In the mean time when previous professing children of God repudiate Christ and Christianity it is not because they were saved and then lost but a clear manifestation they were never saved in the first place:
1 Jn. 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Indeed, the whole first epistle of John is a contrast between false and true professors and how to know the evidences of a true child of God.
It's a plain fact that you're reading your doctrine into the text of the parable of the sower.
The plain fact is that all through Matthew, Jesus was teaching His disciples that there will be believers in heaven who have an inheritance, and believers in heaven who have no inheritance
He said that the meek shall INHERIT the earth (Matthew 5:5)
And this inheritance is called a reward. See Colossians 3:23-24, where Paul exhorts the believers to do their work heartily for the Lord, knowing that they will receive the inheritance as a reward. Notice in Genesis 15:1 when God promised Abraham an inheritance, He said, "Your REWARD shall be great"
See also Matthew 5:11-12, where Jesus said “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Compare this to Matthew 10:16-22, where Jesus said:
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues;
and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.
For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
You will be hated by all because of My name,
but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
And what is this "saved" that Jesus promised to those who endure to the end?
2Timothy 2:12
If we endure, we will also reign with Him
But there is another half of this verse which resonates between the two chapters:
If we deny Him, He also will deny us (2Tim 2:12)
Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32-33)
And Jesus kept talking about this reward of the inheritance
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life
for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37-39)
Which He also reiterated in Matthew 19:27-30:
Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”
And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms
for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much,
and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.
And these words to the apostles about inheriting eternal life came on the heels of the rich young ruler, who asked "What shall I do to INHERIT eternal life?"
All through Matthew, Jesus is speaking of the REWARD of the INHERITANCE, to those who have left all, picked up their cross, confessed Him, and endured to the end.
And as for 1John, you have missed the mark there, too. Chapter 2 says "If we say we KNOW Him..."
Paul said in Philippians 3:10 "I want to KNOW Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the
fellowship of His sufferings.
Knowing Him has to do with FELLOWSHIP, as is stated in 1John 1:6-7
If we say that we have
fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
That's why Paul wrote, in Philippians 2:29 "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake"
And he also wrote in Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my
sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in
filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
The plain fact is that your doctrinal influence has caused you to miss the most important aspect of the gospel, our inheritance. And it is to those who suffer with Him, per Romans 8:17
And that's a shame, for someone holding a Th.M. should be more studied in the scriptures, and less in philosophical doctrines. And you even write books. Good grief
You ought to be ashamed of yourself
