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Parable of the Sower

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. ⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. ⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. ⁸ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

⁹ And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
¹⁰ But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. ¹¹ And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, ¹² so that

‘Seeing they may see and not perceive,
And hearing they may hear and not understand;
Lest they should turn,
And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”

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 4:3–20, NKJV)

Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸ For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Last Chance

⁶ He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. ⁷ Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ ⁸ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ” ” (Luke 13:6–9, NKJV)

Theology and Doctrine and Teaching is like a degree in Agriculture

It helps and can make a huge difference but is not in itself life-giving. It’s only useful when applied to a fruitful farm with rain and seed and everything else.

God gives the soil, the seed, and the rain.

The Garden of Eden was a garden and Adam was to keep it and extend it. There were trees as food and Life.

Grow

Everything god makes grows and increases in real terms or dies. Nothing remains static.

76 hits in the Bible.

Born Again  – Spiritual Seed

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.” ” (John 3:5–8, NKJV)

Vine and Branches

15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
” (John 15:1–11, NKJV)

Seed Remains alone

²³ But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. ²⁴ Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. ²⁵ He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

” (John 12:23–28, NKJV)

Even in the Garden of Eden the issue had been LIFE not splitting hair about right and wrong.

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” ” (Genesis 2:15–17, NKJV)

Creation Blessing

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

” (Genesis 1:27–29, NKJV)

One third of the Parables are organic/Farming Examples

 Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior

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 7:21–23, NKJV)

Forensic Justification

Traditionally, Reformed Theologians have taught forensic” (or legal) justification, a divine verdict of acquittal pronounced on the believing sinner. God declares the sinner to be “not guilty” because Christ has taken his place, living a perfect life according to God’s law and suffering for his sins.

One can try and describe a growing seed and life ito legal jargon, but it unfortunately breaks down, gets weird and loses power and meaning.

Salvation is a mystery in the Spirit.

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.” ” (John 3:5–8, NKJV)

The Bible is thick because of the Reality in 1 Cor 2:

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

” (1 Corinthians 2:10–16, NKJV)

Many Reformed Christians view “salvation by faith” as signing a legal contract after which they have some guarantees and a few arbitrary obligations.

This thinking brings:

• false assurances
• vague undefined responsibilities
• extra-biblical terminology
• lack of clear direction and unction
• declining spiritual growth curve

This view stems largely from the very legal nature of the early reformers’ doctrine on justification. They had a desperate struggle with the Roman Catholic Church and got entangled in an immense amount of technicalities and extra-biblical jargon.

One might understand why they did not adopt a peaceful farmer-type analogy, so this is not aimed at criticizing them for the magnificent work they did accomplish. That was in 1500 however and we don’t have to stay there.

Many Modern theological arguments do not sound like the parables of Jesus. They sound a lot more like legal technical set pieces in a supreme court.

There is some value in this, but it is not the obvious way the Bible talks about salvation.

How many times do Jesus and Paul say: “Don’t worry, as long as you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior once in the past all is OK? Really? Is that the feeling you get when reading the parables or all the admonitions?

If one also believes Christ’s many parables and pictures of seed that is sown, that germinates in your heart and then grows in one’s heart over time, it will change how you live.  Instead of theological debates becoming legal bunfights, they would be more like neighboring farmers sharing wisdom and strategies for bringing more fruit to maturity.

About Post Author

Rolf Thielen

rolf.thielen@gmail.com

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