2019 Updated Soil study (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8)

https://www.incpu.org/Mt13-Parable-of-Soils-study.htm

https://www.incpu.org/Mt13-Parable-of-Soils-study.pdf

Hello brothers and sisters in Christ (and friends),

Welcome to another SOD (Snapshots of a Disciple) study. I'm Steven Henry. Today's topic is taking a look at the most foundational parable that Jesus ever taught - the "Parable of the Soils" (also mis-labeled the "Parable of the Sower"). And that's not based on my words - that's what He said. Remember, a parable is a literal teaching on deep spiritual topics from a real-life example. It's not just some fanciful story - it's strong teaching with things we will have to grow in obeying or will be rejecting.

So, why is this parable so important? Good question. Jesus answers that in Mark 4. "¹³ And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The Sower sows the Word. ..." (Mark 4:13-14) The best way to understand deep texts is to compare the gospels - which is something that lazy American so-called "pastors" refuse to do. God's Word is the best dictionary and commentary for His Word (the Bible). So, if you're trying to understand a text, the answers are in the Bible. Today we have so many books of men about God's Word, but 95+% of those are *not* helpful. An easy way to tell the difference is if they are questioning God's Word or trying to get the reader to question God's Word, or if they are trying to pretend that some passages are "hard to understand" because they "appear to be contradicting one another". If you know that the Author of the Bible, used 40 humans as pens to write out 60+ books, then you realize very quickly that God will *not* contradict Himself, for He is not a man that He should lie or deceive (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29) - satan and greedy humans do lie and deceive all day, every day. When they reduce God's Word to stories or wise "sayings" just like every other sage or "wise man", they are themselves liars contradicting God's Word, for He Himself says "Thus says the Lord" in various ways - over 3000 times throughout Scripture. In contrast, the Bible teachers that are honest will point you back to God's Word as the sole authority, not to another book to prove their "theory" or "teaching" or the writings of another man or his theories or musings and subjective "interpretation" of God's Word. The most a human can be is be an under-shepherd under Christ rightly dividing the Word of Truth and saying "Thus says the Lord. Now grow in obeying it." So, always - always - always, use the Bible to interpret the Bible. That principle is true in this passage as well. Let's take a look.

In Matthew 13, a little after Jesus told the Parable of the Soils, His disciples, including the 12, were asking Him what the Parable meant. Jesus first noted that those who choose sin are willfully blinding themselves, though they rarely realize how much they are doing so. And then He explained the Parable. In Mark 4, we see that He filled in a very key detail before He explained the Parable. If you were to compare side-by-side the 3 passages found in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 13, you will see the whole panorama picture, a you will see that the truth is plain as day, not a subjective theory about the gospel.

If you are not familiar with this passage, I suggest that you pause reading/hearing this Bible study for just a minute, and take several minutes to read the Parable of the Soils and its explanation from Jesus. The passages can be found here: Matthew 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; and Luke 8:11-18. Once you've read that, you are invited to come back here for some simple and literal analysis - comparing God's Word with God's Word.

So, after telling the Parable of the Soils, Jesus then tells us that this is the most important of all parables/teachings. Why? Jesus very condensed wording gives us the keys to look for in the explanation of the Parable. Let's look at it again. "¹³ And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The Sower sows the Word. ..." (Mark 4:13-14) Jesus' answer is found in both His question to make the disciples think (Yes He does that often), and in His next reply. How then will you understand all of the parables - that's a huge statement. He's saying this isn't just the "key" so to speak, to understand the parables, this "parable" is the foundation of the gospel message. You see that? So, this parable or literal word-picture is the foundation to understanding the difference between saved and unsaved, as well as "almost-saved" and "genuinely saved". Make sense? Good. Let's now look at the 3 explanations compared side-by-side to see deeper. One key for you to remember here: the word "covenant" is going to be a huge factor in understand this foundational parable, *and* to understand the gospel.

"¹⁸ Therefore hear the parable of the Sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. ²⁰ But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he stumbles. ²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the Word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the Word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." (Matthew 13:18-23)

"¹³ And He said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The Sower sows the Word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones by the wayside where the Word is sown. When they hear, satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. ¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. ¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the Word, ¹⁹ and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the Word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.'" (Mark 4:13-20)

"¹¹ Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God. ¹² 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. ¹³ But the ones on the 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. ¹⁴ Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." (Luke 8:11-15)

