“Eternally Secure”
9/21/2008 Intercession City
Introduction
John 10:27-28
Growing up in the church world, often times, it is as if we are given a list of the “right” choices in life, the “right” responses to objections of the world, the “right” things to say. We live with this list of “talking points” (explain) ; what to say in this situation, what to do if this happens, how to respond to this objection. This is all great if the situation or the person objecting follows the line of questioning or reasoning that we have been trained to respond to. However, it rarely works out that way. So it was with me and the doctrines of eternal security.
Christian friends and some very skillful pastor we sat under, over time, began to bring up the topic of eternal security. They would mention how that if you were ever saved one time then no matter what you were going to Heaven. They were teaching the doctrine of unconditional eternal security. I would enter into conversations with these people, using the “talking points” I had been given my whole life (in support of conditional eternal security). However, I was less than convincing when talking about this subject; because, I was just reciting what I had always been taught. It wasn’t really a subject I had studied for myself. It was something I believed, without really knowing why I believed it.
As Christians the only way to know the truth, to be fully equipped to respond to oppositions to our beliefs, is to study God’s Word for yourself. A lot of times, when we study the word of God, we read it through a certain set of lenses. We read it through the lens of what we have always been taught, or what our particular denomination believes, or we do not read it at all, we just rely on the pastors weekly teaching and “whatever he says goes”. It is probably hard for you to believe, but I have been in the church long enough to know that, get ready for it, that pastors make mistakes (intentional and unintentional). They are human too. The only way to know the truth is to study, with an open mind/heart/eyes, God’s Word for yourself.
There are two views of eternal security, unconditional and conditional. There are good, Godly, Christian people that believe both ways. Unconditional eternal security is the belief that once a person is saved he is always saved and can never “backslide”, or become unsaved; and that no matter how a person lives his life God will take him to Heaven. I was talking to one friend who believes this way. I gave him the following scenario, a “what if?”, “I was saved as a young boy when, I was 12, now I am 25, and I hate God, love Satan, want to go to Hell, what happens”. His response was that I would go to Heaven, because I had at one time accepted Christ as my Savior (what about ‘free will’?). You can see the potential danger of this doctrine of unconditional eternal security.
As Wesleyan-Arminians, and more particularly, the Wesleyan church, we believe in the conditional eternal security. This quote is taken directly from the Wesleyan core values statement:
“234. We believe that after we have experienced regeneration, it is possible to fall into sin, for in this life there is no such height or strength of holiness from which it is impossible to fall. But by the grace of God one who has fallen into sin may by true repentance and faith find forgiveness and restoration.”
What I present to you this morning is the first results of the beginning of my study concerning the doctrine of eternal security. My attempt to explain why I believe what I believe; based on God’s Word alone. I begin my study with this passage from John (10:28), because this is the key verse that proponents of unconditional eternal security use to prove their point.
I. The Promise (v. 28)
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish - ever! No one will snatch them out of my hand.”(v. 28)
What a wonderful verse of promise! It is a wonderful thing to know that we are in the hands of God; to know that whatever comes our way, He saw it first and knows all about it. To be in His hand is to allow Him to have his way be done in our lives.
In the agrarian culture of the time this analogy would have been very applicable to their lives. As shepherds, the people understood the dangers to the sheep. Sheep were susceptible to being stolen by thieves and robbers, susceptible to attacks from wild animals, to being separated from the flock. However, it is the shepherds responsibility to protect, watch over, lead his sheep. Jesus is our shepherd; He alone is the one who protects, guides, and watches over us.
If we are in the Father’s hand, no man can take us from it! There is no false teacher, or persecutor, no kind of adversity or problems, no demon or devil can snatch us from the hand of God.
Romans 8: 38-39 says this…
We do not just wake up one morning and suddenly we are no longer in the hands of God, no! The only way that we can leave this place of hope, rest, peace, protection is if we make the choice to walk away; to walk our lives out of His hands. (conscious decision vocal/actions)
In this verse we can see the forces of divine sovereignty (God’s plan) and our own human responsibility. B. F. Westcott says that we must distinguish between “the certainty of God’s promises and His infinite power on the one hand, and weakness and variableness of man’s will on the other. If man falls at any stage in his spiritual life, it is not from want of divine grace, nor from the overwhelming power of adversaries, but from his neglect to use that which he may or may not use. We cannot be protected against ourselves in spite of ourselves. He who ceases to hear and to follow is thereby shown to be no true believer, (1 Jn. 2:19)…The sense of divine protection is at any moment sufficient to inspire confidence, but not to render effort unnecessary.”
