27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and my Father are one – John 10:27-30
A wonderful short video on Assurance of Salvation by the Good News Bible Church
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYnbgrxUFCY]
Those who hear the words of Jesus obey him, but this had nothing to do with rules or regulations regarding the law. The law cannot save anyone. If it could save then God would never have had to come in the flesh as Jesus Christ to pay the penalty of our sin.
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law – Galatians 3:21
The entire purpose of the strict mosaic law was to show us our need for a saviour.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith – Galatians 3:24
There is incredible rest in Jesus Christ, when we let down our pride and realise that we cannot save our selves through human works. There is bad news before the good, because the Holy Bible tells us that we all come short of the glory of God.
for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; – Romans 3:23
The wages of sin is death, which is unpleasant for the unbelieving world to hear, but just notice the amazing gift after that bad news.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord – Romans 6:23
Salvation is a gift that we receive by trusting in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sin. It requires nothing from us but trust in what Christ has done for us. He died, was buried, and resurrected. If His sacrifice had not satisfied God the Father, He would not be a risen Christ today. His sacrifice did more than enough to save everyone in this world, however, the truth of grace is evil spoke of today just as the Holy Bible says that it would.
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of – 2 Peter 2:1-3
Anyone who is denying that Jesus Christ’s finished work has not paid for sin is speaking evil of the gift of God given through God’s amazing grace, and many say that the blood of Christ is not enough, and we must also work for salvation, or prove it. No no no. A gift is to be received, and we must receive salvation through grace.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 not of works, lest any man should boast – Ephesians 2:8-9
Jesus had work to do for the Father, and He completed this work.
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent – John 6:27-29
Jesus is telling us to believe on Him whom God the Father has sent. The sheep hear His command to believe. Believing on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His finished work brings eternal life, because Jesus repeatedly tells us to believe on Him in the Gospel of John.
Following Jesus is to have peace in the amazing salvation that he completed for us, because without His perfect obedience, no one has a chance of going to Heaven. To trust in His finished work should result in serving God out of gratitude for what He has done for us, but works are not always evident in every believer. Some believers remain carnal babes in Christ because he or she walks after the flesh rather than the Spirit. God gives us free will, but He knows who has trusted in Christ for salvation. The fruits that manifest when we are walking in grace are evident in Galatians 5:22-23.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 meekness, temperance: against such there is no law – Galatians 5:22-23
Jesus is giving us assurance in John 10:27-30. When we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, Jesus says that we have eternal life, and we shall never perish, nor shall any man pluck us out of His hand. No one is able to pluck us out of the Father’s hand, and then Jesus makes reference to Himself as God, when he says that I and my Father are one.
It is impossible to grow in grace, if we have the bondage of looking to self for evidence of salvation or works, to prove to fellow human beings, or even to God. Jesus is the only way to God the Father.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me – John 14:6
I met several works salvationists over the past two years who took away my peace in Christ and made judgements toward me because of how I dressed, my relationships, my tattoos, or even the music I listened to. They see not what God sees, because I fellowship with God daily, but they are fruit inspectors looking for outward evidence. God sees what no one else does and this always encourages me, because even Christians are flawed and always will be. Paul struggled with sin in Romans 7, and if we are honest with ourselves, we all struggles to. The old nature remains and it is a constant war as to what we feed, but thank God for Christ whose blood cleanses us from all sin.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. – 1 John 1:5-10
We have assurance of salvation through the finished work of Christ. He is our light and belief on Him makes us righteous before God the Father. Those who say they have no sin, have not the truth (the Holy Spirit) in them. We just need to be honest with God about our words, our thoughts, our deeds because these are at war with the Spirit that indwelleth inside every believer. I am horrified at some of the thoughts I battle with – such evil thoughts, but just as God has millions of Holy Angels, Satan also has his minions wrecking havoc on this earth in dividing the human race, and causing doubt upon the mind of saints.
The sinless perfectionist crowd need to stop judging others and actually see if they truly need a saviour, because Jesus came to seek and save the lost, not the righteous.
For the Son of man is come to seekand to save that which was lost – Luke 19:10
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come tocall the righteous, but sinners to repentance – Matthew 9:13
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance – Mark 2:17
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance – Luke 5:32
Repentance means to have a change of mind about what we are trusting in to get us to heaven. Jesus told all people to repent (ye) and believe the gospel.
5 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel – Mark 1:15
Upon watching pastors who teach grace, this burden has lifted and I am growing in grace with total security in Christ and the work He has done for me. I look forward to fellowship with God, and this is how it should be, and not serving Him out of fear, which is how I used to think. I thought I had to do something, and God is not the author of confusion.
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints – Corinthians 14:33
Christ’s work saves us, and salvation is a gift of God that we must receive. Sin has already been paid for, but upon hearing the gospel, we must believe it to become born again.
As a born again believer, who has trusted Christ as saviour, I must share the gospel.
- Sin separates us from God (Genesis 3).
- The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
- To go to heaven, we must be perfect, and none of us are (Matthew 5:48).
- God loves us (John 3:16), but He hates our sin (Psalm 5:4).
- God came in the flesh as Jesus Christ (John 10:30), obeyed the law perfectly (Romans 5:19), and died that cruel death on the cross for the sins of every human being who will ever live on this earth (1 John 2:2).
- Jesus, who is God Almighty in the flesh, resurrected His body and ascended into Heaven offering His sacrifice for sin forever (Hebrews 10:12).
- The will of God is for us to believe on His son, Jesus Christ, who paid for all sin (John 6:40).
- Jesus’ shed blood gives us the remission of sin (Romans 3:25, Hebrews 10:18).
- Although Jesus has died for all sin, God chooses to save only those who trust in His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ (John 6:47).
Do you believe that He paid for your sin debt? Will you trust Him today for eternal life? Contrary to popular belief by false teachers who teach that a believer can lose their salvation because of willful sin etc, this is incorrect. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance Greek 278
ametamelétos: not repented of — Romans 11:29
Original Word: ἀμεταμέλητος, ον
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: ametamelétos
Phonetic Spelling: (am-et-am-el’-ay-tos)
Definition: not repented of
Usage: not to be repented of, about which no change of mind can take place, not affected by a change of mind.
God bless.
