The Kind of Faith That Falls Away

Many of us may know someone who seemed suddenly converted to Christ, but they just as suddenly fell away. Today, Sinclair Ferguson shows that the joy of true faith goes hand in hand with the sorrow of real repentance.

Our theme this week on Things Unseen has been taking heed, taking care, not just what we hear but how we hear what we hear. And we’ve been saying this is the theme of Jesus’ parable of parables, the one about the farmer sowing his seed. It describes in vivid terms what happens when God’s Word is preached. Some of the seed, as we saw, fell on the pathway and soon disappeared. But then Jesus said some fell on rocky soil.

We were able to watch our home in Scotland actually being built, last century in fact. And I remember going along before they put down the lawn at the rear of the house and being horrified to see that the soil was chockablock with rocks of various sizes. Fortunately for me, none was really too large. But despite all my efforts, I suspect not a few of those rocks are still there under the grass.

And perhaps that’s what we envisage when we read about this rocky soil. But Jesus’ picture is probably quite different. He’s picturing soil that’s lying on a rocky substratum, so the soil isn’t very deep, and as the seed coat cracks open, the embryo can’t put down really deep roots. And the result is that the shoot that springs up quickly, and apparently successfully, doesn’t receive enough nourishment, and it soon dies.

Now, it’s easy to be critical of the disciples for having to ask Jesus what this parable was all about, but I think we probably should be glad because our Lord’s explanation is far better than our own guesswork, and it’s very illuminating. Here’s what He says: “Rocky-ground hearers are the ones who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root in themselves, and they endure only for a while. And then,” says Jesus, “if things get difficult, they immediately fall away.”

I suspect that if you’ve been a Christian for some time—and certainly if you’re a minister—you know exactly what Jesus is talking about here. Here’s someone who responds to the gospel, it seems responds wonderfully. Notice Jesus’ words: “They receive it with joy.” Wow. People are thrilled about their conversion and their testimony, and they seem to have a tremendous appetite for spiritual things. But then just as suddenly as they seem to be converted, they disappear from view. Perhaps even as I say that, it reminds you of someone—that’s exactly what happened to them. I can think of some of the most apparently impactful conversions of people I’ve ever known of whom this is actually an exact description. And it’s sometimes hard for Christians to take in what’s happened: What’s gone wrong? How can it be? They seem to have such joy in the Lord.

But Jesus told us it can happen. And more than that, He explains why it happens. So, why? Well, notice what’s emphasized in this apparent conversion: it’s immediate joy. But it’s what Jesus doesn’t say that’s significant. There’s joy mentioned, but there’s no mention of sorrow. There’s no lasting breaking up of the soil. There’s something underneath that allows for the immediate joy but not for the deeper sorrow of repentance.

Now, every person’s conversion to Christ has a unique shape, and it’s often specially related to the womb of providences in which they’ve been conceived spiritually. But if there’s no sense of sorrow for our sin, just the joy of a kind of psychological relief, then there will be no lasting transformation of life, because when the gospel seed is planted in good soil, it breaks open in our lives in conversion and repentance, as well as faith. So, there’s always going to be some sense of sorrow for sin and also repentance, as well as faith, when we see that what we really needed was a Savior from sin.

And of course, Jesus doesn’t give us proportions, does He? All that really matters is that we see our need of Christ because we see that we’re sinners. As John Owen says, “If a boil can be lanced with a pin, you don’t usually use a sword to do it.” But Jesus does imply that the one without the other—joy without sorrow for sin—is not going to survive. So, in whatever proportion they’re present, they will both be present in a genuine conversion, and then they’ll both keep on growing throughout the whole course of our Christian lives. And that’s what makes for a plant that’s been truly planted by the Lord. That’s how the good seed of the Word of God bears fruit. And we’ll think more about that good seed tomorrow on Things Unseen.