John 10:
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:27 “My sheep hear [listen to (NLT), recognize (TLB)] My voice”
We are presented with 3 conditions for eternal life!
HEARING -- hearing Jesus’ voice begins by God’s grace, but must be continued.
KNOWING -- depends on Jesus and us wanting to “know” each other (PLUS see below).
FOLLOWING -- depends on us (we have the free will to follow Him, or not follow Him).
Who is hearing Jesus’ voice?
Initially, this is hearing the prompting of the Holy Spirit that the Gospel message is true!
(Many say it is possible for a recipient of this prompting to refuse to believe.)
Then, those who accept God’s call must continue to hear and respond to God’s voice.
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,
and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23)
They will come in the form of the Holy Spirit, who is another (Greek “allos’) of the same kind.
“But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”
(Romans 8:13, NLT)
“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Rom 8:14, NASB)
Yes, this is all about continuing to hear the Holy Spirit (and being obedient to His guidance)!
Who does Jesus “know”?
“The relationship between the sheep and their shepherd is intimate,
like the relationship between God and Christ. Jesus knows and loves His sheep.
… If we continue to knowingly commit some sin, we are not in Christ. We do not know Him,
and He does not know us … Only those who obey Christ and are pure in heart
will see Him and know Him (Matthew 5:8, 1 John 2:3-4).”
(The Applied New Testament Commentary – Thomas Hale, 1996, ChariotVictor Publishing;
Dr. Hale is a Spirit-filled believer who served as a medical missionary with Interserve in Nepal.)
“… and I know (approve of) them” (John 10:27)
Re: to know, “ginosko”, Strong’s [HASHTAG]#1097[/HASHTAG] >> “here the ‘knowing’ suggests approval
and bears the meaning ‘to be approved’ in 2 Tim 2:19; cf. John 10:14, John 10:27”
(Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words – W. E. Vine, 1984, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Who is following Jesus?
• Mark 8:34-36 (Matt 10:38-39, Matt 16:24-26), Luke 9:23-25 …
“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul (is himself destroyed or lost, Luke 9:25)?Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
You don’t carry your cross by having belief-faith through His grace, then trusting Him to do the rest!
You carry your cross by denying yourself (your fleshly desires, etc.) and following Jesus.
You follow Jesus by believing in Him and His words, and obeying Him and His commands.
The ones who follow Jesus are the obedient ones!
• John 8:31 (TLB) “You are truly My disciples if you live as I tell you to …”
• Matthew 19:17 “But if you want to enter into life, obey the commandments.”
• John 8:51 “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone obeys My word he shall never see death.”
• Hebrews 5:9 “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
• 1 John 2:17 “… but he who obeys the will of God abides forever.”
• 1 Corinthians 7:19 “… obeying the commandments of God is what matters.”
• James 1:22 “But be obeyers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
• 1 John 2:3-4 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we obey His commandments.
• He who says, “I know Him,” and does not obey His commandments, is a liar …”
• Romans 6:16 “… you are that one’s slaves whom you obey,
whether (slaves) of sin leading to death, OR (slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness”
Disobedience proves Unbelief …
• Hebrews 3:18-19 “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest,
but to those who did not obey? So, we see that they could not enter in
because of unbelief.”
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:27 “My sheep hear [listen to (NLT), recognize (TLB)] My voice”
We are presented with 3 conditions for eternal life!
HEARING -- hearing Jesus’ voice begins by God’s grace, but must be continued.
KNOWING -- depends on Jesus and us wanting to “know” each other (PLUS see below).
FOLLOWING -- depends on us (we have the free will to follow Him, or not follow Him).
Who is hearing Jesus’ voice?
Initially, this is hearing the prompting of the Holy Spirit that the Gospel message is true!
(Many say it is possible for a recipient of this prompting to refuse to believe.)
Then, those who accept God’s call must continue to hear and respond to God’s voice.
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,
and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23)
They will come in the form of the Holy Spirit, who is another (Greek “allos’) of the same kind.
“But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”
(Romans 8:13, NLT)
“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Rom 8:14, NASB)
Yes, this is all about continuing to hear the Holy Spirit (and being obedient to His guidance)!
Who does Jesus “know”?
“The relationship between the sheep and their shepherd is intimate,
like the relationship between God and Christ. Jesus knows and loves His sheep.
… If we continue to knowingly commit some sin, we are not in Christ. We do not know Him,
and He does not know us … Only those who obey Christ and are pure in heart
will see Him and know Him (Matthew 5:8, 1 John 2:3-4).”
(The Applied New Testament Commentary – Thomas Hale, 1996, ChariotVictor Publishing;
Dr. Hale is a Spirit-filled believer who served as a medical missionary with Interserve in Nepal.)
“… and I know (approve of) them” (John 10:27)
Re: to know, “ginosko”, Strong’s [HASHTAG]#1097[/HASHTAG] >> “here the ‘knowing’ suggests approval
and bears the meaning ‘to be approved’ in 2 Tim 2:19; cf. John 10:14, John 10:27”
(Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words – W. E. Vine, 1984, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Who is following Jesus?
• Mark 8:34-36 (Matt 10:38-39, Matt 16:24-26), Luke 9:23-25 …
“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul (is himself destroyed or lost, Luke 9:25)?Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
You don’t carry your cross by having belief-faith through His grace, then trusting Him to do the rest!
You carry your cross by denying yourself (your fleshly desires, etc.) and following Jesus.
You follow Jesus by believing in Him and His words, and obeying Him and His commands.
The ones who follow Jesus are the obedient ones!
• John 8:31 (TLB) “You are truly My disciples if you live as I tell you to …”
• Matthew 19:17 “But if you want to enter into life, obey the commandments.”
• John 8:51 “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone obeys My word he shall never see death.”
• Hebrews 5:9 “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
• 1 John 2:17 “… but he who obeys the will of God abides forever.”
• 1 Corinthians 7:19 “… obeying the commandments of God is what matters.”
• James 1:22 “But be obeyers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
• 1 John 2:3-4 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we obey His commandments.
• He who says, “I know Him,” and does not obey His commandments, is a liar …”
• Romans 6:16 “… you are that one’s slaves whom you obey,
whether (slaves) of sin leading to death, OR (slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness”
Disobedience proves Unbelief …
• Hebrews 3:18-19 “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest,
but to those who did not obey? So, we see that they could not enter in
because of unbelief.”
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