Luke 8:13  And those on the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. ASV

Luke 8:13  They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. KJV

Luke 8:13  And those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the Word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a time, and in time of trial draw back. LITV

Luke 8:13  Those on the rock are the ones who, when they hear, receive the Word with joy. And these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. MKJV

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                                                                      Commentary

   Does GOD say what he means and mean what He says? Satan didn't think so. And there are people walking around who would agree with him!  There are people who deny the historic, orthodox Christian doctrine of Temporary Faith.

It  ~Says~   "...for a while ~Believe~...".  Does the word "Believe" mean... Believe? Satan & his lackies say No. God does not ~~Really~~ mean Exactly what he says. The Holy Spirit just put that word there in order to confuse people! What supreme blasphemy.

This whole issue is centered around the nature of Biblical, Saving faith.
Faith, according to the Bible, is   ~belief in Correct Doctrine that results in Correct Living~  and one must have ~both~  or one has no Biblical claim of being saved. Faith without works is Dead gents... and works without Faith is Death!

They on the Rock are examples of people who have a Dead Faith that is void of Biblical works. 
They receive the Word, which is the Gospel, with Joy and they Believe it!  Do actual words have any real meaning or value at all?
If this verse does not mean that unregenerate people can believe the Gospel then words have no meaning.
Yea...  has God said? Has he said that man shall not live by bread alone but by  ~Every~  word that proceeds out of His mouth?  Do the words... "for a while believe" proceed out of the mouth of God?  See also Simon in Acts 8:13.

============LOGIC========
Invalid Immediate Inference.
The following is a statement by Mr Jonathan Rogers, an OTCer.

"If people who do not believe the gospel are lost then the opposite is true..meaning those who believe the gospel are saved."

This is Laughable Logic! It's the same as saying; "If all non-mammals [non-believers] are non-cats [lost, or not saved] then the opposite is true.. meaning all mammals [believers] are cats [not non-cats... not lost; saved]"!  It's the same as saying... since all who are Regenerate believe therefore All who Believe are Regenerate. Mr Rogers needs a course in Logic.

Syllogisms:

"Rocky" = those on the rock.
tf = therefore.

Example 1
All Regenerates are Gospel-believers;
Rocky was a Gospel-believer; tf
Rocky was Regenerate.

AAA-2; invalid. Undistributed middle term.
All cats are mammals;
All dogs are mammals; tf
All dogs are cats.

Example 2
All Regenerates are Gospel believers;
No Rocky was Regenerate; tf
No Rocky was a Gospel believer.

AEE-1; invalid; Undistributed major term in P1
All cats R mammals;
No dogs R cats; tf
No dogs R mammals.

Example 3; 
All who believe the Gospel are regenerate;
Rocky was one who believed the Gospel; tf
Rocky was Regenerate.

This is a good example of the logic of Marc Carpenter from OTC for he says...  "Everyone who believes has been born of God." This is the same as P1 in the above syllogism.  It's a demonstration of his Illogic that says, since all who are Regenerate believe the Gospel therefore all who believe the Gospel are Regenerate. Mr Carpenter is Illogical in his thinking.  All cats are mammals does not imply that all mammals are cats. He needs to join Mr Rogers in Logic 101.

Now it is true that the structure of this syllogism is a valid form!  AAA-1;  Yet the conclusion is clearly False. So where's the problem? The problem is not in the structure of the argument. Therefore it must be in one of the premises. Since an argument can be Valid and yet have a False conclusion then 1 or both of the premises must be false. Now... since the Bible states in no uncertain terms that Rocky did indeed believe the Gospel, that can only mean that P1 is false. Yet Scripture does say, or at least -imply- in many places that  -all-   who believe are saved. So what's the problem? The problem is nothing less than.... Arminianism! This is to say that, in order to maintain that every person who hears and believes the Gospel is  -necessarily-  saved one must hold to an Absolute definition of All; just like the Arminians do. But that's Death folks! Obviously we see right here that the result is false doctrine. Rocky was in no way a Regenerate person when he Believed the Gospel... yet the Son of God said he did Believe. So what must be done is... a   ~precise, Biblical~  definition for "All" must be found that will show us the Glorious Truth of the Word of God without ending up in contradiction or worse, changing the Bible.
 Consider the following syllogistic argument...

All Regenerate men are sin-committers
Moses is a Regenerate man; tf
Moses is a sin-committer.

This is a Valid argument; AAA-1. But obviously the conclusion is False, just like the above similar argument. No one in Glory sins.
This demonstrates the problem of the Arminian hermeneutic of Absolutizing the word "All". It is true that Scripture teaches that all who are Regenerate still do sin... but Moses along with Enoch and Elijah are Regenerate men and they do no sin. So we must therefore  =Limit=  our definition of "All" to  ==All who are still on earth==.  The technical term for this is called the Universe of Discourse. That simply means that any word or words must be definied and understood within the context of the subject matter. So when Scripture says that Christ died for All it must of necessity mean All the Elect and not All men in the entire human race.  So what then does "All" mean within the "Universe of Discourse" of belief in the Gospel? It can only mean All who are Regenerate. This fits Scripture and makes sense of such passages as this one and others without having to deny clear language and end up denying and even changing the Bible, which is Death, to suit one's false doctrine. People who do that must be judged unsaved.

Luke

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