In the 3 texts above, you will notice that I capitalized the words "Sower" (because that is Jesus) and the word "Word" (because that is referring to the Bible and God's Word). Also, remember I said a little earlier that I call this the Parable of the Soils, and yet the English seems to make it seem to be the "Parable of the Sower", that has to do with the faulty understanding (or more often, non-caring) of the Bible translators. You see, the word for "Sower" [speirontos] has a dual-meaning and can be translated as "Sower sowing seed" or "Soils receiving the seed". If you read and understand this key Parable, you will quickly see that the results of crop of good fruit or no crop at all had nothing to do with the Sower - meaning Jesus, but had to do with the heart receiving/obeying the gospel message and call to them. So, I call this the "Parable of the Soils" because it puts the focus where Jesus did - on the "hearer". Remember, Jesus said this in a variety of places: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:23...) You will find that all through the gospels, as well as the 7 letters that Jesus dictated Word for Word to John in Revelation 2 and 3. So, when we are sharing the gospel with someone, we need to realize that God is using us as another voice to argue with the wayward heart of the hearer/soil about their need to give their life fully to Christ, and to not treat the grace of God as something cheap to be trampled on and taken lightly as they go back to their favorite sins (Hebrews 10:29). No, salvation is a covenant - we are either in, or out, we can't be half-way. And that's a good segue to our next topic - what is the salvation covenant?

I love this question, because when people get it right from Scripture, their whole world clicks - sadly, thanks to the wolves in most American pulpits, they rarely even know to ask this question, much less what is the world a covenant is. So, let's start it this way. Who here knows that marriage (Biblical union between 1 man/husband and 1/lady his wife) is a covenant? Good. What does that covenant mean? Two hearts growing as one, same direction and plan in life, working as a team, and becoming intimate help-mates and soul-mates for each other, for life, with God as their Referee, right? Right. Both the husband and wife (1 man + 1 woman, the rest is *not* marriage) becoming one. That means setting aside time to get to know each other, and setting aside time to hear out the other person, and it also means sharpening each other's focuses to make sure they are aiming at focusing and doing things that are eternally good, not just "fun" and/or chasing the temporary trinkets ("treasures") and sin-pleasures and sin-entertainment of this life - amen? That's what it means to be in a "covenant". Biblical marriage is not a contract where each person keeps back some things from the other person - it's 100% (or as close to as possible) from both sides. If you have to protect yourself from your spouse because of constant physical abuse or yelling (etc), you need to consider maybe separation for a time, and find a counselor who only uses the Bible, not demonic psychology books and teachings. Biblical marriage also means giving beyond our comfort level - it's called sacrificial agape/love (Ephesians 5:25). And, also note that arguments are a necessary part of this - you can't talk things through, especially if they are very different perspectives and upbringings (childhoods) without arguments. Just be careful to handle each other in love and come back and apologize for anything said wrong, and build from there. Marriage, the way God made it, is a mutual journey, sharing life and souls and secrets, and growing closer and more hearts more inter-twined, one day at a time. Singles need to be preparing themselves for that, but married couples need to be growing in that, and Romans 7, 1st Corinthians 7, Ephesians 5, Colossians 3 and Hebrew 13 are just a few of the passages where God's Word talks to married couples. Galatians 5 and 1st Corinthians 13 also help, but they also apply to all people in all situations - including several different boundary types to keep and hold people at different levels of friendship. So, that's the short of it - the rest will have to be for a later study (and I have some of that teaching and those verses in other studies. If you want it, just ask - Steven.H3(at)gmail . com]

So, that's what a covenant is. Did you realize that Jesus Himself said that salvation is a covenant? He said it in his last night with His disciples, including the 12. "²⁸ For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28) And that's what we'll find in this text in just a minute. But first, let me ask you something. Have you ever seen (or heard of) someone starting to buy a house, and they signed some things, maybe even made a few payments, and then canceled the contract? Yes, me too. How about someone who did that with buying a car? Or other things. They started to buy it, and then said - never mind, I don't want that. That also happens in engagement. Some people get engaged to be married, and then find out that the person they were thinking about marrying is not what they wanted or what they expected, and they end the engagement toward marriage - a very healthy thing to do, rather than rush into a wrong marriage with the wrong person. Those examples can be very easily used to give some sort of word-picture to the eternal salvation covenant too. You see, many start toward salvation, then decide that they don't want to follow Jesus, they just wanted to get things from Him, and they cancel the arrangement - never getting saved, just almost. We will see that in the Parable Jesus told in just a minute. Let's look at a few other verses on this, then look at our text.

