Sermon Central
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James Montgomery Boice On Eternal ...
Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 30, 2010 (message contributor)
James Montgomery Boice on Eternal Security
James Montgomery Boice has a wonderful picture to show how Jesus preserves believers for all eternity:
I have sometimes thought that what Jesus did in uttering these words was like something a carpenter often does. Sometimes in rough carpentry a workman will drive a long nail through thinner boards so that the point sticks out the back. Then with a blow of his hammer he will drive the point of the nail sideways, embedding it in the wood. This is called clinching the nail. It makes the joint just a bit more firm because the nail cannot work itself out from this position.
This is what Jesus did in these verses. He was so interested in getting the doctrine to stick in his disciples’ minds that he not only drove one nail, he drove two and clinched them both.
First, he taught that those who are his have been given eternal life. “I give them eternal life”—that is the nail. This alone makes the truth fast; for eternal life is life which can never be lost. If it could be lost after a few years or even after many years, it would not be eternal. Nevertheless, Jesus knew that many would attempt to explain it away. So he said, “They will never perish”—that is the clinch by which the doctrine of perseverance is made fast.
One nail, however well fastened, does not always make a good joint, though. So Jesus went on to drive a second nail and clinch that as well. His second nail, “No one will snatch them out of my hand.” The clincher, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
We can imagine ourselves to be a coin folded in his fingers. That is a secure position for any object but especially for us, considering whose hand holds us. But Jesus adds that the hand of God is over his hand. We are enclosed in two hands. We are doubly secure. If we feel insecure, we can remember that even when we are held in that manner, the Father and Son still have two hands free to defend us.
From a sermon by Freddy Fritz, Jesus Preserves Believers from Stumbling, 6/20/2010
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