70 myths about losing salvation. Myth No: 1 Parable of the Sower Luke 8:13

Recently I found an interesting blog which states that we can lose our salvation in 70 ways. Below is the list of way we “allegedly” will lose our salvation: 

1. stop believing.  Luke 8:13. See below.

2. harden your heart Heb 3:12, and deny Him AFTER having escaped the pollutions of this world through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and your latter end can become worse than before you knew Him. 2Pet 2:20-22. Answer here: https://hischarisisenough.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/70-myths-about-losing-salvation-myth-no-2-hardening-your-heart-hebrews-312-13-3/

3. draw back unto perdition instead of believing to the saving of the soul. Heb 10:39. Answer here: https://hischarisisenough.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/70-myths-about-losing-salvation-myth-3-and-20-you-can-lose-your-salvation-if-you-shrink-back-and-when-you-sin-willfully-3/

4. depart from the faith you once possessed by giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. 1Tim 4:1

5. turn aside unto satan. 1Tim 5:15

6. make shipwreck of your faith and blaspheme God 1Tim 1:19-20

7. get spewed out of the body of Christ Rev 3:16

8. fail to yield to grace and sell your birthright for one morsel of meat  Heb 12:16

9. become a castaway after having preached to others if you won’t keep your body under subjection to God 1Cor 9:27

10 become worthless salt, good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden underfoot of men Matt 5:13

11. be cut off as a worthless branch; withered, hewn down, and cast into the fire if you don’t bear good fruit and abide in Christ  Mat 3:10; Matt 7:19; John 15:6

12. have your candlestick removed out of it’s place Rev 2:5

13. be cast into a bed of adultery with false teachers and killed with death if you won’t repent of fornication with the doctrine Jezebel Rev 2:20-23

(somehow 14 is left out)

15. begin to teach doctrines that Jesus hates, causing both you and your students to fight against God. Rev 2:14-16

16. fail to overcome by not having an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches, and by not keeping Christ’s works to the end, and have your name blotted out of the book of life, and be hurt of the second death. Rev 2:11; 3:5

17. be delivered to satan for the destruction of the flesh 1Cor 5

18. be sent a strong delusion for not receiving the love of the truth and end up damned because of taking pleasure in unrighteousness. 2Thes 2:10-12

19. Grieve the Holy Spirit Eph 4:30

20. sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, and receive a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour God’s adversaries Heb 10:26

21. fail to resist the devil and devoured 1Pet 5:8; James 4:7; taken captive by him at his will to do his will  2Ti 2:26; Gal 5:1

21. be deceived by either false prophets/teachers, or by your own self because of not taking heed to do God’s will. Matt 24:4,5,11,23,24; James 1:22

22. let your lamp go out by failing to keep extra oil in your vessel, and be shut out of God’s kingdom. Matt 25:1-13

23. bury your gift under the earth (flesh) and not render to Jesus the fruit of what He planted in you, and get your gift taken from you and be cast out into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matt 25:14-30

24. depart from laboring with or even fellowshipping a true man of God by choosing to love this present evil world, even after ministering with him. 2Ti 4:10

25. call Jesus Lord and not do what he says to do. Luke 6:46; Titus 1:16; 1John 2:4

26. fail to forgive others as you have been forgiven, and get your original sin debt re-instated. Matt 18:20-35; 6:14-15

27. forsake the right way and go astray, following the way of Balaam, loving the wages of unrighteousness 2Pet 2:15

28. become a cursed child 2Pet 2:14

29. defile the Temple of God 1Cor 3:17; 2Thes 2:3-4; sneak damnable heresies into the church, such as turning grace into a license to sin, and deny the Lord that bought you, and bring upon yourself swift destruction. 2Pet 2:1; Jude 1:4

30. walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government, and die in your sins, being presumptuous and self-willed; having no fear of God to speak evil of people who are righteous. 2Pet 2:10

31. think you stand, yet fall. 1Cor 1:12

32. speak evil of the things you don’t understand and utterly perish in your own corruption. 2Pet 2:12

33. receive the reward of unrighteousness, like the unsaved 2Pe 2:13

34. become a Spot and a blemish, sporting yourself with your own deceivings while you feast with true brethren 2Pet 2:13

35. have eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin 2Pet 2:14

36. deceive other unstable souls 2Pet 2:14

37. exercise your heart with covetous practices 2Pet 2:14; Jer 6:13; Ezek 33:31; Luke 12:15; Rom 1:29

38. Become a well without water, a cloud carried about with a tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 2Pet 2:17

39. fail the grace of God and defile others with bitterness in your  heart Heb 12:15

40. speak great swelling words of vanity, alluring through the lusts of the flesh and much wantonness, those that were clean, and had escaped from them who live in error. 2Pet 2:18 By doing so, you can promise naïve, unstable souls liberty, while serving corruption yourself. 2Pet 2:14, 18-19

