“Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.”
—Luke 8:12-13
In a message entitled, “Superficial and Genuine Believers” at Bible.org (see here), Pastor Steve Cole says:
The four soils can be grouped into two categories: the unfruitful and the fruitful. All four soils hear the Word. The first soil is the only one not to accept it at all. The second soil accepts the seed briefly and shows initial promise, but it soon dies out. The third soil seems to make even further progress, but eventually the thorns choke it out. Only the fourth soil eventually bears fruit.
Some would argue that since the last three soils accepted the seed, and since it is stated about the seed on the rocky soil that “they believe for a while” (8:13), these all are saved; only the first category is lost. But, clearly Jesus gives no encouragement or comfort to any except those in the fourth category. Darrell Bock explains (Luke [IVP], pp. 148-149),
Faith saves; the absence of faith does not. So to believe for a time is not to believe in a commendable way, since the end result is not faith. One cannot end up unbelieving and have a faith that saves, for then salvation comes in unbelief. Another way to say this is that genuine faith is permanent….Our theological problems may emerge here because we tend to view faith as a response of the moment. The New Testament stresses that faith in Jesus is permanent, being established by a rebirth. Its permanence is suggested by its nature as the product of the regenerating work of God….
Until the second sentence in his second paragraph, Cole is headed toward the conclusion that the second soil represents born-again people. However, he then diverts off the path and ends up embracing a very common interpretation which happens to be illogical. While I agree that “to believe for a time is not to believe in a commendable way,” that in no way suggests that “the end result is not faith.” That view is saying that when the Lord said that those in the rocky soil “believed for a while,” He did not mean what He said.
Let’s try to rewrite what the Lord said so that it fits the interpretation that believing for a time is not believing. How about, “they believed for a while, but they did not believe during that time”? No. That is a contradiction. How about, “they believed for a time, but since they did not continue believing, their initial belief was shown to be bogus.” That too is a contradiction. If a person believes for a while, no matter how short or long that time is, then during that time he believes.
If a person believes the saving message for a month, then he believes the saving message during that month. If he believes for a year, then he believes during that year. If he believes for a decade, then he believes during that decade. That is why the devil snatches the word out of their hearts: “lest they should believe and be saved.” The devil believes in eternal security. He knows that the moment a person believes in Jesus for everlasting life, then that person is saved once and for all.
Now it would not be illogical to say that the man was saved during the time when he believed the saving message and that he lost his salvation when he stopped believing. Logical, but incorrect since the Lord taught eternal security as even the devil knows. The Lord Jesus said that the one who believes in Him shall never perish, shall not come into judgment, shall never hunger, shall never thirst, and shall never die (John 3:16; 5:24; 11:26). For those who formally believe in eternal security, and yet who believe that one must persevere in faith in order to have everlasting life, they must resort to an impossible interpretation of many texts, including the Parable of the Four Soils.
When your theology says that believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is not enough to have everlasting life which can never be lost, it is time to change your theology. When your theology drives you to adopt impossible interpretations, it is time to allow the Word of God to change your thinking.
There is no time requirement regarding believing in Jesus for everlasting life. Let’s say that Sally is driving on the freeway and hears J. Vernon McGee preaching the message of John 3:16 on the radio. She believes in Jesus and is born again right there in her car. Then a minute later a drunk driver crosses the median, hits her head on, and she dies.
Where would she go? Heaven, right? All would agree. But she only believed for a minute! So? There is no time requirement.
But what if Sally survived the car accident and went through many surgeries and got hooked on pain medication? What if a year later Sally stopped believing in Jesus as a result of her trying circumstances? Now where would she go when she died? Many would say she would go to hell because she stopped believing. In this odd view it was unfortunate that she didn’t die in that accident. Then she would have gone to heaven. Guaranteed. In this strange theology the best thing that could happen to a person is to die at the moment of faith. That way the time requirement does not kick in.
The Lord Jesus promised that the moment a person believes in Him he has ever-lasting life which can never be lost. No matter what! As one of my seminary professors, Dr. Charles Ryrie, liked to say, “If everlasting life could be lost, it has the wrong name.”
