Hello,
I would like to know the Calvinist perspective on the four fields of the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13), especially the stony and thorny grounds. The wayside, I think it to be easy to understand: that's the people that heard the Gospel but without the necessarily illumination (v.19). The good ground is the elects. But what about the stony and the thorny grounds? I don't think we can say that they are the false believers described as the tares in v. 24-30 + 36-43, because the tares are sowed by the devil, but in the Parable of the Sower, this is about some people that have received the good seed of the Word of God, and this good seed begins to have some effects and grows as wheat, but only until a certain point.
I think that you will say that they are not born again, however the seed didn't remain a seed but grew to be wheat. Maybe with some good observation, someone could discern at the very beginning when the seed is planted, that the wheat is not going to fully develop and bear fruit. But then, if this was not a new birth, how are you going to describe the transformation of the seed to wheat?
In verses 20-21, it is said that the stony ground represent the people that received the Word of God with a great joy, although it has no root in them. In John 1:11 it is written that “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God”. Isn't it a bit strange that those that received the Word didn't receive the right to become children of God? Or would you say that they received some Word of God, some part of the Gospel, but not Jesus Christ in all his offices: as Savior and Lord? Or would you say that they did received Jesus in all his offices, but it was a superficial reception that did affect the emotions and the enthusiasm but not the heart?
The question is also: how easily it would be to discern for oneself to be a good or a stony or a thorny ground, or how easily could we discern that in our fellow believers? Or are we in general blind to that, until it will be revealed to us after some time?
I would like to know the Calvinist perspective on the four fields of the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13), especially the stony and thorny grounds. The wayside, I think it to be easy to understand: that's the people that heard the Gospel but without the necessarily illumination (v.19). The good ground is the elects. But what about the stony and the thorny grounds? I don't think we can say that they are the false believers described as the tares in v. 24-30 + 36-43, because the tares are sowed by the devil, but in the Parable of the Sower, this is about some people that have received the good seed of the Word of God, and this good seed begins to have some effects and grows as wheat, but only until a certain point.
I think that you will say that they are not born again, however the seed didn't remain a seed but grew to be wheat. Maybe with some good observation, someone could discern at the very beginning when the seed is planted, that the wheat is not going to fully develop and bear fruit. But then, if this was not a new birth, how are you going to describe the transformation of the seed to wheat?
In verses 20-21, it is said that the stony ground represent the people that received the Word of God with a great joy, although it has no root in them. In John 1:11 it is written that “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God”. Isn't it a bit strange that those that received the Word didn't receive the right to become children of God? Or would you say that they received some Word of God, some part of the Gospel, but not Jesus Christ in all his offices: as Savior and Lord? Or would you say that they did received Jesus in all his offices, but it was a superficial reception that did affect the emotions and the enthusiasm but not the heart?
The question is also: how easily it would be to discern for oneself to be a good or a stony or a thorny ground, or how easily could we discern that in our fellow believers? Or are we in general blind to that, until it will be revealed to us after some time?
