In the parable of the 4 soils, it is instructive that only the first soil didn't produce a plant. The 3 others all did. The difference is that soil 2 and 3 didn't produce fruit, for various reasons. I believe the production of plants implies and represents new life, since the seed germinated and became a plant.
The seed that fell on the rocky soil did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had
no depth of earth (it sprang up but no crop sprang up) and and
because it had no root it withered away. (Mark 4:6) There was some motion and movement toward growth, unlike the seed that fell by the wayside, yet the condition changed from sprang up (although it did not yet reach it's desired goal) to
withered away. New life is demonstrated by fruit. A plant that has no root and fails to produce fruit does not represent new life.
In regards to the seed that is sown among thorns, the person hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches
choke the word, and it
proves unfruitful, produces nothing, yields nothing. It was
choked out before reaching it's desired goal.
IN CONTRAST TO - the seed that fell on
good soil, the person hears the word and understands it, who
INDEED BEARS FRUIT with patience (perseverance) and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. *All genuine believers are fruitful, but not all are equally fruitful. (Matthew 13:23)
The point of Jesus' parable is about fruit production, which are deeds, works that come from salvation. Of the 3 saved soils, only 1 was productive.
"Faith without works is dead" and only the 4th soil produced crops of any size.* There is mention of a difference in the size of the crops, but no consequences or warnings are given to the lesser producers. Only the 4th soil was referred to as
"good ground" and produced a crop (fruit) and there is
no mention of choking or withering away thereafter.
It is a fallacy to claim that all truly saved people will produce fruit. It's said all over the place, but there are no verses that teach that.
It is a fallacy to claim that a truly saved person will produce no fruit at all. James chapter 2 makes it clear that "faith without works is dead." (James 2:14-26) Dead faith is not saving faith.
In fact, the preponderance of verses commanding and encouraging production of fruit proves that it isn't automatic or guaranteed.
Faith is the root of salvation and works are the fruit. No fruit at all demonstrates there is no root.
Yes, it does. The Bible never warns against "a shallow temporary belief" as a non saving faith.
I have already shown you otherwise in post #311.
Faith in Christ for salvation saves in every case.
Authentic faith in Christ for salvation saves, yet a shallow, temporary belief that has no root, produces no fruit and withers away is not authentic saving faith in Christ.
Including Simon the sorcerer. But even though he was saved, his heart wasn't right with the Lord as he wanted to buy the gift of giving the Holy Spirit by laying on of hands. Peter's rebuke of him shows he was saved. Otherwise, Peter would have given him the gospel message. What good is a rebuke to an unsaved person? That won't save him.
And, Luke describes Simon's actions the same way as he described all the people who responded to Philip's message.
Simon the sorcerer is said to have “believed and was baptized” at the preaching of Philip (Acts 8:13) but later, when Simon offers the apostles money to have their ability to impart the Holy Spirit (verses 18–19), he is rebuked by Peter. Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. (verses 20-24)
You called that saved? 
Even though we read that Simon "believed," the remainder of the verse hints at the true object of his belief: "the miracles and signs which were done." No saving belief in Christ.
Why put quote marks around "believed", as if it wasn't real? Luke didn't use quote marks. The Bible doesn't describe faith in degrees, as if only a certain amount will result in salvation.
Not all belief is the same. You simply give the word "believe" a broad brushed definition of "saved" and with that logic, you would have to say that the demons are saved because they "believe" that "there is one God." (James 2:19) Keep in mind the same Greek word for believe "pisteuo" is used in James 2:19 as it is in Acts 16:31 - .."believe" on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved..
yet the demons are not saved.
Jesus taught a parable about a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds, yet grows up to be a largest of garden plants. Mark 4:30-32
Yet a shallow, temporary belief that has no root and withers away doesn't grow.
There is no way to argue that saving faith is quantitatively more than unsaving faith. Because the Bible doesn't teach that.
It's not so much about quantitatively as it is about OBJECT and CONTENT. The Bible clearly teaches that not all belief is the same and not all belief saves. As I previously explained, if you read in John 8:31-59, you will see that the Jews who were said to have "believed in Him" turned out to be:
slaves to sin, indifferent to the words of Jesus’, children of the devil, liars, accused Jesus of having a demon and were guilty of setting out to stone and kill the one they have professed to believe in. So we can see at best, these Jews believed in Him (based on their own misconceptions and expectations) of Jesus, yet upon gaining further knowledge about Jesus through His words, we see they did not truly "believe in His name/believe in Him" and become children of God. (John 1:12; 3:18) but were instead
children of the devil.
In John chapter 6, we see that many of Jesus' so called disciples complained and were offended (verses 60-61) about what Jesus said in verses 51-59. These are the very so called "disciples" who Jesus says
"do not believe." (John 6:64)
They also walked with Him no more. So apparently, these alleged disciples of Jesus set out to be learners and followers of Him (based on their own misconceptions and expectations) of Jesus, then as soon as Jesus said something that was hard for them to understand and did not line up with their expectations, they left Him, which demonstrates no saving belief.
So to believe in Christ "unto salvation" goes beyond mere "mental assent" belief in the existence of Christ. It also goes beyond merely believing that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ "happened." Even the demons believe that. *We must believe from the heart (Romans 10:9) in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ by TRUSTING in the death, burial and resurrection as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16) Saving belief continues and does not wither away.
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