Transcript

ANNOUNCER: In the parable of the four soils, how many of the four represent saved people? And what does Jesus mean, especially in the Matthew and Mark account? By the word understand, is it equivalent to believing? We thank you, friend, for joining us today here on Grace In Focus, this is ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website is faithalone.org and we want to make you aware of our upcoming national conference, next May 18th through 21st. It’s time now to get registered to begin planning to come and be with us at Camp Copass in North Texas. Our theme is, “Believe in Jesus for Life”. You’ll enjoy all of the surroundings, all of the speakers, the meals, and the accommodations. And we want you to be with us—early bird registration is in play right now. And if you’re a first-timer, we’ve waived the registration fee. So come give the information, get registered, we’d love to see you in May. You’ll find it all at faithalone.org. And now for today’s question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr.

SAM: All right, Bob. We’ve got a question from Aiden. This one is on the four soils, which I know you and Ken have spent a lot of time talking about, but it seems to be an endless source of questions, confusion, and something else that starts with a “C”. But so his question is, I’m trying to understand something about the parable of the four soils. What does “understand” and “accept it” mean in Matthew and Mark? If soils two through four are saved, why is it that only the last soil understands and accepts the word? Especially since Matthew, the first soil is said to not understand it. Wouldn’t that imply that the last soil is the only one that believes? And then he mentions he knows Luke says that three through four believe the word, but he’s trying to understand specifically what Mark and Matthew mean by “understand” and “accept”. 

BOB: Okay, so before we look at Matthew and Mark, let me just say briefly, the Lord told this parable on multiple occasions, and he told it in different ways. In Luke, it’s stated slightly differently, and it’s possible, there are people who think that all four soils represent believers, not in Luke, but maybe in Matthew and Mark. In Luke, it’s real clear, Luke 8:12, Satan snatches away the seed, lest they should believe and be saved. And then verse 13 talks about those on the rocky soil, those who believe for a time and in time of temptation fall away. Well, these are people who are born again, but later at some point fall away. They’re still born again, but they’re not going to rule in rain. Then you get the third group in Luke, which is Luke 8:14, which is the one in the weedy soil, the thorny soil. And the plant grows up, but it’s choked out by cares, riches, and the pleasures of life. So it’s not as effective as it should be. It does believe, and it does persevere, and there will be some rulership. And then the fourth soil is the good one.

But in Matthew and Mark, it’s stated slightly differently and not as clear. Could you read the Matthew and Mark passages just dealing with the word understand, because that’s Aidan’s main concern. Maybe you could read, what is it, Matthew 13? 

SAM: Yeah, 13 starting in 18 is where He’s explaining the parable of the sower. And He says, “Therefore, hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.” So that’s the “understand” that Aidan is asking about what does it mean when he says someone hears the word and does not understand it. Then the wicked one comes and snatches it away. 

BOB: Okay, the same Greek word is used all through this passage. It starts up in what? Verse 15, it’s clearly in 15, but it’s in 14, “they do not understand”. I guess it’s in 14, 15, and also in verse 13. “Nor do they understand”. And if you compare this to Luke 8 verse 12, Satan snatches away the seed unless they should believe and be saved. So I would say that understand here is more or less synonymous with believing. 

Now, having said that, let me suggest that there is a difference in understanding something and believing something, right? But it’s also possible to understand and believe something. I would suggest that’s what this is talking about here. Now, clearly if you don’t understand something, you can’t believe it. If you don’t understand calculus, you can’t believe calculus because you don’t know what it is. The same thing would be true of anything. But I think the Lord is using it here in the sense of understanding and believing and isn’t the same basic language used over in the Mark passage. What is it, Mark 4? 

SAM: Mark 4:13, He says, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” And then in verse 15, He explains the seed that falls by the wayside. But here He says, “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes the word away that was sown in their hearts.” So here, He doesn’t mention that they hear the word and don’t understand it and then Satan snatches them away. He just says, they’re givien the word and Satan snatches them away. 

BOB: Now, I’m inclined to the view that all three of the parables in the three synoptic gospels all refer to three types of believers and one unbeliever. The unbeliever is the one where Satan snatches away, the person doesn’t believe, doesn’t understand. The three believers are the ones who believe for a time and then one who believes, but its effectiveness is choked out and then the good soil one. That would be my view, but it seems clear to me that two, three, and four are all born again because even in Matthew and Mark, isn’t it pretty clear in the telling of the parable that all three sprang up? 

ANNOUNCER: We will rejoin in just a moment. But years ago, Zane Hodges wrote the Gospel Under Siege. Sadly, this is still true. And GES president Bob Wilkin has recently written its sequel. Bob’s new book, The Gospel is Still Under Siege, is a book about theological clarity on the Biblical teaching about eternal salvation. It is available now. Secure yours today at the Grace Evangelical Society’s bookstore. Find it at faithalone.org/store. That’s faithalone.org/store. Now back to today’s content.

