John 10:22-39
The Shepherd Knows His Sheep
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? 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, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.[a] 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe[c] that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
(Has God provided salvation, or has God just provided us with a chance for salvation to those who accept Jesus Christ as a personal savior?)
(Does God do a saving work for mankind? or does mankind contribute something to their own salvation?)
FALL FROM GRACE = REJECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
Galatians 5:4
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
1 Timothy 4
The Great Apostasy
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
(Unredeemed mankind who hold to THE FORM OF GODLINESSS WHILE DENYING THE POWER THEREOF)
John 15:6 (keyword ABIDING)
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
(no truth behind their confession)
Hebrews 6 states basically that the record must stand and failures are not erased by going back and being saved all over again.
THE UNFAITHFUL LOSE REWARDS
John 15:2
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
1 Corinthians 3:15
15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
THE WORK OF THE FATHER
(A)Purpose of God,( basic to our Security )
Ephesians 1:4
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
Hebrews 2:10
Bringing Many Sons to Glory
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
(B) The Power of God (to keep and save)
John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
(God is able to keep)
Romans 8:31-34
God’s Everlasting Love
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(C) Promise of God (basic to our security)
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 5:24
Life and Judgment Are Through the Son
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
(D) Love of God (basic also to our security)
Romans 5:7-9
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
JESUS CHRIST'S WORK
(A) Provision of Son (basic to our security)
Romans 8
Free from Indwelling Sin
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit
(Author of eternal salvation)
Hebrews 5:8-9
8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
(IT IS FINISHED. PAID in FULL)
(B) Resurrection of Jesus Christ (provision for our security)
Ephesians 2:6
6 and (God) raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
(no enemy can challenge our being at home in God's presence)
(C) Jesus our advocate (basis for our security)
Hebrews 9:24
24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
(pleads the benifit of His death and value of His blood)
(D) His work as a Shepard (guarantee of our security)
John 10:27-28
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Hebrews 7:25
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
John 17:11-16
11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,[a] that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept;[c] and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK
(A) HIS INDWELLING (BASIC TO OUR SECURITY)
Ephesians 2:22
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
(permanant, not temporarily)
(the temple is now constructed of living stones)
(B) Baptism of the Holy Spirit (secure and safe)
1 Corinthians 12:13
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into[a] one Spirit.
Ephesians 5:27
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
(The bride is made up of many individuals. If any be missing , the love-gift from Father to Son would be imperfect.)
(C) Sealing work of the Spirit (making us secure)
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who[a] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
(The Holy Spirit is God's God's irrremovable , identifyable brand)
SUMMARY
God Himself secures those who seek Him as a refuge. He provides Jesus.
Noah was provided with an ark that He went into and God secured him inside. Jesus is our ark:
The Consummation of Love
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
John 10:
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