41. be overcome of evil and brought into bondage.Rom 12:21; 2Pet 2:19

42. turn aside to other gods after God did you good. Exo 32:8; Josh 24:20

43. be a rebellious child who covers with a covering but not of God’s spirit, so that you can feel good about adding sin to sin. Is 30:1

44. begin to say “peace and safety” to the wicked or your own unrepentant heart, and be unable to escape from sudden destruction. 1Thes 5:3; Jer 23:1; 11-17; 6:14; Isa 48:22

45. begin thinking that weekly attendance to a place you esteem as the “Temple of the Lord” is your license to lie, steal, commit abomination, and do every wicked thing, believing that you can’t do anything evil enough to cause you to lose salvation.  Jer 7:2-16

46. desire to return to the same or worse bondage that you were under before you met Jesus, and “go back to Egypt”. Heb 11:15; Act 7:39

47. begin to imagine that getting to church on time is more important than the poor and needy. James 2:1-9

48. exalt yourself, thinking of yourself as righteous and despise others Luke 18:9

49. turn from the holy commandments of Jesus Christ 2Pet 2:21

50. become as a dog who is turned to his own vomit again; and as a sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.  2Pet 2:22

51. err from the faith and become a sinner heading toward death. James 5:19-20

52. forsake your righteousness and do according to all the abominations of the wicked and die in sin. Ezek 18:24-26

53. be wearied and faint in your minds. Heb 12:3

54. yield to sin unto death Rom 6:16

55. trod under foot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant wherewith you were sanctified, an unholy thing, and do despite unto the Spirit of grace Heb 12:15

56. faint when the Lord rebukes you. Heb 12:3

57. become a bastard by refusing chastisment. Heb 12:8

58: become vain in your imaginations, and your foolish heart can become so dark you’ll profess to be wise while being a fool. Rom 1:18-32

59. be turned over to your own lust because of not receiving God’s chastening, and you can become a sodomite, even while knowing that those who do such things are worthy of death. You can take pleasure in those who do such evils. Rom 1:18-32

60. think that since you’re the elect, and that now that       you’ve been ‘sealed’, that doing all the above things can’t affect your salvation! Jude 1:4; Jer 23:17; Mal 2:17; Prov 24:24; Isa 5:23

61. lust after evil things and be killed by God 1Co 10:5

62. become an idolater 1Co 10:7

63. become a fornicator 1Cor 10:8

64. tempt Christ and be destroyed 1Cor 10:9

65. murmur and be destroyed of the destroyer. 1Cor 10:10

66: fail to take the way God gives you to escape temptation 1Cor 10:13

67. forsake the Lord and be consumed Deu 31:16; Jos 24:20; 1Ch 28:9; 2Ch 15:2; Isa 1:28; 2Ch 24:20; Isa 65:11; Jer 17:13; Deu 28:20; Deu 29:25; Jdg 10:10; 1Sa 12:10; 1Ki 18:18; 1Ki 19:10; 2Ch 12:5; 2Ch 13:11; 2Ch 21:10; 2Ch 24:24; 2Ch 28:6; 2Ch 29:6; Isa 1:4; Jer 2:17; Jer 2:19; Jer 5:19; Jer 9:13-16;  /  Jer 15:6; Jer 16:10-13; Jer 17:13; Jer 22:8-10; Jer 2:13

68.  receive the grace of God in vain.  2Cor 6:1

69. eat and drink the Word of the Lord unworthily, and so eat and drink damnation to yourself, not discerning the Lord’s body, since He is the Word of God. 1Cor 11:27-30

70. fail to make straight paths for one’s feet, so that his lame walk gets turned out of the way of the Lord, because he refused to receive correction and be healed. Heb 12:13

I believe to this author the list is not exhaustive. 

I must state my caveats 1st. The intention of this series of blog is NOT to refute BUT to explain in context what the verses which were use to support the writer’s contentions. This series of blogs are also not to demean NOR to prove him wrong. It is not even addressed to him but to many who share his views and as such are in a position of uncertainty. The point of this series of blogs is to give you an alternative view of what these verses mean and that you when reading this will be sure of the finished work of Christ. 

And so that being out of the way, let us hope, words which may amount to slander and accusations may not be used against the writer or against me. To use words such as “heresy”, “satanic” or “false prophet” is childish and not Christ minded. If you can call me that, I can also address the same. I am not interested in that. I am interested in all of us finding the truth. 

With that out of the way, let us look at ground No. 1. When we stop believing in Jesus and the text given is Luke 8:13. “¹³ Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”

It is imperative for us to note this is from the parable of the sower. 

