John 10:22-26 ESV
“At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.’”
There are many people today claiming faith in Jesus Christ
who are not living to please the Lord but who are still living for self-pleasure.
They are still doing what their flesh desires and they are not following the
Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). And even though many of them
know what the Scriptures teach, they will claim ignorance in order to continue
in their sinful practices. But it isn’t that they have not been told the truth,
but it is that they refuse to believe the truth, in reality.
For true belief in Jesus Christ is much more than just words
that we say. True belief, which comes from God and therefore submits to God’s
will and purpose, is shown to be true by our actions (works) done in submission
and in obedience to the Lord Jesus. For if we believe in Jesus we are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in
advance that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:14).
[Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2
Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 2 Thess
1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:21; Tit 2:11-14; Jn 15:1-11; Tit 3:8; Jas 2:17; Rom 12:1-2;
Lu 9:23-26; Eph 4:17-24]
John 10:27 ESV
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Jesus told the Jews that they did not believe what he told
them because they are not among his sheep. So, then he went on to describe
those who are his true sheep (followers, disciples). We are those who hear him,
who listen to him, and who follow him in obedience. And so he knows us and we
know him. We are not hearers only who walk away and forget what we look like,
but we are doers of the word. We are those who look into the perfect law, the
law of liberty (the gospel), and we persevere in that faith (Jas 1:22-25).
For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that he
must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and
follow (obey) him. For, he said, if we hold on to our old lives (try to save
them) that we will lose them (for eternity), but if we lose our lives (die with
him to sin) for his sake, then we will live (with him for eternity). And he
said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the
kingdom of heaven but only the one DOING the will of God the Father (Lu 9:23-26;
Matt 7:21-23).
John 10:28-30 ESV
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 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. I and the Father are one.”
Now, many people today are quoting these three verses
separate from the previous verse and they are applying these promises broadly
to anyone professing faith in Jesus Christ. And so they are giving many people
a false hope of eternal life with God because they are being given the idea
that if they just profess faith in Jesus that eternal life is now guaranteed
them and they will never perish, and nothing can take that away from them, not
even if they continue living in deliberate and habitual sin against God.
So, we have to always share these promises in light of the
previous verse which gives us the conditions for these promises to be
fulfilled, for God’s promises are not without conditions and stipulations. We
just have to read them in context to get the full picture. So if you want to
claim these promises for yourself you need to be someone who is actively
listening to the Lord and to what he teaches and who is then following the Lord
in obedience to what he teaches, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who
acts (James 1:25).
For Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die with
him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no
longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. And he shed
his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we
would now honor God with our bodies (with our lives). For Jesus didn’t die on
that cross just to forgive us our sins, but he died to deliver us out of
slavery (addiction) to sin so we’d now be slaves to him and to righteousness.
[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20;
Romans 6:1-23]
Also, if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin and if
we do not walk in obedience to our Lord and if we do not submit to him as Lord
(Master) of our lives, we will not inherit the kingdom of heaven no matter what
we profess with our lips. For we are all going to be judged by God by what we
do in this life and we are all going to reap what we sow. And if we sow to
please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to
please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life with God.
Full
Release
An
Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
https://vimeo.com/115169203
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