Lynn Harney
Hi Bob, My name is Lynn Harney I am wondering if you could point me to an actual exegetical article on the Parable of the sower that you might use for your own study. I am particularly interested in knowing if the Greek language and structure support your logical conclusion in the above article.
Phil
It is interesting to see how people manipulate words. Dr. Bock says that “Faith saves” with which we certainly do agree because the scripture is clear about it. But then he subtly changes his focus to “commendable faith saves”. Where, oh where, does the scripture say this?
He goes on to say that unbelief cannot save. True enough. Who would ever say otherwise? But then he concludes that failing to continue believing is the same as having never believed. Where in the world does this logic come from?!!
Tim
I posted a comment earlier this morning and it was either taken down for something I said or not allowed to be submitted in the first. If so I apologize and I will try to reword my comments better in the future.
Leo Z
Thanks again Pastor Bob,
As I understand The Lord Jesus’ words in John 5:24, he says that once someone believes in Him, life everlasting becomes a present possession and He guarantees its eternality, permanency and irrevocability. He promises that no judgment (regarding eternal destiny) will befall the believer in the future. He also says that the believer has now passed on from the state of death to life. If it’s a present possesion at the moment of faith and it’s permanent, it’s a “done deal”. No time limits or other conditions attached. The interpretation of this parable, any parable or passage dealing with eternal salvation should always be affirmed or negated based on His promise on it. And he had lots to say about it.
As the hymn goes, “‘Tis so sweet to trust (believe) in Jesus, just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise, just to know thus saith the Lord.” I think we can take Him for His word and rest on His promise of life everlasting as ever-lasting.
As always, continuing to pray for you and everyone at GES.
Alvin
I had a Pastor who said the Parable of the Soils was all about farming and hard work, not about eternal salvation at all. Maybe he thought it was about the saving of the life?
But these ones who interpret this parable of the four soils in a way that calls for more than just simple faith don’t really believe that Jesus would give eternal life Freely~!
The Woman at the Well is a good example of the giving and receiving of a gift. Jesus said to her, you worship what you do not know. Not only was she wrong concerning her beliefs, but she was living in sin. Of course she was a slave to sin, and needed to be set free but that could come later (see John 8:31-32). Right now it was all about the giving and receiving of a gift which had no strings attached, she could take it FREELY~! (Rev 22:17)
We don’t know if she went back to the one she was living with, or how her life ended? We only know that just as Jesus asked her for a drink in which she would do all the work of drawing the water, and He would simply drink. In the same way Jesus told her If you knew the gift of God and who said to you, ‘Give Me a drink’ you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water~!
They would say this is too simple, the Christian life takes hard work~! They end up mixing apples with oranges and come up with Lordship Salvation who keeps the person having to keep on drinking and drinking….or they never drank in the first place:-)
Jennifer A
❤️ ❤️❤️ Thank you so much for this—never saw that part of His message to the woman at the well.
Bill Huckle
I would note that Pastor Cole’s statement that “All four soils hear the Word” is not correct. I know he’s commenting on the Luke account, but a careful reading of the Mark account of this parable sheds light on the subject and demonstrates this (Mark 4:1-20). When the Lord explains the parable in the Luke account he states that all four soils “hear”. However, when the Lord explains the parable in the Mark account (Mark 4:13-20) He states that the first soil “hears” and that soils two, three and four “hear the word.” This bears out in the NKJV, the NASB and the ESV so I don’t think manuscript differences are a consideration. I think this subtle difference of “hear” versus “hear the word” bears noting and reinforces the view that the people represented by soil one are the only ones that do not have eternal life whereas the ones represented by soils two, three and four do have eternal life. Soils two, three and four people hear the word and believe it. Soil one people apparently merely “hear” words being spoken. There is no comprehension and so there can be no belief. This of course reinforces the Lord’s quote from the Old Testament when He states “hearing they may hear and not understand.”
Ken Tamashiro
Hi Pastor Bob,
I’m with you on the Parable of the Soils.
I agree with you on the idea that the 1st one was not saved yet.
The 2-3-4 were saved because they believed.
Many Christians see Salvation like a job performance or results-based performance on a job, in which it is not.
