When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. ~ Matthew 25:31-46

How do we square these words of Jesus with the teachings of the Bible that  justification is by faith? If we were to simply read these words of our Lord in a vacuum, we might reach the conclusion that Jesus is preaching salvation by works, but that is not at all what is going on here.

In my last post, titled on Following Jesus, we saw that those who are Jesus’s sheep hear his voice, Jesus knows them, and they follow him. We learned that the words hear, know, and follow are all verbs and are present indicative active, which implies that the sheep actively follow Jesus, and will continue to follow Jesus.

What does following Jesus really mean?

In 1 John we read, He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. ~ 1 John 2:4-6 

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus separates the sheep from the goats at the culmination of the ages and rewards the sheep with the Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. He does this not because they earned a state of justification by good works, but because they followed Jesus, their Shepherd, and did the works of Christ.

This is what following Jesus means when our feet hit the ground. John tells us, He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. John will go on to tell us that his commandment is love.

True conversion is deliverance from sin unto a transformed life by which we are daily being conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. If we would follow Jesus and live as Jesus would have us live, we would never be concerned with such things as, can we lose our salvation? If we are following Jesus, that is completely off the table. We have the promise of eternal life.

The only ones who should be concerned with losing their salvation are those who claim to have been saved because of a one time believing experience, but have no real fellowship with Christ and no conformity into his likeness. True salvation leads the believer into discipleship which transforms us into the likeness of Christ. 

Paul tells the Corinthians, Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2 Corinthians 13:5

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. ~ John 10:27-29

In the text above the words they follow is a reference to the sheep of whom Jesus is the Shepherd. In the Greek, this word follow is a verb, and is present indicative active, which means that the action of following Jesus happens in the present time, and that the subject (those who follow Jesus) carry out the action, and that the statement is true.

The implication of this text is that the sheep actively follow Jesus, and will continue to follow Jesus, not that they followed him in the past. Furthermore, the words, hear (My sheep hear my voice) and know (I know them) are also verbs which are present indicative active. Thus the text should be understood as My sheep actively hear my voice and I actively know them, and they actively follow me.

We must be careful that we do not read John 10:27 as if Jesus is saying my sheep heard my voice. Verses 27-30 is not a section of scripture which references a one time believing experience which happened only in the past. Unfortunately, it has often been used for this purpose and some who are not faithful to follow Jesus have taken false comfort in the thought that they are saved, even though they may be living in adultery, or some other terrible lifestyle. Having said a prayer many years ago will not profit you on the day of the Lord if you have lived in wickedness and not followed Jesus from your heart.

Those who are the sheep, who belong to Christ, are those who actively hear his voice and follow him. To be actively engaged in hearing the Shepherd’s voice is to listen. This may be why the NIV translates verse 27 as, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

The NIV is not the only translation that employs the word listen, many others do as well. The Amplified Bible Classic Edition says, The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me. (Bold added for emphasis)

The word listen is probably an accurate rendering. Have you ever been in the same room with someone and heard them speak but you weren’t listening and couldn’t remember a word they said? I think we all have at one time or another, and I don’t think Jesus is referring to that kind of hearing when he says my Sheep hear my voice. The Sheep recognize and respond to his voice, they listen !

Many sincere Christians struggle with the concept of hearing the voice of God, and this is mainly due to wrong ideas of what it means to hear God’s voice. Jesus is the voice of truth from God, and the Spirit of God abiding within, whom we receive through faith in Jesus, bears witness within us to the truth that is in Jesus. Hearing God’s voice simply means listening to and for the truth in Jesus. and following that truth. As we grow in the knowledge of the truth in Christ, and it takes root within us, we better recognize when the truth is missing, and we won’t follow the voice of another. Consider the following from the apostle John.

Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. ~ 1 John 2:24-27

Notice the words of John in the text above, where he says If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. He follows that statement by saying And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

Here in this section of scripture, John is echoing the very same thing he tells us in John 10:27-29, where the sheep who follow (and continue to follow) the Shepherd have the promise of eternal life. John uses the word if saying,  If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

The promise of eternal life belongs to those who remain in the truth and continue in the Son and the Father. John would have never made this statement if there were no possibility that one who is in the sheepfold could not be seduced to follow another. That is why he follows this by saying, These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

Whether we want to hear it or not, a Christian can be seduced and follow another if they don’t continue to abide in the truth that is in Jesus. Paul warns the Corinthians of another gospel, another spirit, and another Jesus.

So how do we avoid being seduced? John answers that by telling us, the anointing (the Spirit) which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing (the Spirit of Christ) teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

When John says you need not that any man teach you, he is not telling us that we don’t need others to teach us the Word of God. Teacher is one of the gifts that Jesus has given to his body. Being under good teaching is a necessity for healthy growth in the things of God. What John is referring to is the abiding truth that is in Christ. Every believer who has come to Christ has come to the truth, and has received the Spirit of truth bearing witness in them of the truth. The Spirit bears witness to the truth, because the Spirit is truth.

Those who seduce people away from Christ do so with a mixture of truth and error. John says they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. ~ v. 18

As Christians, if we want the promise of eternal life, we must continue to follow Jesus. Seducers will use Jesus (use his name, his teachings, his miracles and healings, etc), to draw attention to themselves. Seducers, which are false teachers, false prophets, and false apostles do not nurture your devotion to Christ alone. Thus they introduce teachings that get your eyes off of Christ by tempting you to lust after other things such as prosperity, supernatural experiences, etc. Others seduce with extreme legalism and rules about Sabbaths, feast days, and strict religious practices that have nothing to do with genuine godliness from the heart.

The work of seducers is to make you dull of hearing and desensitize your conscience to the voice of the Lord. When this happens you no longer hunger for the truth from your heart, but seek teachers to satisfy your itching ears which have been awakened by your lusts.

The fact that John encourages us to let that which we have heard from the beginning (the truth in Christ) to remain in us so as to not be seduced, ought to teach us that anyone of us could fall from the grace of God if we do not remain faithful to Jesus.

Follow Jesus, and keep your eyes on him!

The following is just my observation, or opinion.

What are people truly arguing when they debate the topic of eternal security? I think our presuppositions (our background beliefs) come into play more than some of us would like to admit. How we view salvation itself, plays a major role in how we lean regarding this topic, and which scriptures we choose to embrace the most.

Salvation does mean different things to different people. For some, salvation means going to Heaven when they die, for others it means a transformed life. What salvation means to an individual will affect how they read the Bible and how they live out their faith.

For those who believe that salvation means going to Heaven when they die, the possibility of apostasy (falling away) must be rejected, or else the insurance that is eternal security, is jeopardized.

On the other hand, for those who view salvation as deliverance from sin into a transformed life, there is less concern about eternal security because their approach is different. The fear of the possibility of  missing out on Heaven isn’t something of great concern to them.

Now, regardless of our presupposition, we can all be certain that Heaven is our destination after we leave this world if we follow Jesus, but is our destination in the afterlife what salvation is really about, or is it more about freedom from sin and following Jesus in this present world? How you answer this question may most likely determine which way you lean when OSAS is brought up.

May I suggest a healthy combination of the two: freedom from sin unto a transformed life in the present, and exceeding joy in the life to come.

Feel free to share your thoughts.