For those who teach the doctrine of unconditional eternal security this is the verse, however, to get the full context and meaning of this verse we need to go back to the previous verse. (v. 27). This verse is a conditional promise. It’s a promise that is available to everybody, if the condition is met. We see that condition in verse 27.
II. Marks of the Sheep
“My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.” (v. 27)
It in interesting that Jesus uses the analogy of sheep in this passage. It is interesting for this reason; shepherd in the Holy Land did not drive their sheep (like cattle today), instead they lead them. Often times several shepherds would gather with their various herds. The shepherd would not randomly call out and lead whatever sheep followed, instead he called only the sheep that belonged to him. The sheep knew the voice or particular call of the shepherd who they belonged to, and they responded to his call only.
This is a perfect picture of what the Christians life should look like. As Christians we should not be out following everything that comes along in our culture, doing everything that everybody else does, you see we Christians follow a different shepherd/leader than the people of the world. His voice should be the one that we listen and respond to. Often times, I come into contact with people who are full of anxiety, and worry, and they do not know what to do; they have a decision to make, and their friends and family are all telling them something different, they are worried about what others are going to think, as a Christ follower their should only be one voice that we listen to, only one opinion that matters, that is the voice and opinion of our shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Images of the sheep the shepherd knows…
Colossians 3:5-10 tells us what not to listen to, what not to follow, what our shepherd does not know…
Eph. 5:1-5 gives us a picture of a sheep that is following the Good Shepherd…
Gal. 5:19-25 tells us what to follow…
2 Tim. 2: 19 tells us who knows the shepherd, the sheep the shepherd knows(recognizes)…
The promise (v. 28) does not pertain to you, unless your life lines up with the conditions(v.27).
Hear. Know. Follow. These words are not meant to be followed once, and then never to be worried about again. It is not to say, “I heard the shepherds voice, I knew him, and I followed him at one time in the past”, no, these are verbs, words of action.
In the Greek language (as in the English) words, the way they are spelled, the context they are used in, have different tenses. In the English we have three tenses; past, present, and future.
[EX. Yesterday I went to the store. Right now, I am going to the store. Tomorrow I will go to the store.]
In the Greek they have several tenses, and also moods. Their words not only have tenses but are combined with specific moods. By knowing what mood, and tense these words are in we can be certain that the scriptures are translated correctly.
In John 10:27 the words hear, know, and follow are all in the same tense, and mood; present indicative. “The present tense represents a simple statement of fact or reality viewed as occurring in actual time. In most cases this corresponds directly with the English present tense.” “The indicative mood is a simple statement of fact. If an action really occurs or has occurred or will occur, it will be rendered in the indicative mood.” (studylight.org, Strong’s concordance). Together, the present indicative tense essentially “denotes action in progress”. Therefore, John 10:27 actually reads….
“My sheep are hearing my voice, I am knowing them, they are following Me.”
Commentator Ken Wuest, in his book ,“The Gospels: an Expanded Translation” writes it like this, “The sheep which are mine are in the habit of listening to my voice, I know them by experience, and they take the same road that I take with Me, and I give to them life eternal.”
Keeping in mind what we have learned about Greek tenses, lets again look at verse 28:
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish-ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.”
Let’s look at the word “perish”. This word is in the aorist tense, subjunctive mood. “The subjunctive mood is the mood of possibility and potentiality. The action described may or may not occur, depending upon circumstances.”(studylight.org, Strong’s concordance).
You see, it is possible to perish, you may or may not perish based upon a certain set of circumstances; what circumstances? John 10: 27 circumstances, continuing to hear, being known, continuing to follow Him.
This morning if you are hearing and listening to the voice of God, then He is knowing you, and if you are following Him, then the promise of verse 28, the promise of eternal life of never perishing, is your promise!
Conclusion
For those who believe in the doctrine of unconditional eternal security, the tend to place almost all responsibility on God, humans have very little to do with our salvation. However, those who believe in the conditional eternal security tend to put too much emphasis on the human, and not enough on God. God is not standing over us just waiting for us to mess up. But, when we go against God’s Word, He is also not just ignoring it, letting it slide, don’t worry about it. It is impossible to love God, and live as you please. As humans we must live consistent Godly lives, and God will keep us in his hand.
Hebrews 10:26-31
Assurance of our salvation is a gift from God.
Continually hear/listen to His voice, follow Him, and be known by Him.
Jn. 10: 27-28
Let’s ensure that this promise can be yours this morning… (altar prayer).
