Saved But No Fruit?

Q. I find most people interpret the third ground in the parable of the Sower as still unsaved but I certainly prefer your interpretation (that he is saved), I’m just not sure about it’s accuracy. I stand firmly against Lordship salvation but often wonder how people can say they believe and yet seem to live in a state of irreverence of all that is Godly.

A. First of all let me remind you that Jesus (Matt. 7:1-2) and Paul (1 cor. 4:5) warned us against passing judgment on an other person’s spiritual condition. But as for the third ground in the Parable of the Sower, in Matt: 13:22 Jesus said the seed represents a man who hears the word but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it making it unfruitful.

A planted seed can take life and grow without bearing fruit because neither of these are fruit bearing events. In the same way, a person can hear the word and be saved without bearing fruit because salvation is not a fruit bearing event. And, of course, no unbeliever can bear any fruit no matter what. We bear fruit because of what we do after we’re saved. Therefore the man had to be a believer to even have the potential to bear fruit. Recent studies show the vast majority of born again Christians fit this description.