Types of believers in the Bible

Introduction

The parables of Jesus Christ are the gateway to many mysteries, and they explain many events of life that trouble our understanding. One of such parables is the Parable of the Sower. It has been a debatable topic whether a true Christian can apostatize; that is, can a true Christian deny his faith and or walk out on Christ. Some vehemently argue that a true Christian cannot apostatize; and that if any Christian apostatizes, then he was not a true Christian as we thought. This thought contradicts many teachings of the Bible.

Our lesson on the three types of believers explains why the notion that a true Christian cannot apostatize is wrong; for we are going to look at how and why it is possible for some genuine, saved believers or Christians to apostatize. Honestly, between the time a person converts to Christianity and the time he dies, he goes through many challenges – trials, temptations, persecutions, and all manner of difficulties that can adversely affect his relationship with God. Some believers go through these challenges of life with all fortitude and complete their Christian race victoriously. Others however fall away along the line and perish.

So far as salvation and apostasy are concerned, we have three types of believers. All who come to follow Jesus Christ are Christians and are saved – yes, but, eventually, all believers or Christians fall under three types because of the choices they make after having come to Christ. Jesus revealed this truth in the Parable of the Sower:

The Parable of the Sower

4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him [Jesus] out of every city, he spake by a parable: 5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 8:4-8).

When Jesus was explaining the parable of the sower in Luke 8:11–15, he said the seed is the word of God and the sower was He Himself. Then he identified four types of people who listen to the word of God. Thus any time you stand preaching to the masses, you are speaking to these four types of people:

  1. The seed that fell by the roadside; which represents those who hear the word of God and do not understand, so the devil takes the word away from them so that they do not believe.
  2. The seed that fell on a rock; which represents those who hear the word and believe it to become Christians but they have no root.
  3. The seed that fell among the thorns; which represents those who hear God’s word and believe it to become Christians but they do not bear fruit.
  4. The seed that fell on good ground, which represents those who hear the word of God, believe it to become Christians and bear fruit.

In His explanation, Jesus said that the first type of audience did not believe in the message preached. Therefore, out of these four types, three of them believed. They are:

  • Those who believe but have not root/the rootless believers
  • Those who believe but are unfruitful/the unfruitful believers
  • Those who believe and are fruitful/the fruitful believers

In Jesus’ explanation, he took time to explain what shall happen to these three types of believers or Christians.

The rootless believers

Concerning the plant which has no root, the account of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and not different, except that where Matthew called it stony place, Mark called it stony ground and Luke called it a rock. Also where Matthew says tribulation and persecution, Mark says affliction or persecution and Luke says times of persecution.

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. …… 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.  (Matthew 13:5-6, 21; Mark 4:5-6; Luke 8:6)

If trees had no root, there would not be any tree standing; no, not even one, for the wind and running water would have pulled the last of them down. Every tree stands the test of time because it has roots that make it have a firm grip on the ground, making it stand for life. Because of the functions of the root as a part that firmly establishes the tree, if we figuratively say that something has no root then we mean to say that thing is not firmly established and its existence is temporary; sooner or later it would be gone.

Some people who came to accept the Gospel and have been saved would later prove themselves to be rootless believers. A rootless believer is a believer who is not firmly established in the faith yet. They are the sort of believers we would preferably call weak Christians. As to why they are not firmly established, there are a couple of reasons:

Their souls are not deeply convinced of their guilt and depravity and the reason why they need Jesus Christ and His salvation. Therefore they are not well rooted and grounded in Christ as the only Savior of perishing sinners.

Their hearts are proud and worldly. They are not willing to forsake all their pride, indulgences, and other sins and bear their cross to follow Jesus. The rootless believers easily take offense at something said or done by somebody and quit the church and or the faith permanently. Hence they remain as Christians for a season, and only for a season.

Most new converts are more likely to become rootless believers because at the early stages of their Christian life, if persecution and or trials arises on account of their newfound faith, they are not likely to stand, they will backslide into the world again – apostasy. Hence discipling them is very key to make them buy some time to grow and have a firm grip on Christ.

Also, there are quite a lot of old Christians, who, day in, day out, prove themselves to be rootless believers; this is because they have refused to grow. To grow in Christianity is not automatic; it takes some nourishment for one to grow into maturity. These are studying the Bible, prayer, fasting, fellowshipping and putting into practice the teaching of the Bible. Since no Christian is taxed or charged for doing all or any of the spiritual activities which lead to growth, a Christian who is not growing has just refused to grow. Thus an old Christian who has refused to fast, study, pray, etc. never grows in faith and he ever remains a weak Christian who is not well established in the faith.

The seed that fell on the stony ground are those whose hearts are quickly impressed on hearing the Gospel of salvation which comprises of the promise of forgiveness of sin and the inheritance of eternal life. And they are quick to receive the Gospel; and with gladness, believed in Jesus Christ; and become Christians; and join the church. In the church, they make progress hurriedly and put up an appearance of great zeal, and earnestness, and piety. And they remain Christians so long as all is well. However, in process of time, when they encounter trials, or when they encounter domestic oppression, or when public persecution arises against them on account of their newfound faith and they stand the risk of losing their property, life, liberty, position, preferment, etc. they are offended – i.e., they stumble and commit apostasy.       

Aside from the trials and persecution, some Christians prove themselves to be rootless Christians in that in the course of following Jesus, they compromise on their faith and or abandon their faith completely if by doing so they can seize an opportunity in the world to becoming famous, superstars, rich, etc.

