163. Bible Questions: The parable of the soils -- How many soils are saved?

E163:  Bible Questions:  The parable of the soils – how many soils are saved?

In the baseball world, he's called a five tool player and he's rare he can hit power, hit field, run, and throw. I think I've got myself a five tool wife. She's smart, talented, hardworking, beautiful, and loves people. We've been married for 32 years. Many have told me I married above myself. My wife normally drops in on my students' classes at least once during the year, once they've met her and she leaves, I often tell my boys, students, Hey guys, let me give you some pointers. If you want to win a woman like that, you need a strategy. So let me give it to you. I pursued her. Then when it was time to pop the question I got down on one knee and I told her how much I loved her, probably even more than my main hobby, which I knew she'd want me to keep as a priority in my life.

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I told her she was the one for me, more than those other girlfriends before her, several of which I then named and said, I want to keep these on the side, his friends who just happened to be girls. I said, I'd try to be there for those special events, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, the birth of our kids, unless I was too busy or I forgot. I promised I would be your partner and we'd make decisions together. Of course, if there ever was a disagreement, someone had to break the tie and that would be me. She smiled, looked me in the eyes and said, what girl could ever say no to that? My seventh and eighth grade students are savvy enough to know I'm making that up.

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00:01:34

That's just not how you win a five tool, a woman. And I've tried very hard not to say things like that since we got married and where I've been too busy or forgot something that was special to her, I've been pretty quick to run to her and ask for forgiveness. That's how a five tool woman like my bride should be cherished, which brings me to the question I attempted to answer in the last two episodes. Can I know if I'm saved, that's a bit like asking. Can I know if I'm married, then we got to the question. Can I lose my salvation? Can I fall or walk away? Well with marriage, all my students know that can happen. All have been impacted in some way by divorce.

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I use that analogy because marriage is an appropriate way to explain our salvation, how it's gained, and if it can be lost from cover to cover in the Bible, our father and savior desire, a relationship as we learned in Solomon's best song in episode 60 and in Paul's letter to the Ephesians in episode 1 37, the marriage of a man and woman glued together in an exclusive covenantal relationship is to be the greatest word picture of our fathers and our Savior's relationship with us. When can I know if I am saved or once saved, can I lose that? Salvation comes up as questions in my classroom or in church circles.

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I run in more than not. It boils down to the real question underneath it all. How weak can a relationship be or more crassly put, what can I get away with in how I live my life and still be in a covenantal relationship with a holy God or going back to my opening proposal? How much of my old life, my hobbies, my loves my selfish baggage. Can I keep and still be United to God? At the end of the last episode, I said in asking how secure our salvation is, we're usually asking the wrong question. We should be asking when a five tool, God offers a covenantal eternal relationship to us, one tool centers.

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And when he goes through what he had to go through to propose it to us, why would we cut corners? If you've been listening through the word pictures series, you know, what kind of God offers us this relationship and what the Bible says about us? The one he proposes it to, and you know, the price that it came at, if you've not been following word pictures or you're new to this understanding Christianity thing, I urge you to at least listen to episode one 16, the crucifixion of Jesus in offering her future. To me as my wife, my wife gave up many things, the attention of many men for my soul attention, her well-planned out future her last name, her body in offering a future to us.

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Jesus gave up far more with that. As a perspective in this episode, I want to look at what our savior says about that relationship, our salvation. I want to look at a Jesus story. The story of the soils it's told in Matthew, mark and Luke, that makes it unique. No other parable is told in all three of those gospels. It's also unique in another way, as we learned in episode 98, most parables have one central truth and the details don't really matter in this parable of the sower, the seed in the soils, Jesus turns it into an allegory. He says the details matter a whole bunch.

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Here's Jesus' parable of the sower and the seed. This is Mark's version. Listen to this. Jesus said behold, a sower went out to sow as he was sowing. Some seeds fell beside the road and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on Rocky ground, where it did not have much soil and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And when the sun had risen, it was scorched. And because it had no root it withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns and the thorns came up and choked it and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil. And as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produce 30, 60, and a hundred times as much.

