Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Hello, welcome to a new week of Grace in Focus. We are continuing our series of tough texts. And today we look at the parable of the four soils. Jesus taught this parable and in Luke he interpreted it for us. So how can some people misinterpret it? Let’s think about this one today. Glad you’re with us friend. This is the Grace Evangelical Society’s broadcast arm, Grace in Focus. We also have a website we want you to know about. It is faithalone.org. There you can find our articles about our seminary, about our magazine, and our books. In our bookstore, the latest by our leader, Bob Wilkin, The Gospel Is Still Under Siege, is available. Find it all at faithalone.org. 

And now with today’s discussion, here is Bob Wilkin, along with Ken Yates. 

KEN: We’re going through tough texts. Passages of Scripture that people misinterpret because they forget that eternal life is a free gift that cannot be lost. It’s received by grace through faith alone. And they involve works in various ways. And one of the passages where they do this, where they misinterpret it, is the parable of the four soils. And we were talking, all the Synoptics have this parable. But we’re going to look at how it appears in Luke. And it’s found in Luke chapter 8. And the interpretation by the Lord is given in verses 11 through 15. 

BOB: So this parable is in Luke, especially interesting, because it’s just about the only parable, where the Lord tells it, interprets it, and then applies it. He tells it in the verses before 11 to 15. And then in 11 to 15, he interprets it. And then in 16, 17 and 18, he applies it. So it’s a very unique parable in that regard. And I think it’s important that we point out how most people make it into a problem passage. How do they misinterpret it and end up distorting the promise of life? 

KEN: Well, one of the things they do is they take the first three soils and say that because they didn’t produce fruit, or they didn’t produce fruit to maturity, or they didn’t persevere in fruit, they’re all, all unsaved. 

BOB: So they say one, two, and three unsaved, four saved. 

KEN: That’s right. And only the fourth soil produces a large crop. 

BOB: And so the problem with one, two, and three is not lack of belief. 

KEN: Right. And in Luke, particularly, that’s clear. 

BOB: But the problem with one, two, and three in their view is one doesn’t believe in Luke. Right. But they would say two and three believe, but—

KEN: They didn’t really believe. 

KEN: Well, maybe, I don’t know, they have a hard time. I guess they would say they didn’t really believe or maybe they might say, well, they believe, but lost their salvation or something. 

KEN: Isn’t this also, you might know, Bob. I’m pretty sure this is where Calvin got the idea of temporary faith? 

BOB: Yeah, it’s interesting. When Calvin wrote his Institutes, if I remember correctly, I’ve read that he only had six chapters in the initial. And the end version of the Institutes, there were 72 chapters. And the reason it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger is because the Catholics kept criticizing him. 

KEN: And he had to respond. 

BOB: And he had to respond. And one of the things they criticized him on was, you’re saying, ultimately, that a person could stop believing and not even believe in Jesus. And yet, they’re still going to get into the kingdom. And so my understanding is, his understanding of temporary faith didn’t come about in the early versions of the Institute. But after he was criticized, he then came up with this. And I believe that he used the parable of the four soils to do this. 

KEN: Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard. Well, I know that he’s talked about temporary faith. You know, and because in Luke here says, the Lord says they believe for a while. 

BOB: All right, so let’s look at this because it’s very interesting. In Luke 8 verse 11, what does it say? 

KEN: Verse 11, “Now the parable is this.” So he’s interpreting it. “The seed is the word of God.” 

BOB: Okay, so the seed is the word of God. This is going to be very important because all four soils interact with the seed. They all interact with the word. So let’s go to verse 12. 

KEN: “Though those by the wayside are the ones who hear”, so this is the first soil, they hear. “And then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” 

BOB: Notice it’s the word and he takes it away before they believe, lest they believe and be saved. So this is not just anything in the Bible or anything in the teaching of Jesus. This is the saving message in the ministry of Jesus. And I don’t think he’s talking about anything here other than being saved from eternal condemnation. And so the first soil is unregenerate, is not saved. Now, how about the second soil, verse 13?

KEN: “But the ones on the rock.” So this is the rocky soil. “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.” 

BOB: Okay, so there’s a couple of points to mention here. It’s not they have no root. They have no depth of root. I think we should probably supply depth of root because there wouldn’t be anything sprouting above the ground if there wasn’t some root. 

KEN: So there’s life here. 

BOB: Plants don’t work that way. Yeah. And by the way, commentators, I read Calvinist commentators who say, the second soil is unregenerate. They say, well, there’s some kind of spiritual life here, short of regeneration, which is weird. 

KEN: Would they say something like maybe they’re convicted or—

BOB: Spark of interest or something. But they do call it. They do have some kind of life.

KEN: And this again is where Calvin got this idea of temporary faith. 

BOB: Okay. Now notice the word “believe” occurs in verse 12, “unless they should believe and be saved”, and verse 13, “they believe for a while”. And there’s really only two options. Either they’re saved for a while, and then when they stop believing they lose it, or they’re saved forever. And what the Lord is teaching here is about the possibility of apostasy, which I take it that’s clearly what he’s teaching. 