It should be seen as a Family Welcoming without the performance of any type.
Many confuse Jesus’ words of “come and follow me” as the required direction of gaining Eternal Life.
The biggest problem is many have confused Discipleship with Salvation. Many know when they do that they are confusing the Gospel in a performance-based Salvation and they know it’s wrong, but since everyone else is doing that then they think it is ok to do that.
The real story here that Jesus is pointing out to his Disciples is people in general will be on Fire for the Lord then their zeal slows down because of the cares of this world, but others who enjoy and seek the Lord will grow at different rates.
Gods Blessing on You as you try to encourage other in Gods Grace.
Grace and Peace to you,
Ken
Alvin
Amen~! It’s not just hearing it with our physical ears, but God must open the heart to understand it~!
Majority Text: Now this is the parable: The seed is the word of God. And the ones beside the road are the ones hearing, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart so that they should not be saved by believing. Luke 8:11-12
Anon
Lordship salvation says: “God helps those who help themselves” .
Scripture: ” But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” Genesis 4:5
Salvation by Free Graces says: “God helps those who cannot help themselves”.
Scriptures: “1I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;From where shall my help come? 2My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. ”
Psalm 121: 1 and 2
Conclusion?
” I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. “John 15:5
” For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12
Perry
Hi Bob, another excellent teaching – thank you and God bless!
Do you think the life of King Saul would be a good example of eternal security in spite of being out of fellowship with the Lord? He was apparently saved at the beginning (1 Sam 10:6) but fell into a prolonged period of sin, and apparently died out of fellowship. But yet, we read in 1 Sam 28:19 Samuel telling Saul that he would be with him [in Paradise] tomorrow.
Then we read in 1 Sam 31:4 Saul being sorely wounded in battle and committing suicide immediately thereafter; fulfilling Samuel’s prophecy.
*(Note: one of my Arminian friends told me that it wasn’t Saul but rather one of Hell’s demons called up by the witch, but that doesn’t jive with the narrative at all.)
This is one of the Bible texts that helped me greatly in my evolution from Arminian to eternal security believer.
What do you think Bob? A good eternal security passage?
EternallySaved
Amen! I am so glad and so happy beyond my human words that you all understand that the Parable of the Four Soils: ALL but the FIRST were SAVED FOREVER. MOST Christians and professing Christians I have met, read, and heard, all think only the fourth soul is saved. The fourth soul is a mature Christian. The first was lost. Like Zane Hodges rightly said, ETERNAL LIFE IS PRESENT IN ALL of the OTHER SOILS except the first. If the seed SPRINGS UP UNTO LIFE it is ALIVE.
The sad thing is this: I even know some free grace people who actually believe only the fourth soil is saved. I was shocked to hear this. These are men and women who believe 100 percent in eternal security once saved always saved, but, they actually think the first, second, and third soils are unsaved people and only the last fourth soil is saved.
Alvin
They don’t understand that most believers haven’t been delivered even though their born again. I was saved at age 12 but for 31 years I wasn’t delivered. That is my mortal body had not been resurrected by the Spirit (Romans 8:10-11). That is given life to live the Christian life, having a first fruits of the Spirit (Romans 8:22-23). It’s not until like Paul you cry out to God who will deliver me from this body of death that you get delivered (Romans 7:24). You have to become desperate~! I don’t have any problem in understanding these last three seeds that sprang up. Just like the last one they are co-heirs who He foreknew and predetermined (Romans 8:29-30). If you thought the flock was small well the ones who He is not ashamed to call brethren are few and far between. I remember once I got married and we had our daughter, that I felt I needed to get my family in Church. To make a long story short, I was asked to get up and give my testimony while the Preacher was gone. I couldn’t even win the battle against the thoughts in my mind. So I wasn’t going to get up in front of a lot of people and tell them something I didn’t think worked. It wasn’t until years later when I finally cried out for deliverance that I was given the power to live. If you study Zane’s commentary on Romans you’ll understand what I’m saying. That in Paul justification and salvation are closely related but not the same. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think many born again believers have been saved by His life (Romans 5:9-10). I’m just starting to understand what was going on in my life. Zane understood Romans~! Back then I didn’t have anyone to help me understand, and the traditional teaching was being saved in Romans from hell instead of from yourself~!