BOB: If you look at Matthew 13, it says some fell on the stony places where they did not have much earth and they immediately sprang up. See the words “sprang up” there? What does that mean in terms of a seed? 

SAM: It sprouts. 

BOB: So that means something breaks the surface of the dirt and comes up, something green, a plant, right? So life has begun, right? You can’t have something springing up without life having begun. And then the next one’s—some fell among the thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them. It can’t spring up and choke it unless that’s also sprung up. In fact, in the Lucan version, it says sprang up with it. And the final one also sprang up. But the others fell on the good ground and yielded a crop. Well, you’re not going to get a crop unless it springs up. So you’ve got all three soils, two, three, and four springing up. 

It’s funny, I read a Calvinist one time and he said, well, there’s some kind of life here, but it’s not everlasting life. I’m like, well, how can it be some kind of spiritual life, but it’s less than everlasting? Does God have some other kind of life He gives? Does Jesus offer something other than eternal life? Maybe he offers probation for certain people. No, the issue in understanding here in these passages is essentially rough and ready a synonym for believing. 

SAM: Let me ask you a curveball question. Do you think, based on the context of who he’s talking to, that there is a nuance to the word understanding here that has to do with willingness? Do you think that when He says they have eyes to see but don’t see and they listen, but they don’t hear and then He says they don’t understand? So is this about, they just can’t comprehend what He’s saying, or is this about they’re not willing to understand? 

BOB: Well, I think you have to go to other Scripture to answer that question. This passage doesn’t specifically say why they don’t understand. It doesn’t say that they don’t understand because they’re unwilling. John 5:39-40 clearly says that, “But you’re not willing to come to me that you may have life.” Matthew 23:37-39 where Jesus says, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing”, but we don’t get it in these passages. It doesn’t say why they don’t understand or why they don’t believe. We do know part of it is because Satan snatches away the seed. But what does that exactly mean? 

Well, I think in many, if not most cases, the person heard this message and they were unresponsive because they were unwilling to meditate on it. Think of Acts 17:11. Do you have it there? It’s the verse about the Bereans. Paul was in Thessalonica and a riot broke out. And so the people sent him out of Thessalonica lest he be killed. And he went to another town called Berea. And he again went to the Jews and was talking to the Jews. And so what does 17:11 say? 

SAM: He says, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica and that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” 

BOB: So notice, “received the word with all readiness” and they were more fair-minded or more noble-minded. And they searched the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. If someone hears and then they go to the Old Testament Scriptures and they meditate on that and pray about that, well, that person would have come to faith in the first century and they would come to faith today. I don’t think that these parables are answering that question, but other Scripture do. 

We know, for example, in Acts 17:27 that God has granted to Gentiles that they might grope after him. Indeed, they may find him and he’s not far from all of us. Remember Hebrews 11:6, “God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”. Or Matthew 7:7-11, ask, seek, not. The one who asks, receives, the one who seeks, finds, the one who knocks, it will be open to him. So it’s pretty clear that in other passages the Lord Jesus encouraged people to be prayerful about this and to meditate on this and to search the Scriptures on this. 

And by the way, that’s why John 5:39 is so sad, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life.” These are legalists who are reading the Bible trying to look at the commandments and say, am I matching up to this? And it wasn’t just the Jews of the first century that did that. Don’t we have a lot of people in Christianity today who do that? 

SAM: Yeah, and it was especially ironic for them because they were speaking to the Word. They were searching the Word when it was standing in front of them. The Bereans, Paul came to them and even though Paul is a great apostle, we should have the same mindset. And a great teacher comes to us, trust but verify. 

BOB: Right, it is ironic that they’re hearing the Word proclaim the truth, proclaim the Word, and they’re rejecting it, and they’re culpable for that. Even though they don’t get it, they could have gotten it. Aiden, I think this is a great question. We have a bunch of articles on the four soils on our website. I think we have several blogs I think one by me, one by Ken. It’s worth studying. I would strongly recommend though you look at Luke 8:11-15 for the basic interpretation of it because it’s so clear there. 

SAM: All right, thanks for the question, Nathan. Thank you to all for listening. And let’s remember to keep grace in focus. 

ANNOUNCER: Be sure to check out our daily blogs at faithalone.org. They are short and full of great teaching, just like what you’ve heard today. Find them at faithalone.org/resources/blog. We would love to hear from you. Maybe you’ve got a question, comment, or some feedback. If you do, please don’t hesitate to send us a message. Here’s our email address. It’s radio@faithalone.org. That’s radio@faithalone.org. And when you do, very important. Please let us know your radio station call letters and the city of your location.

On our next episode: is God’s grace Irresistible and is faith a choice? Come back and join us and until then, let’s keep grace in focus.