"²⁶ If anyone comes to Me and does not hate [or literally loving less that Jesus] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- ²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' ³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. ³³ So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26-33)

> Why is that passage not referred to in the gospel presentation? Jesus' own teaching says there is a cost to salvation, but money cannot pay that cost. The cost is Jesus gave up everything to come down and pay for your sins - He won't accept a half-hearted offer of adding Him onto your life and your favorite sins, because sins cause you and me to mis-treat Him. So, it's an either/or - either we hold our sins and mistreat God and one day get punished for all of our crimes against God and man in our willful rebellion... or we accept Jesus' free gift of salvation and make a life-long and eternity-long covenant to live or die for Christ, and to let Him teach us (step by step) to walk and grow in holiness. Without that, no one can ever get to Heaven. But don't take my word for it - let's look at Jesus' teaching here in His most important Parable/word-picture. Another way I find it helpful to say this is - Jesus gave up everything to die on the cross to pay for sins, but the fact that He died doesn't save us. It will cost us everything to follow Him - money can't buy it, but it will cost us. If we accept that cost and press forward into that covenant with Christ, at some point the Holy Spirit will let us know that we are indeed saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit. But the first time someone says a simplistic "prayer" doesn't get anyone saved - it just starts them forward closer to God. But, those who are in Christ and genuinely His adopted children, they love the Lord and don't want to go back to the sins that He brought them out of, for they are learning to love the truth and the purity of holiness, instead of the conscience-chaffing consequences of sin with the wrath of God hanging over them for their willful rebellion and crimes against God and humans. Nothing can compare with a clear conscience and untainted fellowship with God. It's something that will last into eternity - don't miss it.

Okay, let's look at the soils - notice there are 6 of them, because the "thirty-fold, sixty-fold and hundred-fold" are 3 types, they shouldn't be lumped together.

First soil - flat rejects obedience to the truth, loves sins - keeps losing truth the more they harden their hearts in sin.

> " When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside." (Matthew 13:19)

> "¹⁵ And these are the ones by the wayside where the Word is sown. When they hear, satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts." (Mark 4:13)

> "¹² 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." (Luke 8:12)

-- Short Review notes: Hardened heart to obedience to Christ, when they hear the call to turn from sin and follow Christ - they flatly reject it. Some of them can be saved, but it usually takes some catastrophe for God to break their proud rebellion cycle and get them to think about if they really want to enter Hell and the Lake of Fire for their intentional (and wrong) willful rebellion against God.

Second soil - has so much love of this world and unwillingness to fully surrender to Christ that they stop short at the easy - easy look like Christian, easy say a few Biblical words, but if the pressure rises much at all to require them to choose between their selfish wants and Jesus - they run to sin and from Jesus.

> "²⁰ But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he stumbles." (Matthew 13:20-21)

> "¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble." (Mark 4:16-17)

> "¹³ But the ones on the 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 8:13)

-- Short review notes: You will notice that our clumsy English texts can't figure out if it was "stony places" or "stony ground" or seed sown "on the rock". The Greek word there is a form of the word for "rock" that many of us know as "Petra". While Matthew and Mark use the word "petrode", Luke uses the word "petran". But the subject is the same. You see, in Jesus' Parable, this clearly is not identical to the previous one because Jesus is not repeating Himself. Jesus repeats Himself when He needs to, but this is not one of those. But to understand it, you have to understand a little about soils. The "rocky soil" as all 3 texts are describing is a section of soil that appears to be tilled and usable soil on the top, but has a section of rock underneath, making this soil very shallow. Obviously the rock under the soil was not easy to till or break up before the planting began, so it's a little soil above a layer of rock, or rocks. That soil cannot sustain much life, because it's shallow. Same with the person's heart who comes to God with pre-conditions. They love Jesus and the idea of a fresh new start... but they don't know Jesus, nor are they willing to obey or follow His ways. They apparently love His love or grace or mercy or forgiveness or something similar, but when they come across the need to "forsake all and follow Him", they stop. And they look around for any other alternative, and then they "fall away" or leave the assembly of the brethren and the Bible behind, because they love the passing pleasures of sin instead of God (Romans 1:22-25 ; Titus 3:3; Hebrews 11:25; James 4:1-4; 1st John 2:15-17; 1st John 2:19).

Third soil - This soil is harder to identify - they look almost Christian. You see, this type has a good amount of soil, and they show an interest in God - more than others, and certainly more than the pagan world. They seem to show measured growth... but eventually they stop and abandon their faith. In today's American society, some call them "back-slidden", but they never "slid" forward - they never made salvation theirs - they are the truest example of the huge difference between "almost saved" and "genuinely saved". Why did they "fall away"? What happened? They never got rid of the cares of this world in their hearts. They never exercised self-control and grew in becoming dead to sin and sin-pleasures and alive to Jesus (Romans 6 and 8). They never fully counted the cost - they started toward Jesus, but then stopped at some point and "plateau-ed", never entering into that covenant with Christ.

