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Luke 8:4-15And when a great multitude came together, and they of every city resorted unto him, he spake by a parable:
5: The sower went forth to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it.
6: And other fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
7: And other fell amidst the thorns; and the thorns grew with it, and choked it.
8: And other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. As he said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
9: And his disciples asked him what this parable might be.
10: And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to the rest in parables; that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
11: Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12: And those by the way side are they that have heard; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.
13: And those on the rock [are] they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14: And that which fell among the thorns, these are they that have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of [this] life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15: And that in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience.
This parable is made easy for us to understand. Jesus tells us that the seed the sower sowed is the Word of God. The different scenarios Jesus gives apply to those who hear the word of God which is His good news about the Kingdom of God. The fist scenario is those by the wayside. They indeed hear the word of God but tread it underfoot and throw it away. They hear Gods word to them but reject it and these kind of people never come to faith. They never put their trust in Christ and so are not saved. It is because the god of this world, the devil blinds their eyes and so steals the word from them. The second type of person is equated to the seed which fell on the rock. These people we are told, do believe but the word fails to take root in their lives. In the time of temptation they fall away.Temptation here is the word greek word peirasmos which also means trials. So this persons faith will not last when trials and temptations in the world come their way.Their faith is not a saving faith, but is rather a temporary faith, for they don't persevere in faith and obtain God's Kingdom. the next scenario is likened to the word falling amongst the thorns. These people as they go on their way have the word of life choked out of them. As they go along the, cares of the world as well as its pleasures and want of riches choke the word of God in them. This fruit we are told never comes to maturity. So far we have those who don't believe the word,then we are told of two kinds of people who do believe, but we are told their faith is of a temporary nature. When they go through trials and temptations and things don't go their way they fall away. Others are pierced by the want of riches and also are pleasure seekers, rather than seekers of God and His Kingdom. Included also are the troubles of life which quench their faith. These believers have temporary faith which means they fall away and do not return. The last illustration is where the word lands on fertile ground are described by Jesus as having honest and good heart. These people having heard the word of God hold fast to what they have heard and bring forth fruit with patience. This kind of person who holds fast to the word of God and not letting go of the hope of the gospel is a true believer and child of Gods Kingdom. The faith they have is a persevering faith which indeed saves them. So we have those who have no faith,those who have a tempoary faith and are without perseverance, then we have those who persevere in the patience of faith, obtaining the salvation of their souls and the Kingdom of God. A lot has been said and much has been misunderstood about whether one may lose their salvation. Most that pertains to this is made clear from this parable. The point of the parable is about those who persevere in faith and are saved and those who don't persevere in faith and are not saved. Clearly throughout scripture both kinds of people are described as being in the church. Many warnings are given about falling away. Also it is taught that people who truly believe are sealed with the Spirit which guarantees their salvation. Instead of making these scriptures clash with each other I suggest that there is no paradox what so ever. Believers are never seen as apart from the church. The church is the congregation in which we belong. But if we see what the bible teaches about the make up of the church, we see the church is made up of tares as well as wheat. In Matthew 13 the parable of the sower is followed immediatly by the parable of the weeds among the wheat. Here we are told that weeds are sown by the devil amongst the wheat. We are told that we should not remove the weeds lest some of the wheat be taken up with them. We are told to wait for the harvest and then the weeds and the wheat will be separated. The church is of those who respond to Gods word, as we have seen all who profess to have believed the word of God in Jesus Christ are accepted as been part of the believers who together make up the church. We know that many fall away and also that many persevere in faith to the end. We may not say who is saved and not saved until they themselves fall away and no longer have faith in Jesus and His word. So the warnings are spoken to what is called the visible church which has the real macoy and also unfortunately has weeds. But the word of God when speaking of those who will be saved and are saved and assures them of their salvation and tells them they cannot be lost. These are what we call the invisible church and the invisible church are not eternally saved and secure apart from perseverence in faith. Faith in Jesus and His word are the mark of a truly saved person. So those who are truly saved will persevere and the others show themselves not to be the people of God by unbelief show that they were never saved. 1John's letter tells us they went out from among us because they were not of us. There is a diifference between once saved always saved and perseverance of the saints. The difference is quite simple. Those who are truly saved will persevere in faith in the hope of the Kingdom of God. A lot of once saved always saved don't see that a truly justified person, through faith in Christ must persevere in faith till the end to be saved at last. So the main difference is the once saved always saved people say one needn't persevere in faith in jesus to be saved. If they have come to Christ at some time in the past, then they say all is well for you. Unfortunately this is not the whole council of God and many err on this point. |
