Recently on the Christian Faith Radio Hour we have been covering the parable of the sower. This parable shows us that we have received the divine seed, which is the word of the kingdom (Matt. 13:19) and the word of God (Luke 8:11). But, how well this seed will grow within us, and whether or not it will eventually yield the fruit that the Lord as the “Sower” desires, depends entirely on the condition of our heart as the soil. The lesson here is that, if we desire to grow spiritually, we must deal with our heart before the Lord. This is a very sober matter.

Looking into this parable, I was struck with how we see this same thought presented, not as a parable, but in plain words, in the Epistles.

Peter tells us that we have been regenerated, “not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Pet. 1:23). He then goes on to say:

Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow unto salvation.
— 1 Peter 2:1-2

Here we see the healthy, normal way to grow as Christians. Just as the parable of the sower indicates, we are first born anew by the word of God as the divine seed. Yet, we must then deal with the negative things in our being, for only then will we desire the genuine milk of word and thus be able to grow unto salvation.

Why do so many believers lose their hunger for God’s word after they have been saved for some time? Simply because they do not deal with the Lord, and allow the Lord to deal with them, to “put aside” the negative things in their being that frustrate the Lord’s work within them.

James says that God has brought us forth by “the word of truth” to be a kind of “firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18). Then a few verses later he states:

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
— James 1:21

So again we see that the word has, like a seed, been “implanted” into our being. But, even though it is already within us, we still need to receive it; that is, we still need to allow it to do its work within us, by putting away so many negative things. Then we will find that this implanted word is indeed able to “save our soul.”

And that is what all these passages are speaking of—not our initial regeneration, but the salvation of our soul. How we all need this salvation! How we need to be delivered, not just from God’s judgment, not from so many situations, but from all the negative things in our very own being!

And these passages also show us how to experience this salvation: by receiving the word of God into us as the living, divine seed, which is so operative (Heb. 4:12), and which has already been implanted into our being, and allowing it to do its work within us. This means coming to the Lord and dealing with Him in a very serious and sober way regarding all the things that He desires to touch and deal with in our soul.

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— 13 August 2022 —