> "²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the Word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful." (Matthew 13:22)

> "¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the Word, ¹⁹ and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful." (Mark 4:18)

> "¹⁴ Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. " (Luke 8:14)

-- Short review notes: This type of heart/soil hangs around a lot longer, but never becomes truly saved. This type of false convert or "almost saved" person holds the position of "pastor" or "clergy" and preaches behind pulpits. They hold seminary/cemetery degrees and are known as "Sunday School teachers" and even, "Seminary professors". Some of them are known as world-renowned "Christian leaders" and "heroes of the faith"... and yet their lifestyle and their love of money shows where they really are. Remember, Jesus said it this way: "²⁴ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24) The word "mammon" Biblically defined would include everything that leads a heart back to sin and away from God - everything from this world's temporary glittery trinkets that the unsaved hoards up for themselves here on earth, and includes the "fun" sin-pleasures that this world says we need to "chase", because "you only live once"... and then the Judgment, where you will stand before Holy God and give account of your intentional sins and crimes against God and humans. Prepare for that day, and you won't be ashamed. And watch out for "pastors" or other spiritual leaders who refuse to kick sin out of their life and conversations, and who entertain themselves with the pride sins and trash on the TV, books, movies, and games. 1st Timothy 3, 2nd Timothy 3 and 4m 2nd Peter and Jude teach very clearly how to identify a wolf pretending to be a "spiritual shepherd" - you will know them by their works and deeds, especially the evil ones they hide and do in secret. One day God will reveal all of their evil deeds and judge them fully. But even here on planet Earth, God is also the One who exposes their deeds so that many can see them for what they really are - liars who do things for pride, fame, money/possessions, and sin-pleasures. God Himself says that He exposes them so that all can see it here on Earth somewhat too: "... ⁸ Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; ⁹  but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was." (2 Timothy 3:8-9)

Fourth soil - These produce, in Jesus' words "thirty-fold". Identifying how much spiritual fruit a person is producing can be harder because we have a lot of fakes who like to boast about how "spiritual" they are, while they walk in gross sins. But a true believer isn't doing that - they aren't trying to show off. They are just doing ministry with the authority from Scripture that God gives them. This is the lowest of the 3 examples Jesus gave, but it is by no means "small" when compared to harvest percentages back them. Sowing and reaping in Jesus' day was very hard and manual - there were no modern machines as we see so much today (some of those are helpful, and some are not). Still in all, sowing and reaping was all done by hand by the farmer and his friends or the laborers he would hire. Now, farming also has it's hard issues - then and now. You see, the ground needs to be broken up in time, and they hoped that the winter would end on schedule (or close to) so they could plant seed. And then they prayed for rain, and tried to keep the animals away that would dig up the seeds and eat them. And then they prayed/hoped the rain would hold off long enough to harvest the seed, because the rain would wash the crop and start it molding - meaning a huge loss. Also the amount planted to amount produced was harder too. You see, the ideal output from a crop would be between 8 to 10 times what was planted. And that was the high end - usually it didn't go that well. But Jesus didn't even use ten-fold. He used the words "thirty-fold, sixy-fold, and hundred-fold". We are talking about a *HUGE* increase and productive crop. Jesus' point to this is very simple - the genuinely saved are producing good fruit, the "almost saved" are not producing much - you can know them by their fruit.

> "²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the Word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: ..., some thirty." (Matthew 13:23)

> "²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the Word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold...'" (Mark 4:13-20)

> "¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." (Luke 8:11-15)

-- Short review notes: As you can see, the good trees produce good fruit, and the bad trees produce bad fruit, as the Bible says. "¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Matthew 7:17-19) Jesus is clearly teaching us and promising us that God will not let His adopted children produce bad fruit - if we are submitting to His teaching and turning from sin more and more, He will work out the details to use the things we do and go through to turn others towards Him too - that's part of what Matthew 6:33 and Romans 8:28 are teaching as well.

But speaking of which, what is good or bad fruit? You can find a lot of details about it in examples throughout Scripture, like in Galatians 5, and 2nd Peter 1:5-11. Simply put, good fruit is growth in holiness, and the boldness in inspiring and calling people to turn from sins to Jesus. As the person matures in the Lord and His Bible, that man or woman will produce more spiritual fruit - but the world will try hard to never recognize them. Bad fruit is similar in description, but the opposite direction - the bad trees are trying to downplay sin as no big deal, and they not only practice sin, but encourage others to do so as well, as they crash deeper and deeper into the 4 downhill levels described in Romans 1:18-32 and Galatians 5, and 6:7-9. In this world, we are not standing still - we are either growing *toward* God and moving away from sin, or we are growing more hardened in sin, and moving away from God. Those are the only two options.

