit of adoption, prepared by peace of conscience and gospel grace to walk in the ways of holiness, and feasted with Divine consolations. Principles of grace and holiness are wrought in him, to do, as well as to will.
