Additional Thoughts on the Second and Third Soils in the Parable of the Sower
In the Tradionalist theology (Lordship Calvinism), the third soil plant should die, right?
They would say that the people represented by the third soil possess a spurious faith, a temporary faith!
But I just combed all three accounts of the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13; Mark 4; Luke 8) and the third soil does not die. Furthermore, it bears fruit. What is said is that the third soil brought "no fruit to maturity" (Luke 8:14). Not only did it not die, it brought forth immature fruit.
The seed was planted, it germintated, grew up, and bore fruit.
Now how can the Traditionalists say that this plant represents an unsaved man? Answer: by importing their Perseverance theology into the text, thus modifying facts about the text.
Furthermore, the second soil, "sprang up" with life; growth being a sense of "fruit".
The seed remains in the second and third soils, the seed being the word of God. The word of God's function is to create regenerate life, bringing along its great potentials. The seed does just this in the last three soils: creates life.
James puts it this way:
James 1:18
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth
The word of truth, when sown in a heart, produces regeneration in each and every case.
Too, Jesus states that the reason that the seed is taken OUT OF THE HEART by Satan in the first soil is "lest they should believe and be saved" (Luke 8:12). The seed is not sown in the first soil. It is taken out, therefore does not germinate (produce life, regeneration).
The seed sown in a heart represents both faith and its consequence: regeneration.
When Jesus' explicit statement in Luke 8:12 asserts that believing produces salvation, how is it that the Lordship Calvinist relegates the second soil to hell when in fact those who are represented by this soil, Jesus refers to as those "who believe" (Luke 8:13)?
This is where Calvinism's house of cards comes into play. It presents secondary assumptions not present in the text to explain away the tension, totally modifying one facet of the data (Luke 8:13 which asserts that the second soil believed, albeit for a short time [notwithstanding Jesus in John 4 states that a single "drink of" the water He gives produces eternally definitive results; see discussion of John 4:14 below]) in order to accomodate it with another apparantly contradictory one (that Jesus says believing produces salvation in Luke 8:12).
They modify the first experimental fact (that the second soil believed) by introducing the secondary assumption that the text does not support, rather negates, that the faith in verse 8:13 is not really faith, but a spurious faith. They do this even though Jesus uses the same word for "believe" (in vs 13 that He does in vs 12) and states categorically that believing will bring salvation in the exact verse preceding it (Luke 8:12).
Instead of modifying one of the facts of the parable, they ought to search for a higher synthesis, larger than each fact, which will explain both:
namely that one may believe, be saved, and later lose his faith (YET NOT HIS SALVATION, see 1 Tim 2:14) [note: those who lose their faith, although they do not lose their salvation will experience temporal chastening, even temporal wrath, and lose out on the superlative glories of co-heirship and co-reigning with Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Bema)].
But this would falsify the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints, and there will be none of that!
It is in this way that the Perseverance of the Saints doctrine is passed down and adhered to: by the never-ending introduction of secondary assumptions. This continual addition of ad-hoc explanations renders the theory useless. It has become incapable of falsification because any contrary data to it is simply negated by additional assumptions, and in this way, text after text is often ignored.
In Luke 8:12 Jesus states that Satan MUST remove the seed from the heart so that they will not believe and thus be saved.
In 8:13 Jesus states that the seed in the second soil germinated (was brought forth by the word of truth), experienced some growth, and explicitly states that they believed!
In order to keep the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints from being discarded, the Traditionalist must modify one or the other of these facts by introducing secondary assumptions.
Take the text for what it says, and if your doctrine does not line up with it, it must be discarded!
Fact: in the Parable of the Sower, the seed (which is the word of God) germinated (IOW, caused regeneration) and "sprang up" in the last three soils not just in the 4th soil.
As a side note. Does regeneration come at the very moment of belief into Christ for eternal life? or does it come after a life of perseverant, linear faith?
"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" (John 4:14)
A mere drink of the water that Christ gives has once and for all definitive results: the eternal quenching of one's thirst, and the impartation of a perpetual fountain of water.
A one time appropriation of eternal life by faith saves eternally.
In Mexico they have a song that says:
Una mirada de fe, una mirada de fe, es la que puede salvar al pecador.
One look of faith, one look of faith, is what can save the sinner.
Does this not correspond to what Jesus says:
John 3:14-15
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
When one took but a glance at the serpent in the wilderness, he was saved from snake bite. When one has but a moment of purposeful faith into Christ for eternal life, he will never thirst again.
Your comments and observations are requested....
Antonio da Rosa
They would say that the people represented by the third soil possess a spurious faith, a temporary faith!
But I just combed all three accounts of the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13; Mark 4; Luke 8) and the third soil does not die. Furthermore, it bears fruit. What is said is that the third soil brought "no fruit to maturity" (Luke 8:14). Not only did it not die, it brought forth immature fruit.
The seed was planted, it germintated, grew up, and bore fruit.
Now how can the Traditionalists say that this plant represents an unsaved man? Answer: by importing their Perseverance theology into the text, thus modifying facts about the text.
Furthermore, the second soil, "sprang up" with life; growth being a sense of "fruit".
The seed remains in the second and third soils, the seed being the word of God. The word of God's function is to create regenerate life, bringing along its great potentials. The seed does just this in the last three soils: creates life.
James puts it this way:
James 1:18
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth
The word of truth, when sown in a heart, produces regeneration in each and every case.
