You know the Parable of the Sower, right? Here's Luke's account of it:
Luk 8:4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
Luk 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
Luk 8:6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
Luk 8:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
Luk 8:8 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.
Luk 8:9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luk 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Luk 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.
Luk 8:14 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.
Luk 8:15 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.
Look at verse 11, and pay attention: The seed is the Word of God.
Now look at verse 12, in particular, the last few words: “lest they should believe and be saved.” You see, Jesus is saying that we must believe the Word of God to be saved. And this is not incompatible with John 3:16 or Acts 16:31 which says that faith in Jesus saves. In fact, it is both. We must put our trust in Jesus the person and in the Word of God to be saved. Again, in fact, Jesus and the Word of God are one and the same (John 1:1, John 1:14, I John 1:1-2, I John 5:7, Revelation 19:13). If you believe the Word of God, and the entire Word of God, you believe Jesus, and are saved. If you don't believe the Word of God, if you don't believe the entire Word of God, you don't believe Jesus, and you are not saved. It's that simple.
Don't be like those who hear the word, and stop believing in the time of temptation, or like those who hear the word, and bear no fruit because of worldliness. Both of these sets of people are going to Hell. Why? Falling away is eternally damning (see Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26), and so is loving the world (I John 2:15-17) and bearing no ripe fruit (also see the parable in Luke 13:6-9) Only those who hear the Word, and endure (which is compatible with Matthew 10:22) with fruit (those who abide in Christ will bear much fruit, says John 15:5), will be saved.
