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Distortions

October 14, 2026 at 4:59 PM Leave a comment

Listen to this article here I’m amazed at how clearly I can now see some of the absolute distortions of biblical text by those within the Lordship Salvation (LS) camp. It’s becoming very clear…and annoying as well. I just finished talking about the Numbers 21 incident in a previous post, in which God sent fiery serpents to bite and kill complaining Israelites. The antidote was a bronze snake set on a tall pole that people only needed to look at after being bitten. Once they simply looked at the bronze snake they would not die. But here is how one Bible scholar explained that section of Scripture, as quoted by Zane Hodges in his book, Absolutely Free.

In order to look at the bronze snake on the pole, they had to drag themselves to where they could see it. They were in no position to glance flippantly at the pole and then proceed with lives of rebellion…”[1]

Isn’t that ridiculous? The actual intent of the passage is fully distorted and the meaning is effectively changed to mean something other than what God seemed to intend when he first told Moses what to do so the people of Israel would find relief. Why was Moses supposed to attach the bronze snake to the top of a tall pole? So everyone could simply turn and see it from wherever they were in the camp. It’s simple enough isn’t it? Not for some apparently. Imagine you only had to look at the bronze snake once from wherever you were in the camp, but someone comes up to you and says, “Excuse me! You need to keep looking at the snake! Do not take your eyes off of it. Look at it, focus on what it looks like. Don’t ever take your eyes off of it! Meditate on what the snake means. Only then will your healing from a snake bite remain valid. Now, get to it!” In another section of Scripture, this time the New Testament, theologians often argue about the meaning of the Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13:3-9, with the explanation of it in Matthew 13:18ff. It is interesting because there are four types of soils to which the seed of life is thrown. These represent unique responses to the seed of the Gospel that’s tossed onto each soil. The Sower is Jesus Himself who preaches the message of the Gospel to the crowds (cf. Matthew 13:37). The apostles also sowed the seed of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:11). It is important to understand that the Gospel is not simply a few paragraphs of words thrown together, but in the preaching of the Gospel, there is life and power, able to change the lives of those who hear it. At the same time, we are all bound by the curse of this world along with our sin natures (old man, the flesh). Within LS, it is nearly universally agreed that the only person who was actually and truly saved in that particular parable is the one represented by the fourth and final soil because it showed that the person was fruitful. The previous three are routinely labeled not truly saved. Here’s the biblical text.

