“Secured Sheep Abide and Follow”
John 10:22-42
“‘And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father’s hand.” [John10:28-29]
These are some of the most powerful and clear words on eternal security; and they are directly from Jesus. They are not Paul’s, or Peter’s, or John’s theological teachings. They are the concise teachings of Jesus.
Notice firstly, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Elsewhere Jesus said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” [John 8:36] Freedom from sin and death is “indeed” a reality for those in Christ. And it brings us to that eternally secure place in Him. Our security rests upon the finished work at the Cross. Therefore, we can know that we shall never perish.
Secondly, notice the hands that secure: Jesus and the Father. They are the hands that span the universe. They are also the hands that create life, sustain life, and all the universe as well. It is these hands that secure; they are the hands that hold the one in Christ. No one can snatch them from His hands.
But thirdly, notice the preceding verses. Just before John 10:28-29, Jesus said: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” [John 10:27]. The entire chapter John 10 is about the Good Shepherd and His sheep. “I am the good shepherd and I know My sheep, and I lay down My life for my sheep.” [John 10:14]. The sheep instinctively know the voice of the Shepherd.
It is important to observe [and rightly understand] these clear eternal security verses in the context of John 10. Eternal security is in the hands of Jesus and the Father; and they secure the sheep. And who are the sheep? They are the ones that follow the Good Shepherd.
I am eternally secure if I am His sheep; and I am His sheep because I follow Him. Therefore, the question becomes,
“Am I following Jesus?” Because if I have a lifestyle of gossip, jealousy, rage, fornication, and the like, I am not following Jesus.
The late Pastor Chuck Smith, our founding pastor of the Calvary Chapel movement, used to say, “I am eternally secure as I abide in Christ.” There is no question with eternal security; the question is, “am I abiding?” Because secured sheep abide and follow.
