OUR SO GREAT SALVATION
I have been blessed and challenged greatly as I looked again at a particular verse in the Gospel of John. Before I quote it I want to say in advance that I am NOT seeking to be controversial, or argumentative, I simply pray that this blog will cause you with an open heart and mind to look at the various Scriptures I will be quoting. If at the conclusion of the blog your heart and mind are not changed, may we continue to remain in good Christian fellowship. The verse is John 10:27-29 NKJV My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 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. I and My Father are one.”
In both verse 28 &29 we read that none of God’s sheep (children) can be plucked out of either Jesus’ or the Father’s hand. This verse clearly indicates that there is nothing or no one that can remove us from God’s hand, that is why Paul says in Romans 8:38-39 NKJV For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPERATE US from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Some may then ask can or would God remove us out of His hand, (literally kick us out of the Kingdom). Let us meditate on Jer, 31:3 NKJV “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
MESSAGE “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love!
So there is nothing or no one that can pluck us out of God’s hand, and God is unchanging in His love to us, and as Paul says in Rom. 8:29 JKJV For whom He FOREKNEW, He also PREDESTINED to be CONFORMED to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. AMP N.T. For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.
There are so many references to ETERNAL or EVERLASTING LIFE for example John 3:16 NKJV 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 and 1 John 5:13 NKJV These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have ETERNAL life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. These words simply mean that EVERLASTING, IT DOES’T STOP.
So we come to the question Can I pluck myself out of God’s hand? My simple response is, who would want to be so stupid, remember 1 Peter 1:23 AMP N.T You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God. We now have God’s DNA in us, His divine sperm caused conception in our spiritual womb, That SEED LIVES AND ABIDES FOREVER.
I will not deny and the Bible confirms it that many who make a profession of faith backslide, but from my Pastoral experience many who made such a ‘DECISION” were NEVER BORN AGAIN IN THE FIRST PLACE. That is why I maintain that Biblical Discipleship is ESSENTIAL, (often coming to Christ can be a journey, as the Holy Spirit convicts and draws, and we need to be wise spiritual midwives) so that it can be discerned if the divine sperma actually entered into the person and that they were truly born again. My experience is also that those who wander and the transaction did take place, return and repent even after many years.
In our discipleship ministry we should highlight the security we have in Christ, but encourage and assist in every way that the new Believer GROWS IN GRACE AND IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Including keys to develop the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT Gal.5 22-23 NKJV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no . Plus seeking to fulfil the GREAT COMMISSION Matt. 28:18-20 NKJV All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Finally, we need to be proactive in our walk with God, and not just take it for granted BUT (Phil. 2:12 NKJV work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
I THANK GOD EVERY DAY FOR HIS SO GREAT SALVATION HALLELUJAH
