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The Teachings of
Zane
Hodges,
Joseph Dillow,
Robert Wilkin and the extreme teachings of J. D. Faust |
The Parable of the Sower
"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 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. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Luke 8:11-15).
The Teaching of Zane Hodges and Joseph Dillow |
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The fruitful believer The partaker or heir The believing believer The overcomer |
The barren believer The carnal one (non-heir) The saved person who stops believing The non-overcomer |
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The fruitful believer is represented by the good ground. This is the saved person who perseveres in the faith and who brings forth fruit. |
The carnal, barren believer is represented by the rocky ground and the thorny ground. The rocky ground represents a saved person who believes at first but then falls away from the faith. The thorny ground represents a saved but carnal person who is given over to the things of the world and thus is fruitless. |
Observations:
According to this understanding of the parable the only ground which represents the heart of an unsaved person is the hard ground by the way side (Luke 8:12). The other three categories, according to Hodges and Dillow, all refer to saved people. Hodges explains his position on this parable in the book The Hungry Inherit and Dillow explains this parable in The Reign of the Servant Kings on pages 396-400.
This interpretation contradicts our Lord’s clear teaching in Matthew 7:16-20 where we are told that "every good tree brings forth good fruit." Since there is no good fruit connected with the rocky soil and the thorny soil, how can there be a good tree? The root is corrupt!
It is correct to understand all of the saved as represented by the "good ground." Matthew 13:23 teaches two important principles: 1) All those who are truly saved are fruitful at least to some extent (see Matt. 3:8-10; 7:16-20); 2) Some believers are much more fruitful than others. There is a big difference between 30 baskets of apples and 100 baskets of apples!
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The Middletown Bible Church |
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