ST. LOUIS—Many Christians find themselves wandering through life enslaved to sin and questioning if they have sinned too much to be welcomed back into their Father’s loving embrace. In his short book, Finally Free: Three Lessons in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, author Bryan Wolfmueller proclaims the freedom-giving Gospel that, through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, their place in the Father’s house is secure and forgiveness and welcome are theirs in His outstretched arms. The book is available to order on the Concordia Publishing House website on January 15, 2026.
“This little book is about the parable of the prodigal son,” Wolfmueller writes. “In that beautiful story, Jesus outlines the three slaveries threatening us and the three freedoms He wants to give us.”
Beneficial to use as a group or in individual study, Wolfmueller clarifies the lessons Jesus presents in this famous parable in a refreshing approach. His close examination of the parable of the prodigal son allows readers to see themselves within the parable’s text and the slaveries all fall victim to.
“Bryan Wolfmueller is well known for his ability to break down abstract biblical ideas into life-changing spiritual truths,” says Reed Lessing, The Edwin F. and Esther L. Laatsch Chair of Old Testament Studies at Concordia University, St. Paul. “He does it again in this beautiful book by employing insights from Lutheran theology (especially Law and Gospel) and highlighting three slaveries that threaten us and three freedoms lavishly given to us by God through Christ Jesus.”
Visit cph.org/finallyfree for more information about the book. Contact Erica Sontag to schedule an interview with the author.
Praise for Finally Free
Pastor Wolfmueller is a remarkable pastoral theologian. I always chuckle when I’m in some backwater locale around the globe and someone approaches me with this question, often heavily accented by the speaker’s mother tongue: “You know Worldwide Wolfmueller?” Ha! YES! The remarkable clarity of the Gospel, which animates all Pastor W’s work, shines even more brightly in this little gem of a book. “He welcomes sinners and eats with them,” the religious experts complained of Jesus. This book takes a wondrous look at the third and often ignored character in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal: the disgruntled brother. Pastor W speaks to the Pharisee in every one of us and drives us to repentance, forgiveness in Jesus, and joy in living forgiven as we encounter our neighbors.
—Pastor Matthew C. Harrison, LCMS president
Bryan Wolfmueller is well known for his ability to break down abstract biblical ideas into life-changing spiritual truths. He does it again in this beautiful book by employing insights from Lutheran theology (especially Law and Gospel) and highlighting three slaveries that threaten us and three freedoms lavishly given to us by God through Christ Jesus. This is a perfect study for individuals or groups. Highly recommended!
—Reed Lessing, The Edwin F. and Esther L. Laatsch Chair of Old Testament Studies, Concordia University, St. Paul
Bryan Wolfmueller offers a careful and contextual study of a well-known parable and shows how the heavenly Father would tear down walls both of guilt and of pride, which separate us from divine love. The Father’s love extends both to the guilt-ridden and self-righteous among us. Highly recommended!
—Rev. Dr. Mark Brighton, emeritus professor of biblical languages and literature, Concordia University Irvine
Wolfmueller has done it again! With pastoral clarity and theological grit, Finally Free names the real enemies—living for your appetites, despairing in your guilt, and trusting in your own righteousness—and dismantles them with the Word of Christ. This isn’t shallow self-help or flimsy moralism; it’s the death of the old Adam—of fleshly indulgence, despair, and pride. But it is also the resurrection of the new man in Baptism. For the weary, the guilty, and the self-righteous alike, this book delivers what only the Gospel can: You do not belong to your sin, your guilt, or your works—you belong to Christ. You are a redeemed child of God.
—Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Minot, North Dakota, and author of Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? Seven False Churches
About the Author
Bryan Wolfmueller is pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. Previously, he was pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Aurora, Colorado. He is the cohost of Table Talk Radio, the world’s most famous Lutheran theological game show. Wolfmueller has a new hobby every day, but he always comes back to reading about Law and Gospel. He lives in Round Rock, Texas, with his wife, Keri, and their four children.