Fifth soil - another good soil, this one produces sixty-fold of good fruit.

> "²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the Word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: ..., some sixty,..." (Matthew 13:23)

> "²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the Word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.'" (Mark 4:20)

> "¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." (Luke 8:15)

Sixth soil - another good soil, this one produces a hundred-fold of good fruit.

> "²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the Word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold..." (Matthew 13:23)

> "²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the Word, accept it, and bear fruit: ..., and some a hundred.'" (Mark 4:20)

> "¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." (Luke 8:15)

-- Short review notes: Are you producing good fruit? Are you turning people from sin to Jesus? God says that is the wisest thing we can ever do.

"³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise." (Proverbs 11:30)

"¹⁹ Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)

Last question before our conclusion - What about OSAS? For those of you who don't know, here in America we have an overwhelming amount of wolves and false teachers - even the "conservative" ones. The honest ones are always persecuted and side-lines. And among the many different types of false teachings and false gospels, we have something called "OSAS". That stands for "Once Saved Always Saved". What that simply means is that if you said "I believe in Jesus" or joined a group where Jesus-loving people gather and said a simple "sinner's prayer", then you're "saved" and then you are promptly told not to "doubt your salvation from now on". That teaching is half-right and half-wrong. You see, we *can* know that we are saved, but as we've seen very clearly from Jesus' teachings in this study, that we *cannot* be saved simply by saying a few words, especially when we don't even know what it means or are ready to give our lives fully to Christ. Let's look at Scriptures to make this more clear.

Jesus Himself said that we can know that we are saved. Here are some verses.

"¹⁵ 'If you love Me, keep My commandments'... ²¹ 'He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him...' ²³ Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.'" (John 14:15, 21, 23-24)

Jesus is making it very clear that we can have the Holy Spirit inside of us - but not everyone who hears the Holy Spirit has the Holy Spirit, and no this has nothing to do with the false teachings about demonic "tongues" that have invaded America - that is special demonic false-teaching of its own. Jesus explained this again in John 3, to Nicodemus in the middle of the night. "⁵ Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." ⁹  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" ¹⁰  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you a prominent teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ¹¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, We [Triune God] speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you Heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended to Heaven but He who came down from Heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in Heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."" (John 3:15-21) -- Just a note - the whole gospel message is found in tight passages such as John 3:16-21 - and that is one of my favorites as well as Mark 8:34-38.

Jesus said it again in John 10. "²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. ³⁰ I and My Father are one." (John 10:27-30) This passage is also very helpful as proof that Jesus said extremely clearly many times that He is God. But, aside from that, you see again (3 different times), Jesus is teaching us that we *can* have the sealing of the Holy Spirit - different from those who lived before Jesus. Jesus explains that more in John 14 and 15. But other passages in the New Testament say this too.

"¹³ In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)

"³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:30)

"¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." (1st John 5:13)

So... what's the problem? Good question, Jesus explains that too.

"¹³ Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. ¹⁵  "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves... ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them. ²¹ Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' ²³ And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:13-15, 20-23)

And again: "³⁴ When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. ³⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? ³⁷ Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."" (Mark 8:34-38)

And again: "²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets... ⁴⁰ A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher... ⁴⁶ But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:26, 40, 46)

Short conclusion - we can know that we are saved, but it doesn't come quickly or easily. It takes effort to strive to enter that covenant as Jesus taught. And that's why He taught: "²³ Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them, ²⁴ "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' ²⁶ then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' ²⁷ But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' " (Luke 13:24-27)

Short conclusion: I have studied this Parable for many years of my life, and I intend to keep studying, because Jesus said it was His foundation for all of His Parables and teachings. I hope and pray I have made it simple and plain from the text, in a way you can talk to God about your salvation and then plead with others to get saved through the covenant with Jesus Christ. If you want more, you can find my other study on the points of the gospel, where I quote a lot of verses, at this link: https://www.incpu.org/what-is-the-gospel(updated).pdf -- https://www.incpu.org/what-is-the-gospel(updated).htm. Thanks for joining me for this study. Please consider sharing this if you found it helpful. Email/message/comment if I can help more. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much that You love us. We can't earn it and we don't deserve it because we have all willfully offended You in many ways. Keep teaching us how to grow our relationship and covenant with You, and from that to turn others from sin to Jesus. Please also keep growing us in hunger for Your Word and with Your wisdom to understand it. We love You and thank You and praise You. In Jesus' Name, amen.

-- a free Bible study and resource from Snapshots of a Disciple (SOD), a free online and Bible study printing ministry.