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BOB: Now interestingly, we’re not told that the third soil believes, and believe it or not, we’re not told that the good soil believes. No more do we hear about believing. Now there’s clearly a progression here. The second soil is better than the first soil. They believe for a time and then later fall away. The third soil is better than the second, because the third soil, even though we’re not told they believe they obviously do, because it sprang up and it’s not going to spring up unless it believed. And it continued to believe until the end of life. So this is better. The fourth soil is better than the third, because not only does it persevere in believing, but it produces mature fruit, whereas the third soil does produce fruit, but it doesn’t bring fruit to maturity. 

KEN: Before we go on, you mentioned in the first soil that the word of God, you take that to be the saving message. What about in the other ones? 

BOB: Yeah, I don’t take it. It’s going to be the saving message in all four, because what happens is the word, they receive the word of joy, that is the saving message in the second soil, and these having no belief for a while, in time, they presently fall away. Okay, so they’re falling away from the word and from the Lord. But when you get to the third one, when they have heard, it doesn’t say when they’ve heard the word. This is the only soil it doesn’t specifically mention the word, but it’s implied “when they have heard”. I would suggest that this is the word concerning sanctification. 

KEN: Or the kingdom, right? That you can be rewarded in the kingdom, because that’s what the parable’s talking about, right? With the other soils, the idea that I can have this great harvest in the kingdom. Do I believe that? 

BOB: Yeah, so in answer to your question, I would say, the word is the saving message in the first two soils, in the third soil, which doesn’t exactly mention the word, but it talks about receiving it. I would say it’s the saving message followed by, like you say, the kingdom rewards message, the sanctification message. In the fourth soil, it says they receive the word with a noble and good heart, and the word is mentioned again. And again, I would say that starts with the saving message, but it continues because they continue to receive it. And so now this is the message of the entire Scriptures. 

KEN: Would you be okay with wording it something like this? That the word here is the word of the kingdom. And for the first soil, it’s really dealing with, well, how do I get into the kingdom? 

BOB: Yeah, that’s a good point. 

KEN: Okay, here’s the word of the kingdom. To get in, you need to believe these first guys, they don’t believe it. So we don’t believe that Jesus is the Christ. We don’t believe He gives eternal life. So we’re not even going to be in the kingdom. But the word of the kingdom includes more than that. And these other soils, they are hearing the word of the kingdom, rewards in the coming kingdom, would be great in the coming kingdom. 

BOB: I like that. And it goes with verse 10, “It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” 

KEN: There you go. 

BOB: So we can say that the word begins with the message of life. 

KEN: How am I a citizen of the kingdom.

BOB: That’s how I get in the kingdom. And then it continues with the message of kingdom greatness. And so how about reading verse 14? 

KEN: Verse 14 says, “Now the one that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard”, and we’re saying, heard the word of the kingdom here, “go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.” 

BOB: Yeah, so the issue is that they don’t bring any fruit. They don’t bring fruit to maturity. And notice what they’re choked out by. The weeds are cares, riches, and the pleasures of life. I don’t think any of these are sinful. Cares aren’t by themselves sinful. Riches aren’t sinful. And the pleasures of life aren’t sinful. But all of those things can distract us from devotion to Christ, and to His coming kingdom.

And so I see a linkage between this and the parable of the minas. I think the first servant here is like the citizens who hated him and didn’t want him to reign over them in Luke 19:27. I think the second servant is like the third servant in the parable of the minas who doesn’t do anything with his minas and he’s rebuked. And I think the third soil is like the half-hearted believer who goes from one mina to five. And he says, okay, you also be your five cities. And the good soil, I think, is like the good servant in Luke 19 verse 17. Basically the fourth one is the one that’s faithful. 

And the point of this parable is not that one, two, and three are unregenerate and four is regenerate. It’s just the opposite. One is unregenerate and two, three, and four are regenerate. 

KEN: This is teaching for disciples. What kind of heart do you have? When you hear the good news of a coming kingdom. 

BOB: And by the way, I remember talking to your wife about, remember we had that conference in Georgia?

KEN: La Grange. 

BOB: La Grange. And that was about what? 20 years ago, 15 years ago. 

KEN: Too long ago. 

BOB: Anyway, she came up to me and said, I remember you talking at the National Conference one time and you talked about the fact that you prayed to God that he would give you a noble and good heart. And she said, you know, I’ve been praying that ever since. I was so convicted. I was like, yeah, I remember saying that, but it wasn’t like I was doing it regularly after that. 

I think it’s true. We should be. Don’t you think? Praying that God gives us this noble and good heart so that we continue to be receptive to the word of God, particularly the word concerning the kingdom of God. 

KEN: And if this kingdom is coming, that’s it. It’s coming. 

BOB: And we want to be people who are maximally serving Him in that kingdom. 

KEN: Right. We hope this is helpful. Like we said, this is another passage of Scripture that is so twisted and misapplied. And so we hope this last 12 or 13 minutes will help you understand it. Until we meet again, remember, keep grace in focus. 

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On our next episode: Remember when Jesus said, “You shall all likewise perish”? What was He talking about? Please join us. And in the meantime, let’s keep grace in focus.