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00:05:51

And Jesus was saying, he who has ears to hear, let him hear a short time later. Jesus explains to his disciples, the parable first, he sort of scolds them saying, do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all parables? Jesus explains the sower, sows the word. These are the ones who are beside the road, where the word is sown. And when they hear immediately, Satan comes and takes away the word, which has been sown in them. And in a similar way, these are the ones sown with seed on the Rocky places who, when they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. And yet they have no firm root in themselves, but they are only temporary.

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Then when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word immediately, they fall away and others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things enter and choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil. And they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit 30, 60, and a hundred times as much back to our two questions. Can I know if I'm saved and once saved, can I lose it? These questions are not new. Jesus is addressing the same questions.

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The disciples had those questions and today throw a bunch of Bible students in a room with this passage. And the conversation will quickly turn to this. How many of those soils are saved? There might be one in the room. Who'll say all four of those soils represent saved people. It's not the heart response of the soil, but the love of the sower and the power of the seed that matters. They'll say God wants all his kids back. And they're right. They'll point to Jesus words on the cross to tell us tie paid and full God. So loved the world that Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world, but others in the room will answer back to them.

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00:08:00

I appreciate that. But Jesus said many other things that would indicate while everyone's sin, debt was paid in full many choose to never agree to have that payment applied to their sin debt account. Others in the room will say only one is saved. They'll say, if you're a true believer in a relationship with God, you will bear fruit. If you don't have fruit UA and his, regardless of what you think you did, but others in the room we'll press them with questions. Like what kind of fruit, if you listen carefully, you'll hear only one. Soil is saved. People respond with a list of chores, things that they do to maintain a relationship with God.

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00:08:42

These chores are not deep. Character changes their chores. As an aside. My love language is serving. Chores are always my default when it comes to my bride, but that's not what my wife wants. Her love language is quality time. She feels cherished, not when I do chores for her, but when I chill out with her, there are more than a few vivid statements from God, the father and Jesus, the son that would suggest quality time, not chores is God's love. Language to others will push these only one. Soil is saved people further with questions like who's judging the fruit or that.

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00:09:24

Notice the crop in everyone is different 30, 60, and a hundred fold. They might also point out Jesus' words at the end of the sermon on the Mount. Sometimes people with the right words and even demonstrating powerful works in Jesus' name are, as my skateboarding, sons would say posers, most people discussing the parables of the sower, the seed and the soils will be two or three soil. Christians. They will say, you can go all in on Jesus. Then wither when the four better for riches and in health morphs to, for worse in poverty and in sickness, or you can be choked out by the cares of this world.

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00:10:09

As you both work to pay for that big house, drag the kids to practices, volunteer at your church and try to do with excellence, that long laundry list of things you think you got to do and do well. You might want to listen to episode 1 57, 2 and three soil people to reduce the guilt point to Jesus' parable about the wheat and tares Jesus himself said it's hard to distinguish true believers from the posers. Paul also gave those of us in this camp that we can wither or be choked out as Christ followers, a term to cluster around carnal, Christians who have just reverted to fleshly priorities.

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00:10:52

It's not what God wants. We agree, but we still belong to God notice I'm using the term. We hear, honestly, I feel like choked out by the cares of this world is a pretty good summary of my five-plus decades. Following Jesus. My class of students are divided on this question, how many soils are saved? And as we learned in episodes, 1 61 and 1 62, there's good reason for the confusion. But when I ask a follow-up question to my students, which response of these four soils represents what God, our father and Jesus, our savior want from all those who go all in it's unanimous, always.

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00:11:36

He wants us to bear fruit. That fruit is deep character changed from hanging around Jesus daily, intimately. I asked my students if they know, or have ever seen an old couple who are happily married 50 years, or I asked them, did they ever look alike? Did they smell alike from their clothes hanging together? Do they finish each other's sentences? Jesus said, that's what happens when we are connected intimately to him over the long haul. And by the way, that's what I want with my five tool wife, not what I can get by with, and still stay married, but what I can do daily to have a relationship like that when I'm a really old geezer, she's worth a relationship like that.

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00:12:25

And so is our savior. If I can put on my pastor hat for just a moment, if an intimate connection to Jesus is not true of your life right now, why don't you do what I do with my bride? When I realize I'm not living her out as my highest human priority and joy, I go to her, I own it. And I receive her forgiveness. And honestly it makes us stronger. She is so worth it. And so is Jesus.