Alvin
They don’t understand that most believers haven’t been delivered even though their born again. I was saved at age 12 but for 31 years I wasn’t delivered. That is my mortal body had not been resurrected by the Spirit (Romans 8:10-11). That is given life to live the Christian life, having a first fruits of the Spirit (Romans 8:22-23). It’s not until like Paul you cry out to God who will deliver me from this body of death that you get delivered (Romans 7:24). You have to become desperate~! I don’t have any problem in understanding these last three seeds that sprang up. Just like the last one they are co-heirs who He foreknew and predetermined (Romans 8:29-30). If you thought the flock was small well the ones who He is not ashamed to call brethren are few and far between. I remember once I got married and we had our daughter, that I felt I needed to get my family in Church. To make a long story short, I was asked to get up and give my testimony while the Preacher was gone. I couldn’t even win the battle against the thoughts in my mind. So I wasn’t going to get up in front of a lot of people and tell them something I didn’t think worked. It wasn’t until years later when I finally cried out for deliverance that I was given the power to live. If you study Zane’s commentary on Romans you’ll understand what I’m saying. That in Paul justification and salvation are closely related but not the same. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think many born again believers have been saved by His life (Romans 5:9-10). I’m just starting to understand what was going on in my life. Zane understood Romans~! Back then I didn’t have anyone to help me understand, and the traditional teaching was being saved in Romans from hell instead of from yourself~!
Alvin
The word is the same in all four soils, the seed in the first soil is able to bring salvation that’s why Satan snatches it away before they can believe it.
Romans 10:16-18 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes from the report, and the report by means of the word of God. But I say, it’s not that they haven’t HEARD, is it? On the contrary, “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the end of the world.”
Alvin
As Eternallysave said concerning sprang up.
John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water SPRINGING UP into everlasting life.
Luke 8:5-8 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.
“Some fell on rock; and as soon as it SPRANG UP, it withered away because it lacked moisture.
“And some fell among thorns, and the thorns SPRANG UP with it and chocked it.
“But others fell on good ground SPRANG UP and yielded a crop a hundredfold.”
Even though the Greek words are different in Luke for sprang up (growing up) than in John 4 the meaning is the same. It’s clear that the last 3 soils in Luke the seed sprang up, there was life~! We know from John 4 the living water is the message of life, and with faith it springs up into everlasting life~! So, in Luke the last three seeds to say, “it sprang up,” there had to be life.
EternallySaved
Alvin you are a blessing! Thank you brother!
That is a very vitally important thing for people to focus on: The issue of the eternal life springing up. Thank you for the cross reference to John 4. That is very important!
Do you think the main reason why so many professing and even real Christians in both history and today’s world are wrong about this parable, and generally tend to side with the lordship salvation view, is because of tradition, and also in their eyes it “seems too simple” that eternal everlasting life can be received by faith in Christ alone? Or is it from influence by false teachers? I would welcome your insights into that. It is very sad, brother, because I would say that around 90 percent or more of the professing Christian people I have met in life seem to hold to some form of works or lordship salvation!
Alvin
Jennifer, glad you loved the story:-) It is my most favorite story in the Bible. I try to share it with people whenever I’m handing out my tracts:-) Its all about the giving and receiving of a gift. Jesus would have already given her the living water if she would have known the two things, what the gift of God was, and who His was, the Christ~!
Val Beard
May I point out one of the most important factors in this discussion, which is not addressed by either Pastor Cole or the response by Bob Wilkin, is that the message was the Kingdom of God. I fully agree that 3 of the 4 responses were real, if not fully fruitful, faith. If the Spirit of God said in the Word of God they believed, who am I to question the choice of words? If my theological grid requires me to question it maybe I should reexamine my grid. But to leave out that they were responses to the message of the Kingdom seems to me is poor exegesis. A basic question to ask would be is the message of the Kingdom the same message as “believe in Jesus since He died for your sins.” As a practical point, in ministry I/we have found this one out of four responses (that one leads to ongoing fruit) is a pretty accurate description of how folks respond to any Truth they hear.