The words in contention here is this “they believe for a while”. As such the argument goes these are believers and they had given up their believe and “fall away”. Hence they lost their salvation. 

It is thus imperative for us to find out what “fall away” means.

Now look at the context of Luke 8. What is the point of the parable? What was Jesus looking for in the parable. 

Let’s look against at the emphasis of what the Lord was making. 

First Luke 8

Darby Translation (DARBY)

8 And it came to pass afterwards that *he* went through [the country] city by city, and village by village, preaching and announcing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God; and the twelve [were] with him,

² and certain women who had been healed of wicked spirits and infirmities, Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

³ and Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to him of their substance.

⁴ And a great crowd coming together, and those who were coming to him out of each city, he spoke by parable:

⁵ The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the way, and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it up;

⁶ and other fell upon the rock, and having sprung up, it was dried up because it had not moisture;

⁷ and other fell in the midst of the thorns, and the thorns having sprung up with [it] choked it;

⁸ and other fell into the good ground, and having sprung up bore fruit a hundredfold. As he said these things he cried, He that has ears to hear, let him hear.

⁹ And his disciples asked him [saying], What may this parable be?

¹⁰ And he said, To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, in order that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

¹¹ But the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

¹² But those by the wayside are those who hear; then comes the devil and takes away the word from their heart that they may not believe and be saved.

¹³ But those upon the rock, those who when they hear receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a time, and in time of trial fall away.

¹⁴ But that that fell where the thorns were, these are they who having heard go away and are choked under cares and riches and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

¹⁵ But that in the good ground, these are they who in an honest and good heart, having heard the word keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

Here is some interesting facts. There are 4 types of ground. The first is not saved because Satan took the word away. The 2nd believe and then fell away. The 3rd got choked. The 4th bore fruit. 

Note very carefully read it again. Look at verse 12 “But those by the wayside are those who hear; then comes the devil and takes away the word from their heart that they may not believe and be saved” Having read this statement, how many of this 4 grounds are not saved? How many is not saved? 

Look carefully at what Jesus said. Only those is verse 12. Only 1 because they did not believe. 

The emphasis on the other grounds is whether the word bears fruit in them. It does not say they are not saved. 

The word” falling away” here is not even apostasy. It is a totally different word used in Hebrews 6 which is 

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παραπίπτω
parapiptō

But in  Luke it is the word 

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ἀφίστημι
aphistēmi

Which simply means to withdraw oneself. 

This is important, this means this believer withdraws himself, he forgets what has happened to him. He becomes ashamed of himself. Now you may not agree with me. But what did Jesus say right after this parable? 

Look at v 16: ¹⁶ And no one having lighted a lamp covers it with a vessel or puts it under a couch, but sets it on a lamp-stand, that they who enter in may see the light.

Jesus is saying this person is a like a lamp that covers himself with a vessel. BUT he is still a light! This points to believers who have a shallow understanding of the word and because of a shallow understanding he forgets who he really is and as such is ashamed and WITHDRAWS HIMSELF from the flock. The meaning of falling away means he removes himself from the flock. It does not mean he is not saved! Only the person is verse 12 is not saved. 

Let’s now look at the person in verse 14. The emphasis here is “their fruit does not ripen (come to maturity and perfection).” The word here is 

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τελεσφορέω
telesphoreō

It simply means “pregnant” or ” to be a bearer to completion (maturity), that is, to ripen fruit (figuratively)”. 

Jesus is saying this kind of believer has fruits (notice that) but his fruit is not mature. This speaks about the Christians who are immature. That does not mean he is not saved. 

We of course have no trouble with the last one. BUT again look at the emphasis of the parable. Fruits, fruits and fruits…. The emphasis here is fruits. NOT SALVATION!

To support what I am saying, let’s look at the Amplified Bible’s version.

“¹³ And those upon the rock [are the people] who, when they hear [the Word], receive and welcome it with joy; but these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of trial and temptation fall away (withdraw and stand aloof).

 

¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, these are [the people] who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked and suffocated with the anxieties and cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen (come to maturity and perfection).”

ONLY in v 12 these persons are not saved. The text is produced in KJV “¹² Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” You are saved by believing!

Dear friends, all we need to do is read carefully, there are Christians who are ashamed and withdraws themselves. They are believers which are not mature. They are believers which are mature and fruitful. BUT look at the parable, only ONE category of people are NOT saved! Those who do not believe it or in Matthew those who do not “understand it” . The parable actually confirms while (at this time Jews) that the shameful and the worried are still SAVED!

Of course when it came to the Gentiles, Paul introduced the Gospel of Grace the mystery of the ages in Ephesians 2 and Galatians 1. But that is for another day. 

But for now. Look at the parable itself, while you may fall away or be choked, you are still SAVED. May that give you encouragement to go to your Saviour who never left you. Praise Jesus.