On the internet there is a site called “Bible Gateway” where you can read the Scriptures in multiple translations and where you can look at the Greek and Hebrew interlinear to get definitions of Bible words, and where they usually have a verse of the day, which is not always just one verse. And the Lord has been having me use this now for about seven years, I think, but most always within the appropriate biblical context. And the verse of the day for today is John 10:28-30 which is a passage that is popularly being taught out of context and used to teach what is a lie to many people.
In Context
“At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 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.’ 25 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, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 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. 30 I and the Father are one.’” (John 10:22-30 ESV)
So, why do they leave out verse 27 when that is the key verse in this whole passage, and it tells us who the “them” are to whom God gives eternal life and they will never perish, etc.? For it is like writing a sentence with no subject but just the verb. For “them” doesn’t tell us who they are. It could be anyone, and that is really the point. For many people today are teaching John 10:28-30 without verse 27 which tells us to whom verses 28-30 apply. And, in this way, those who do this knowing what they are doing are applying these verses broadly to anyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ.
So, what’s the problem with that? It’s a lie! For the “them” are not all who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, but they are those who are listening to God/Jesus Christ, who are paying close attention to what the Lord is saying to us, who are heeding (adhering) to his words, and Jesus knows them intimately, and they are following him in obedience to his ways and to his commands (New Covenant). And Jesus spoke these words to the Jews who were at that time God’s chosen people to let them know the difference between mere professions of faith in God and real faith in God.
For these were people who believed they knew God and that they were of God, but they rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah (the Christ) and so Jesus let them know that they didn’t really know God and that God was not their Father, because to believe in the Father is to believe in the Son of God, and they did not believe in Jesus, but many of them wanted him dead (see John 8:31-59). And Jesus told them that they did not believe because they were not his sheep (his true followers). And then in John 10:27 he defined for them what it means to believe in him.
So, what we have today are many professers of faith in Jesus Christ who are being given the assurances and the promises in John 10:28-30 but absent of the qualifications (stipulations) voiced in verse 27. And they are believing that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ assures them that they have eternal life with God, that they will never perish, and that no one will snatch them out of the hands of Jesus Christ and of God the Father. And so they rest in those promises, but regardless of whether or not they are people who are listening to the Lord and who are following him in obedience.
But all God’s promises have requirements that must be met for those promises to be fulfilled. But so many people today are teaching the Lord’s promises, but without the requirements, and they are applying those promises broadly to all who verbalize confessions of faith in Jesus Christ, but regardless of how they live. But what did Jesus say? He said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father. And many will be told one day, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)
So, when you read verses of the Bible separate from their context, you may be getting the wrong message. So, it is a good practice to go to the context and to read them in context so that you know what they are really saying. For one of the biggest tools of deception being used today is to teach the Scriptures apart from their context and then to twist them to say what they do not say if taught in context. And this passage is one of the major ones being taught erroneously out of context in order to deceive human flesh into believing they have the promises of God without obedience to God.
For Jesus also 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 (Luke 9:23-26), which sounds a whole lot like John 10:27. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. We will not inherit eternal life with God. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, giving up our old lives of living in sin, and we walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, then we have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God (see also Romans 6:1-23).
My Heart’s Desire
An Original Work / June 29, 2013
Based off Rm. 10; Lu. 9:23-26; Ep. 4:20-24
Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire
Is that you might come to Jesus.
Many appear zealous for God,
But they do not trust in Him.
They have not submitted to the One
Who saved them from their sins;
Not forsaken their sins,
Nor have they obeyed their King.
The word of the Lord is near you:
The word of faith we’re proclaiming:
That you must confess your faith
In Jesus as your Lord and King:
Believe in Him as your Lord,
And follow Him where’er He leads.
Share the gospel; be a witness,
And meet others’ needs.
Beautiful are the feet of those
Who bring the good news of Jesus:
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself today;
Die to sin and self, and
Let the Spirit transform you in heart;
Put on your new self in Jesus,
Yielding to the cross.
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