The parable of the sower means that the Kingdom of God is the Divine Seed from God that is sown in the heart of an individual.

In some instances, Satan is able to snatch the Seed away before it germinates. The person did not understand the Word.

Sometimes the Seed falls on stony ground and its root structure is not adequate to support and nourish the plant in a time of drought. If the heart of the hearer is hard the Seed may germinate, but in time of persecution or other trouble the Seed of eternal life will die from lack of depth.

At other times the Seed germinates, but then thorns grow up and choke out the growth of the Seed. If the hearer is occupied with money and the cares of life the Divine Seed of the Kingdom will be choked out and perish.

In some cases the Seed is able to bear lasting fruit, varying in amount from person to person. If the individual has an honest, good heart (referring to a basically honest adamic nature even though the individual may or may not have gone into sinful practices), the Seed of the Kingdom can bring forth the lasting fruit of righteous behavior.

The thoughtful reader can perceive quickly how the parable of the sower invalidates the Christian formula—the concept of an abstract redemption that operates independently of the behavior of the worshiper.

The parable of the sower demolishes another Christian tenet—the principle that all people are hopelessly wicked. By stressing the truth that all of us were born in sin and have a nature that sins and rebels against God, today's teachers overlook the numerous verses in the Old Testament and the New that attribute righteousness to people. They would deny that the Seed, the Word of God, could ever fall into an "honest and good heart" because (they would claim) there is no person on earth who has such an inner nature.

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Luke 1:6)

But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (Acts 10:35)

The Book of Psalms in numerous verses discusses the righteous and the wicked.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (Psalms 1:5)

Christians in their haste to insist that there is salvation only through Christ (which is true) have developed simplistic doctrines that are not scripturally balanced. The overemphasis on the wickedness of man has caused Christian believers to ignore completely the many, many commandments found in the New Testament. The Christians are under the impression that any effort to live righteously is to be viewed with suspicion as "legalism." "We are saved by grace apart from any works of righteousness."

How terribly unbalanced this assumption is! How great has been the moral desolation produced by an unbalanced presentation of Divine grace!

To be continued.