Hey Nick...looks like you've created a real fire storm here.
It has been interesting reading all the comments.
The thief on the cross was still living under the existing covenant of the Scriptures, not the New covenant which came after the Lord's death.
The parable of the lost son is really an acurate account of the work that the father did to save his son. It was the father that risked ridicule and degradation and failure to go after the salvation of the son. This story is really all about the success of father. It is one parable with three stories to reveal that only the father can save that which can't save itself. In each account it is the woman who seeks the lost (coin); the shepherd who seeks the lost (sheep); and finally, a father who seeks a lost (son).
The father was trully seeking the son not the son seeking the father.
We are saved by grace through faith....and that...not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2)
It was the Father's faith and the Father's work at Calvary that saves us. It is trully a wonderful gift from God.
(I've been to Italy for a while...good to be back.)
DMP