3 …Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

So, four types of soils representing four different types of people who hear the Gospel and how they react to it. Verse 4 tells us some seed that was sown fell by the wayside and before it could bury and germinate, birds devoured the seed. Clearly, the person represented here did not even get a chance to think about what was told him/her before Satan’s minions came and got rid of the seed, or the message was completely and fully rejected by the person hearing it. There is a good likelihood that the person hearing the Gospel did not comprehend it and had no chance to do so because of Satan removing the seed before they have a chance to contemplate. This might be done by the cares of this world or simply by redirecting their thoughts away from the Gospel message. The next seed fell on stony places where there wasn’t much dirt. The seed managed to spring up but since there was no depth and could not send out strong roots, what did germinate was killed by the sun and the grass withered away. This represents a person who has a hard heart but hears the Gospel and reacts with joy initially. They are excited about the truth of the message. Unfortunately, he/she lasts a little while but when life gets difficult, that person has no endurance (v21). They quickly go back to what they’ve always known. Could this person be authentically saved? I certainly think this is very possible. The next person is the one where the seed of the Gospel falls among thorns and brambles. Those thorns likely “…symbolize the worries, anxieties, and fears of life that pull us away from Jesus and can keep us from being fruitful.“[2] This is a problem for many Christians today. When we allow the cares, concerns and issues of our life to draw us away from Jesus instead of causing us to draw closer to Him, we will become unfruitful. Are we then somehow either unsaved (lost our salvation), or maybe even never saved at all? I would disagree with either of these characterizations. For instance, right now, I am feeling very overwhelmed with life. I have a lot going on. Besides driving a school bus for a local Christian school (which includes an AM and a PM route, and all field and athletic trips), I am involved in a Master of Divinity program and beginning my Phase 3 of certification for biblical counseling. On top of that, I’ve had to visit my doctor several times because my hormones are completely out of whack. I’m still trying to pinpoint the cause and all of this has left me completely bereft. In fact, most days I wake up with a sense of dread. Oh, and on top of all that, my PC is giving me fits. I think I may have gotten a handle on that, but I don’t know for certain yet. However, one thing I have noticed about going through these things. Rather than pushing me away from God, I’ve noticed that I’m actually forcing myself to bow before Him, submit to His Lordship over my life and ask for His help in getting through all of these things. I believe there is something I’m eating/drinking that is causing at least part of the problem so I’ve got to spend the next week or so avoiding what I think may be the problem. I keep going back to Psalm 40:17, which I’ve referenced numerous times previously. That’s who I am – “poor and needy” – but God has His eye on me. He cares deeply for me and will guide me out of this. For my part, I will continue to move back to Him as often as I think of doing so. There was a time in my life though when I did not persevere in this. I gave into the problems that I faced and often felt as though I was on my own to deal with them. That was simply not true, but I wonder how many other believers go through this same thing? I am meeting with a man soon to offer biblical counseling services, who has told me, in short, that he is “…mentally, physically, and feeling spiritually bankrupt at the moment.” He’s not giving up though and understands that for him, biblical counseling may help him move toward God rather than away from Him. Just because someone shuts down and seems to shut off their relationship with God does not mean they either were never saved (or as some erroneously believe, lost their salvation). Due to our resident sin nature, believers can be prone to wander away from God at times. Continued in that path, they may conclude that they no longer believe in God and what were they even thinking before? God allows this to occur and it may well be that He is bringing them through something that causes them to initially and emotionally seem to reject His movement and direction in their life. His goal of course is to bring them into a stronger relationship with Him and He is in charge of that. That doesn’t always happen though as we learned from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians where some believers “fell asleep” for not changing. If we see this in believers today, it becomes our job to stand in the gap for them and pray for them continually that God will bring them back. Getting back to the Sower parable, within the Classical Grace camp (CG), most argue that all but the first one were actually saved or at least may have been saved. It is clear that the first one was not at all saved since Satan came and stole the seed before the truth of it sunk into the heart of the recipient. Again, it is important to understand that simply because a person seems to walk away from the faith (or falls away), due to whatever circumstances they face, it does not mean that the person was never truly saved at all. It’s very possible they were saved authentically, but due to the various trials and circumstances they face in life, their love for God in Christ grew cold and they began to experience a complete lack of interest in Christianity. They begin to live as though they were not saved at all. Paul warns that in the last days, there will be a great falling away (2 Timothy 3:1-5). We are also told that the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12), due to the tremendous uptick in evil throughout society at the end of the age (where we are living now). LS people point to that happening today and quickly note that the people who do fall away, were most probably never truly saved at all in the first place, which is their convenient “go to.” I’m not sure I can agree with that at all. Only God knows, but certainly if they truly are saved and fall away, it is His responsibility to bring them back to Him (or bring them home early). Our job is to love them by being the aroma of Christ and presenting the character of Jesus in our attitude and responses to them. Lordship Salvation folks come along and render their verdict about the parable of the Sower, which in every case (except the last example), assesses the individual as not ever having been saved in the first place. Arminianism would argue that they may well have been saved, but they came to a place where they lost their salvation. In either of these situations, I cannot disagree strongly enough based solely on Scripture as revealed to Paul and others (including Jesus of course), and what is stated about salvation and the situation involving people. Because of grace, I’m beginning to realize just how much God loves His own as well as those who are still alive but have not received the free gift of salvation yet. As long as they continue living, they have the chance of receiving salvation, which is clearly something God wants to happen. Once they die, and if they die without His salvation, they will spend eternity experiencing His wrath. Regardless of how you might understand the Parable of the Sower, we should all realize that people are different and some will more readily hear and receive the Gospel of grace than others. Some might hear it explained once and comprehend it immediately. For others, they may need to be told two, three, four or more times before the truth of the Gospel begins to sink in. Our job is to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28), to be evangelists for the King of kings. I’m finding with my newfound emphasis on Classical Grace, I’m so much more willing and able to share the Gospel with others.   [1] From Zane Hodges, Absolutely Free where he quotes someone from LS camp, p55 [2] https://thegracecommentary.com/matthew-13/

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, christianity, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, sanctification. Tags: bible, christianity, classical grace, end times, faith, god, great tribulation, jesus, lordship salvation, salvation.