Too, Jesus states that the reason that the seed is taken OUT OF THE HEART by Satan in the first soil is "lest they should believe and be saved" (Luke 8:12). The seed is not sown in the first soil. It is taken out, therefore does not germinate (produce life, regeneration).
The seed sown in a heart represents both faith and its consequence: regeneration.
When Jesus' explicit statement in Luke 8:12 asserts that believing produces salvation, how is it that the Lordship Calvinist relegates the second soil to hell when in fact those who are represented by this soil, Jesus refers to as those "who believe" (Luke 8:13)?
This is where Calvinism's house of cards comes into play. It presents secondary assumptions not present in the text to explain away the tension, totally modifying one facet of the data (Luke 8:13 which asserts that the second soil believed, albeit for a short time [notwithstanding Jesus in John 4 states that a single "drink of" the water He gives produces eternally definitive results; see discussion of John 4:14 below]) in order to accomodate it with another apparantly contradictory one (that Jesus says believing produces salvation in Luke 8:12).
They modify the first experimental fact (that the second soil believed) by introducing the secondary assumption that the text does not support, rather negates, that the faith in verse 8:13 is not really faith, but a spurious faith. They do this even though Jesus uses the same word for "believe" (in vs 13 that He does in vs 12) and states categorically that believing will bring salvation in the exact verse preceding it (Luke 8:12).
Instead of modifying one of the facts of the parable, they ought to search for a higher synthesis, larger than each fact, which will explain both:
namely that one may believe, be saved, and later lose his faith (YET NOT HIS SALVATION, see 1 Tim 2:14) [note: those who lose their faith, although they do not lose their salvation will experience temporal chastening, even temporal wrath, and lose out on the superlative glories of co-heirship and co-reigning with Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Bema)].
But this would falsify the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints, and there will be none of that!
It is in this way that the Perseverance of the Saints doctrine is passed down and adhered to: by the never-ending introduction of secondary assumptions. This continual addition of ad-hoc explanations renders the theory useless. It has become incapable of falsification because any contrary data to it is simply negated by additional assumptions, and in this way, text after text is often ignored.
In Luke 8:12 Jesus states that Satan MUST remove the seed from the heart so that they will not believe and thus be saved.
In 8:13 Jesus states that the seed in the second soil germinated (was brought forth by the word of truth), experienced some growth, and explicitly states that they believed!
In order to keep the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints from being discarded, the Traditionalist must modify one or the other of these facts by introducing secondary assumptions.
Take the text for what it says, and if your doctrine does not line up with it, it must be discarded!
Fact: in the Parable of the Sower, the seed (which is the word of God) germinated (IOW, caused regeneration) and "sprang up" in the last three soils not just in the 4th soil.
As a side note. Does regeneration come at the very moment of belief into Christ for eternal life? or does it come after a life of perseverant, linear faith?
"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" (John 4:14)
A mere drink of the water that Christ gives has once and for all definitive results: the eternal quenching of one's thirst, and the impartation of a perpetual fountain of water.
A one time appropriation of eternal life by faith saves eternally.
In Mexico they have a song that says:
Una mirada de fe, una mirada de fe, es la que puede salvar al pecador.
One look of faith, one look of faith, is what can save the sinner.
Does this not correspond to what Jesus says:
John 3:14-15
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
When one took but a glance at the serpent in the wilderness, he was saved from snake bite. When one has but a moment of purposeful faith into Christ for eternal life, he will never thirst again.
Your comments and observations are requested....
Antonio da Rosa
posted by Antonio at 6:53 PM
8 Comments:
Your posts really make me think, I have to reread them sometimes to let it sink in...very thought provoking.
Excellent post Antonio!
Danny
That is really awesome.
Hello Antonio,
It has been a while. Very thought provoking. Would certainly love to hear your thoughts on my latest post.
Thank you all for visiting my humble blog. Keep an eye out. Sometime in the next few days I will have a new blog template which my good and pregnant friend Rose - a - rita from Rose's Reasonings, has performed for me.
live, love, laugh (what is your name?), thanks for reading. I hope that they help rather than vex.
danny, thanks for your encouragement. you should probably get a blog going!
Matt, you are awesome!
Ron, I will be by to check out your blog!
Antonio
I agree completely with you Antonio. The Holy Spirit doesn't make mistakes in the His inspired Word and verse 12 of Luke 8 to me clarifies the eternal status of all four of these hearers of the word of God.
To me the entire parable in Luke 8 which in context with the following statement by Christ about being lights and bearing fruit is telling us why some believers don't bear fruit. It lines up perfectly logical with free grace teaching to explain to us why there are some believers(probably many) who never lay down their lives for Christ. The problem IS lack of perseverance by the second and third hearers, not that they are not born again, they are as verse 12 makes clear in the context.
I "envy" your ablility to communicate clearly in written word what is truth. I am free grace as you know but for whatever reason I can't easily communicate clearly what I know is true in my heart with written words. Anyway, good job, we all have different gifts.
Oh, I was also going to say, I stated something similiar about Luke 8 on Adam's blog over at Protestantpub.com yesterday.
Antonio, I am late on this because I am reading some of your older material for the first time long after you wrote it.
You point out several good things, expecially about the third soil.
I want to make a point about the second soil in addition to what you have said.
Usually one does not enter into "tribulation or persecution arises for the word�s sake, immediately they stumble." right away. So the text seems to imply that these believers did continue to believe for some time.
It could well be that some who teach the Lordship Salvation plan have never faced such tribulation or prsecution, and would themselves stop "believing."
Even though they never believed to receive eternal life to begin with.
Gary
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