I was raised to respect my elders.

As a child, I was supposed to give adults respect, automatically.  Some of this was expressed as saying “Mr., Miss, or Mrs.”  Some of it was expressed as not talking back to adults. 

But the final authority in my life was not random adults.  The final authority in my childhood was my parents.  It was their voice I was expected to hear and heed.

Similarly, Jesus expects us to hear and heed His voice.  Continuing His answer from John 10:22-26, Jesus continues in John 10:27-30:

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”  

John 10:27-30
|New International Version
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Jesus uses His theme of shepherds and sheep again.  And when He reintroduces it (actually in last week’s passage of John 10:22-26), it’s in the context of the life and security He provides.  And there’s A LOT happening in these four verses.

Jesus’ purpose of coming to Earth was to provide salvation or eternal life.  The Biblical concept of salvation isn’t as simple as going through some motions or even praying a simple prayer and being done with it.  Instead, it’s about following the way of Jesus.  It’s why I will often use the term “Jesus-follower” instead of Christian: I’m trying to help all of us see salvation from a Biblical point of view.

When we truly are followers of Jesus, we are protected with a seal that can never be broken.  This is called the doctrine of the “security of the believer.”  We can rest in the assurance of the fact that Jesus said, “No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

In other words, you cannot be stolen from your standing in Jesus.  What you possess was given by God and it cannot be taken away.  This is certainly not a license to live however you want.  1 Corinthians 10:6-12 addresses that sharply. 

Eternal life is a gift from God but it does not make us gods to ourselves.   We are accountable, dear Jesus-follower, for our lives.

We are not saved from hell to live like we’re still in it.

We are saved to live LIFE for Him!  Christians—real Christians—remain faithful to the Lord and can rest in the Lord’s assurance that NO ONE can take us from the hands of our Lord!

Then Jesus adds, “I and the Father are one” in verse 30.  In the early centuries of the church, this verse was a battleground.  Is Jesus saying He is the same as the Father—asked another way: Is Jesus stating He IS the Father?

In English, it seems to hint at it; however, we are reading a translation.  The New Testament was originally written in Greek. In Greek when Jesus uses the word translated “one”, the idea conveys that Jesus is NOT the Father and the Father is NOT the Son.  They are one in purpose and will.  They are unified in their mission of reaching and protecting the sheep. 

And that should make sense because after all, Jesus is, according to John 1:14, the Word of God Who became human.

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It’s easy for us to forget the Jesus hasn’t just saved us; He continues to save us.  He’s not done working on, in, and with us.

Jesus speaks and He expects us to listen and respond.

Do you live like a citizen of Heaven while your Shepherd protects and guides you?