The rootless Christian faces a danger; in that his relationship with God cannot stand the test of time. Between the time he repented and the time he shall die, the events of temptation, persecution and other challenges that will get in his way will cause him to backslide and walk away on Christ. Hence Matthew wrote that they ‘endureth for a while’ and Mark said they ‘endure but for a time’: that ‘time’ or ‘while’ may be longer or shorter depending on circumstances.

The characteristics of persons who become rootless Christians: they are enthusiastic, persons of quick feelings, easily convinced, easily excited, but not well established in the faith.

The unfruitful believers

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection (Luke 8:7,14)

We get it from the Parable of the Sower that the problem of the seeds that fell among thorns is not the soil but the thorns themselves. The soil is good and can support growth; meaning, their heart can accept the Gospel and the obedience thereof. After having accepted the Gospel and having been saved and having become Christians, they begin to genuinely grow in the faith – they loved the Lord, they read the Bible, pray, fast, attend church services, etc. but it lasted for a season, because along the line:

Their mind may be diverted from spiritual things by their anxious cares about earthly things – they are consumed with worries about life, what they will eat, what they will drink, what they will wear; they are anxious for prosperity, a house, a car, land; they are anxious to make money; etc. The cares about their lives render them too busy such that they neither have the time nor the inclination to partake in spiritual activities such as reading the Bible, praying, etc. More so, this type of Christians will stain themselves with many sins in the course of hasting to become rich or in their anxious pursuit of the things of this life, and this will ruin their relationship with God.

It is not wrong nor evil for a Christian to prosper; however, for some Christians, prosperity becomes a path to their destruction; just as it is written: ‘But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition (1 Timothy 6:9).’

God may reward and or bless a Christian exceeding to prosper. However, some Christians who have prospered later prove themselves to be nothing more than unfruitful Christians; this is because their hearts are carried away and deceived by their prosperity to feel self-sufficient and self-satisfied and their relationship with God and the salvation of their soul is of little or no significance to them. Furthermore, their prosperity opens the door to the pleasures of this life, and pride, and extravagance, and oppression, and self-indulgence, and other sins which come from having obtained wealth, preventing them from living a holy life worthy of a Christian – that is unfruitfulness.

The unfruitful Christian is in danger, in that God will not bear with the unfruitful Christian for very long. In due time, He will cut him off from Christ and will not reckon him as a child of God anymore. References:

6 He [Jesus] spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Luke 13:6-9

“Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10).”

Every branch in me [Jesus]  that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit (John 15:2).

The fruitful believers

8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience (Luke 8:8, 15).

The fruitful Christians are the Christians who are bearing fruit. To bear fruit is to apply the word of God in your life to produce good works such as love, modesty, self-control, etc. The Bible gives us a clue to how they bear fruit; that is, they keep God’s word. In other words, they put the word of God into practice which results in a life of holiness pleasing to the Lord God.

The fruitful Christian has gone through various stages in his Christian life. He has grown from a new convert quickly or steadily into maturity through studying the Scriptures, praying, fellowshipping, and keeping the word of God. And because of their obedience, they have undergone a transformation from a sin-stained life to a holy life pleasing to the Lord.

Not that the fruitful Christians do not sin, they sin and do fall into temptation sometimes; but that does not stop them, for they are resilient; they repent fast; learn a lesson; and press harder to keep up with Jesus and faithfully follow Him as before. When persecution rises against them because of their faith, they do not shudder; they are ready even to lay down their lives for Christ if it comes to that, for nothing can make them deny their faith not even the threat of death.

This type of Christians also faces the rigors of life at it is; they need to make money, they need to get a job, they need to have a home, property, resources, food, clothes, etc. But they do not yield to the cares of this life to the detriment of their soul’s salvation and their relationship with God. They are not induced by the cares of this life to partake in shady ways of making money. More so, they do not compromise on their daily prayer, Bible study, fellowshipping, etc., which keeps them in tune with God, with the excuse that they are too busy.

If God permits and they become prosperous, they do not yield to the deceitfulness of prosperity; they do not corrupt their good ways into living in excesses, self-indulgence, pursuit of pleasure, etc. Rather, their prosperity translates to appreciation and devotion to God.    

The qualities of those who become fruitful Christians that set them apart from the rest are that they have a good and honest heart – a heart clear from prejudice, pride, and self-conceit, sincerely disposed, and earnestly desirous to find the truth, and firmly resolved to embrace the truth when found; ready to acknowledge its ignorance, and weakness, and corruption, and ready to receive God’s word, which can save the soul.     

The fruitful Christian is the only Christian who is fulfilling the purpose for which he has been called. It is God’s will that we bear fruit; and for the sake of bearing fruit, He called us to become disciples of Jesus (Christians). Jesus Christ said to His disciples:

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (John 15:16)

What to do

The choice is ours. As Christians we have a choice; our deeds would determine our type – whether rootless Christians, unfruitful Christians or fruitful Christians. Considering that the rootless Christian and the unfruitful Christian are bound for apostasy and damnation, it is a prudent choice to be and to remain a fruitful Christian.

Conclusion

God is not a liar; He is true to his word; anyone who genuinely believes in Jesus is saved according to John 3:16, John 3:36, etc. And I’m afraid to tell you that many are those who, at some point in their lives, genuinely accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and received salvation. But between the time of their conversion and the time of their death, the temptations, the persecutions, the worries of life, the deceitfulness of riches, the pleasures of this world, materialism, pressure, marital problems, offenses they took at other Christians, and many other adverse factors induced them to turn away from Christ and they did not complete their Christian race.

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