There is a lot of this Going Around
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 (trial or testing) fall away. (Luke 8:13 NKJV)
There are Four Classes of People
1. Those who hear and have the word stolen away by Satan.
2. Those who receive the word as though it were good news but trial or temptation causes them “to believe for a while.”
3. Those who hear the word, but they allow the world and its cares and riches to crowd out the word.
4. Those who hear and believe and prove it by bringing forth fruit. This is not the fruit of the spirit. This is a duplication of their faith. Corn produces corn. Beans produce beans. Christians produce Christians.
What about those who Believe for a While?
I am a firm believer in the once saved, always saved doctrine. I believe in eternal security. I believe that to be saved we have to have confidence in the Lord and His promises and His promises never change. Paul says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17 NKJV).” The Lord says, ““Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life (John 5:24 NKJV).” John the apostle says, “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 (1 John 5:13 NKJV).”
There are those who seem to think that a believer can “fall away” and lose their salvation. That is, they can quit believing. The scriptures that are often used to advance this idea would deny the right of a person like this the ability to ever believe again (See Hebrews 6:4-6). However, this verse in Hebrews is referring to the nation of Israel who had all kinds of blessings including the presence of the Holy Spirit and then turned away. It is not dealing with the individual that “believes for a while.”
Once we receive the Lord as Savior we become children of God. I don’t believe you can be saved or born again over and over again, just as you cannot be born physically over and over again. But of course different children grow in different ways and have different personalities. Thus we can have doubts (the fiery doubts of the wicked one) as believers. The word of God that saved us is the same word that will confirm us in our faith when Satan comes along with his ability to question everything we truly believe. While Satan can attack a Christian and cause doubts, Satan can never convince a true Christian that Christ was an impostor nor can he convince them that Christ did not die for them. Normally Christians have doubts about their salvation when they do something that they think Christians should not do. Satan then attacks them (in their mind) by saying, “Ah Hah, and you say you are a Christian!” Then the word of God that said that Christ died for their sins (all of them, past, present and future) will be the Word that reassures them of their salvation. But a person who says they believe without any true conviction about their sin or the value of the death of Christ, may appear to “believe for a while.” Or the person who believes what another person tells them rather than what God says may “believe for a while.” Or a person who is told to do something to be saved may question whether they have done what they did “right” and may “believe for a while.”
Assurance
I believe that those “who believe for a while” never really trusted in the Lord Jesus. When we find out that 2 and 2 makes four, that truth never changes. When we find out that gravity always works, particularly when we trip and fall, that truth never changes. When we realize that Christ died for our sins, that truth never changes. We need to quit believing in our believing and start believing in the promises of the Bible. They never change. Remember our believing never made anything true, but when we find out something is true, it is hard not to believe it.
Let’s make sure we are convinced that as sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:6). We don’t need to worry about that truth ever changing.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of January 16, 2022